


Reality Check

by Lanihaluki



Category: Story Thieves Series - James Riley
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Multi, The characters are all 15 (except in flashbacks), aka more romance :), and Bethany’s but less awkward and more oblivious, and ofc friendship, awkward romances and it’s mostly all Owen’s, basically it has angst/fluff/danger it’s a whole mix, lots of trouble, this is an au!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2020-06-06 16:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 53
Words: 563,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19450648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lanihaluki/pseuds/Lanihaluki
Summary: Before Owen can escape Pick The Plot to save Bethany, Nobody successfully separates her into two halves. The only problem is, all Bethany’s memories of book-jumping in the past years are gone. Her nonfictional self remembers nothing of the fictional world, and vice versa. And Owen, still trapped in Pick The Plot, has no idea.Three years later, strange events unfold as soon as Bethany starts reading “Pick The Plot”, a book where the main character somehow knows her name. Even weirder, a new student arrives at her school, claiming he's a fictional character.(three year time jump! all the characters are fifteen)





	1. Three Years Later

**Author's Note:**

> Wowowowow I can’t believe I actually posted this on archive of our own!! so far I only have it on fanfiction.net and wattpad and decided hey — I love reading stuff on archive of our own so I’ll put it on there too! 
> 
> this story and the characters are so close to my heart and I’m thankful for all the friends I’ve made along the way of writing it. You guys reading it has made me motivated to keep writing and I really hope that people will continue reading until the end!! thanks for all of your support with this story!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nonfictional version of Bethany discovers something at the library that will change her life forever... in both good and bad ways.

**_New Person, Same Old Mistakes (by Tame Impala)_ **

_"Feel like a brand new person, but you make the same old mistakes . . ."_

* * *

"Bethany . . . earth to Bethany . . ."

A voice echoed in fifteen year-old Bethany Sanderson's head, repeating the same words over and over. It was tempting to snap out of her daze, but she didn't give in until another sharp noise jolted her awake. Her eyes flew open and she sat up abruptly in her desk, blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

"Bethany!" her English teacher, Mr. Tompkins scolded. Although he seemed annoyed, there was the hint of an undeniably amused look on his face. "Taking a snooze?"

The class giggled. Bethany lifted her hand to wipe her mouth where some droll had formed. A sick feeling grew in the pit of her stomach, causing her palms to sweat and body to overheat. Flushing, she met the eyes of her teacher with an apologetic look. 

“S-Sorry," Bethany said. She straightened herself up, exchanging looks with her laughing classmates. It wasn't the first time she'd fallen asleep in class. In fact, she had done it numerous times throughout her life, but not as much as she used to. It wasn't her fault she liked reading late at night, was it?

"You didn't strike me as a droller," a popular and very obnoxious boy, Ross Clarke, said. Bethany despised him, and she had a good reason for it. Once, she caught him ripping pages out of books in the school library to get on the librarian's nerves. According to her, something was deeply wrong with him. She gave him a smoldering glare. It did little but make her classmates laugh more. _Ugh._

"Turn to chapter five," Mr. Tompkins said, drawling the attention of the students back to him. "We'll now discuss the patterns between man and monster as the creature is introduced to the story."

Trying very hard to ignore the glances her classmates stole, she opened her book, _Frankenstein_ , to the correct page and followed along with the class.

* * *

"You have to admit, it was hilarious," Bethany's friend, Liz, said.

Liz had been held back a year in kindergarten, making her one of the eldest kids in the tenth grade, as she would be turning seventeen in April. Bethany and her had become friends in freshman year, and they both shared an equal love for books. Despite that one similarity, however, their personalities were completely different. Bethany found herself often surprised that her only friend in the world was a bubbly, hopeless romantic girl. She was the exact opposite of that.

Bethany lightly punched her in the arm, trying not to smile. "It wasn't hilarious. It was embarrassing!"

Her friend snorted. "You should be used to it by now. You always fall asleep when we read _Frankenstein_. And you're like, way more obsessed with books than me. You shouldn't be falling asleep at all!"

She rolled her eyes, a grin forming on her face as she hitched her backpack up higher on her shoulders. "What's not to be bored about it?"

Walking to the library was a common hobby they'd both gotten used to. Bethany had always had an intense, undying love for books, so when she and Liz met, it was destiny. Liz loved reading (not as much compared to Bethany, however), and was at the library as often as Bethany. They normally walked there after school to do homework. Needless to say, it was Bethany's favorite part of the day.

The walk was short. When they reached the library, the friends rushed over to their usual table by the fantasy section and got to work. Bethany started immediately on her English essay, one she knew she would suffer from because of her lack of attention skills. They walked over to the computers and sat down, taking out their homework.  
  


Bethany opened a blank file on the computer and wasted no time in beginning the dreadful paper. Essays based on books weren't her strong suite, despite the fact that she spent her life reading them. An essay on Harry Potter? Easy. But an essay for school? She genuinely enjoyed schoolwork, but it wasn't what she preferred.

Pressing her fingers into the keyboard, Bethany began to type. Soon, her mind was again a blank canvas, refusing to think beyond the box. Staring at the words she had written so far, Bethany bit her lip and sat back a few feet from the computer to stare at it's entirety. She knew she likely would finish it tonight, but with the way her brain was working, it would take much longer than she'd hoped.

After another moment of inspiration, she leaned forward, placing a finger on the keyboard again. The words came fast, then, like the plummeting waves over a waterfall. Seizing the opportunity, Bethany deleted what she'd written and let everything come naturally. The best writers, she figured, never thought too hard when they wrote.

It only took Liz about an hour to finish her's, probably because she had a better concept about _Frankenstein_. She placed her folders back in her bag and zipped it up. "See you tomorrow."

"But it's Friday!" Bethany said in alarm, her eyes snapping up. She glanced over at her friend, her eyebrows scrunching. "It _is_ Friday, isn't it?"

Liz nodded. "Yeah. But I'm still seeing you tomorrow morning for the school book club meeting."

The redheaded girl groaned. She'd forgotten about that. When she signed herself up for the school book club, she didn't believe it when they said weekend meetings every Saturday morning were mandatory. Saturday was supposed to be about relaxing and taking it easy, not about going back to school. "I completely forgot. I wanted to sleep in!"

Her friend smiled, shaking her head in dismay. She started towards the sliding doors at the front of the library. "Don't we all? Bye!"

"Bye!" Bethany replied, her smile quickly fading alway.

She stared hard at the computer, typing what came to her and scanning through the book as she did so. When the five-page paper was all said and done, the fifteen year-old girl sighed and slumped back into her chair, utterly exhausted. She glanced around the library, taking in it's tall walls and orange carpet, and all of the bookshelves that lined the room. Only a few people were like her who came here at night, but now it was quiet and empty, not a person to be seen. It was mostly crowded when the weekend hit.

She turned back to the computer and printed the essay out, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the essay to finish printing out. The printer slowly spit out the paper, making beeping noises as it did so. Finally, the essay finished printing, and Bethany scooped it up into a stack, placing it into her folder.

"Done your work?"

Bethany jumped. She whipped around, only to see that the librarian, Ms. Conners, had approached her. She'd been so lost in thought she hadn't noticed anyone sneaking up on her. She pressed a hand to her chest and let out a nervous laugh. "Oh! You scared me."

Ms. Conners laughed, rubbing her face with her knuckles. When she pulled away, her eyes looked bloodshot. "That's quite alright, Bethany. I was just seeing how your work load was going."

"It went good. I just finished." Bethany gave her a half-hearted smile. There was something strange about the way Ms. Conners held herself. Her light-colored hair was messy and unkempt, and there were heavy bags under her eyes. It looked as if she'd been crying.

"Are you okay?" Bethany asked, hesitantly picking up her backpack.

The librarian blinked. "I'm alright. It's just the three-year anniversary of . . . well, never mind."

Curiosity burned in Bethany's veins. She felt bad for asking, but now she was intrigued. What could make sweet Ms. Conners so upset? It seemed like she was always in a good mood. "Anniversary of . . . ?"

Ms. Conners let out a deep sigh, her breath hitching. "My son. I-well . . . my son ran away about three years ago. I don't know where he is — or if he's—" She looked as if she wanted to say more but cut herself off, her face constricting with emotions that she couldn't express. She blinked a few times, as if fighting back tears.

Bethany gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry. I don't remember talking much to your son. His name is Owen, right?"

A flicker of a smile appeared on the librarian's face. "Yes. O-Owen. You two were good friends when you were twelve. I'm glad he had such good friends like you and that other boy."

Bethany frowned, feeling confused. She didn't recall ever being friends with Owen, although she did remember him being in her sixth grade math class, which was taught by Mr. Barberry. She didn't remember much about the one or two conversations they'd had together, but for some reason, thinking about him put a warm feeling in her chest. She couldn't identify or explain why.

"Friends with _me_? We weren't friends," Bethany said. "You're probably thinking of someone else. Either way, I'm really sorry. It would be hard to loose someone like that, and not know where they are."

For some reason, saying this brought another emotion bubbling to the surface. It was a yearning, a pining for a lost presence, or a something, or a _someone_. The only person she ever recalled losing was her father. Back then, she had been four years old, about to turn five. His death had been sudden. One moment, he was laughing and watching Bethany open present after present alongside her friends. And the next, her father was being rushed to the hospital.

The librarian shook her head, bringing Bethany back to the present moment. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Bethany. A-Anyways, I'll leave you to it. Lights will be turning out in about an hour."

She nodded. Ms. Conners strode off, curling her arms around herself and walking in a daze. Bethany briefly wondered if the librarian had a husband. Her own mother wasn't married anymore. After her father died, that was that. Her mother never wanted to remarry. She never seemed to get over him.

Bethany stood up, silently walking through the shelves and shelves of books. Being here around books brought a sensation of tranquillity, and she had no idea why. She'd always been drawn to books. They were the reason she still dreamed at night. Reading books distracted her from the issues of the real world, and she was fine with that. Books were her favorite kind of escape. They helped with almost everything.

She stopped at her favorite isle, one that held fantasies beyond compare. Looking around, she noticed that she'd read the majority of them. Her mom wasn't enthusiastic about her love for reading, but she gradually accepted it, making Bethany promise that she wouldn't do anything reckless. Bethany didn't know what she meant by that; reading was probably the safest hobby in the world.

Bethany walked along the isle, running her hand along the rows and rows of books sitting on the shelves. Her hand finally stopped at one, with a particularly intriguing title that jumped out to her, begging her to read it. She plucked it off the shelf and stared down at the cover, admiring the artwork. She loved looking at the front cover, because it often told a story.

On it, a white-haired woman in dark robes stretched out her hand, a hard expression on her face. In front of her, a girl with short pink hair held onto a terrified-looking boy, attempting to save him from being eaten by the gigantic T-Rex in his wake.

Her eyes fluttered to the title, which was in big bold letters. " _Story Thieves_ . . ."

Underneath were smaller yellow letters, meaning this book was a series. It'd been so long since she'd found a series worthy of her liking. She often reread books like _The Little Prince_ , which was her favorite book of all time. It might've been more of a children's book, but she didn't mind. That one had always been her favorite. Now that she held this new book in her hands, she wondered if _Story Thieves_ could give _The Little Prince_ a run for it's money. A satisfied smile poured over her face.

She looked back at the boy on the cover. Strangely, he looked familiar. Even stranger, he looked a lot like Owen Conners from her sixth grade math class. She shook off the weird similarity and opened the book to the front page, where it showed the book had come out about three years ago. It was weird that she'd never seen it here before. Easily, it was the longest book she'd ever seen. It was around nine-hundred pages, just the kind of book Bethany could get lost in.

" _Pick The Plot_ ," she read aloud, her eyes drifting to the words that followed the main title. She was going to enjoy this.

* * *

_"I know there's too much at stake, making the same mistakes, and I still don't know why it's happening. Stop before it's too late . . ."_


	2. Lost In Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bethany starts reading Pick The Plot and is shocked to see her name inside. Owen struggles to adjust to his new life at the time prison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put my story on archive of our own bc my friends convinced me to and wow I have no idea how this website works but I absolutely love reading stuff on it so I thought why not!!!
> 
> for anyone who’s just starting to read this, yes it might be a bit confusing at first lol but I hope you enjoy my story/chapter!

_**Safe (by Daya)  
  
  
**_

_“I remember the rise. We were running backyard to yard. Wasn’t scared of going too far, staying out til it’s too dark . . .”_

__

* * *

  
  
  
It was in the dark of night, hidden by a fort of blankets, where Bethany began to read. With the light of a flashlight, a glow illuminated off of the book, causing the words to look like they would jump out at her. This would be a long, long night of reading.

Opening the first page, the first nine words were: “Owen wanted to scream at the horror before him.”

Thrilled, Bethany began to read.

* * *

Owen wanted to scream at the horror before him. But he found himself unable to form more than a terrified squeak.

Air rushed up against his body as he fell through the sky, a blur of green trees racing past him. And then, as he got closer to the ground, he _did_ scream. He screamed the whole way, as he fell through large leaves and branches. He expected that once he hit the ground, that'd be that. _The end of everything_ , just like the title of that Kiel Gnomenfoot book. Surprise filled him once his back collided harmlessly with the solid earth, and only then did the scream die in his throat.

He blinked a few times, and it took him a second to realize that he _wasn't_ in Nobody's prison anymore. There was no white nothingness surrounding him, and no gigantic comic book or faceless man in sight. _That_ wasn't good. Not at all. Only a few seconds ago, Nobody had been pushing him into the pages of a book. And he had fallen down from the sky, landing (thankfully, without a scratch) on the dirt.

Wait, the dirt? 

Owen slowly climbed to his feet, and he realized that he _was_ outside. Nervously, he glanced all around him, expecting to see someone nearby. But as far as he could tell, there was no one there except him. The world surrounding him represented a jungle, and a drowsy heat hung in the still air. Sunlight was spread across the greenery, shining down from in-between the tall, leafy trees. 

WHAT PATH WOULD YOU LIKE FOR OWEN?  
Dinosaur attack.  
Fall into quicksand.  
Obtain poison ivy.

_Dinosaur attack!_ A sudden thought banged around Owen's head, intense enough to give him a headache. He winced, lifting a hand to his forehead. Since when were thoughts painful? And why had he thought 'dinosaur attack' when there weren't any dinos—

A roar echoed across the jungle, and loud footfalls suddenly began shaking the earth. Owen jumped five feet in the air, his heart rate speeding up quite quickly at the sound. What was _that_? It couldn't be good news. With the bad chain of events he'd recently gone through, Owen wasn't very surprised that _another_ bad thing was coming his way. Just his luck!

First getting separated from his friends in Jupiter City, then trying and failing to fight Nobody, and — up until a few seconds ago — getting thrown into a Pick The Plot book. He should never have asked Charm to give them powers. All because he wanted to have abilities like the Flash! It had been a crazy idea, but in his defense, Owen hadn't known he'd end up, well . . . in a jungle filled with dinosaurs.

He just hadn't expected it to go _this_ bad. Now he was stuck in a book, a book filled with whatever-had-just-roared. He remembered something about dinosaurs . . . dinosaurs were what Nobody had told him would be here, right? Owen had forgotten about it until now, since he'd been trying to hard to get away from Nobody.

Owen used to adore dinosaurs when he was younger. Even before he'd ever jumped into a book with one, he was excited. But now that he was trapped inside a book without a way to get out, seeing a dinosaur didn't seem so cool. And although he really, really hoped that was true, he doubted Nobody would put him in a book that had friendly dinosaurs.

Owen fearfully looked all around him, slowly backing away. No sign of the dinosaur yet. He could hear the dinosaur's thunderous footsteps somewhere nearly, but he couldn't tell which directly it was in. He couldn't see it either, because of how dense the jungle was. Maybe that was a good thing? Maybe since he couldn't see the dinosaur, it couldn't see him. It might walk away from Owen, and then he'd have nothing to worry about!

For a little longer, at least.

Hoping he was right, Owen continued to back away to the direction that he hoped was _away_ from the dinosaur. He hadn't even been here for more than five minutes, and sweat was already rolling down his back. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Owen took another small step backward . . . only for a twig to snap underneath his foot.

Owen cringed, tensing his entire body up. _Please don't hear it please don't hear it please don't—_

The dinosaur roared.

_Okay. Yep, it heard._

The footfalls of the dinosaur got louder, and before Owen had any time to run, the T-Rex appeared in between two tall trees, causing the trees to crack in half and fall to the ground. It was gigantic, just as big as Owen had seen in the movies. Owen had always thought T-Rex's were cute because of their short arms, but seeing them up close, they were basically the _size_ of Owen.

It slowly moved closer; it's feet soundly pounded the earth. Owen backed away, trying not to loose his footing. Running away from the dinosaur would only make things worse. Even though he was _very_ tempted to bolt away with a scream, he had to do the method that hopefully wouldn't get him hurt. If that was possible.

He nearly tripped into a hole but held himself steady, keeping his eyes even with the T-Rex's. The dinosaur advanced towards him, it's beady black eyes boring into Owen's. Come on, really? He couldn't die like this! He was supposed to die, well, when he was old and gray! There were so many birthdays he hadn't had yet!

If the dinosaur managed to grab him, which totally seemed plausible right now, then Owen didn't think he couldn't survive being eaten. Kiel could, but him? He _was_ no Kiel. Owen was pretty sure that once the dinosaur ate him, that'd be it. A sad fact, but true. He wouldn't be able to wave a magic wand and save himself, and he _definitely_ couldn't survive getting eaten forty-three times like his friend had.

Owen continued to back away, holding his hands behind him to navigate through the trees. He never tore his gaze away from the T-Rex, for he was afraid it would lunge the minute he looked away. He edged deeper into the jungle until he could no longer see the hungry dinosaur. He turned around and dashed for some form of escape.

With an angry roar, the T-Rex began to run after him. The pounding of it's feet were heavy enough to shatter the earth, but somehow Owen stayed balanced. He raced through the bush, ducking low over branches and jumping high over rocks. The journey seemed endless, and the jungle seemed to go on forever.

Behind him, the T-Rex was gaining speed. The boy was no match for one very large, hungry dinosaur, and it reached him with ease. Startled and even more fearful, Owen tried to ignore the pain in his legs and pushed further. In his wake, the dinosaur knocked down dozens of trees, and soon the rocking of the ground was too much for the boy. He lost his footing and stumbled, falling straight into a clearing.

But Owen had no time to look at his new surroundings. The dinosaur loomed over him, barring it's gigantic teeth and roaring down at him. In one swift move, the T-Rex lunged for Owen, it's mouth opening wide.

With a terrified yell, Owen rolled over and made a run for it while the dinosaur was distracted. His eyes darted around the clearing. There was a huge ravine sitting before him, and a treacherous river lay seventy feet below. Across from the gorge were a few dozen buildings that looked like something out of Jurassic park. Separating that and Owen was a rope bridge that allowed access across the ravine.

Wasting no time, Owen started across the bridge. It swung and creaked, looking as though it might break at any moment. Owen placed another foot on the next step, cringing as the bridge groaned. At that moment, the T-Rex regained it's sense and unleashed an earth-shattering roar. It ran to him, and that was when Owen began to scream.

He fled across the bridge, still screaming. All the while, the bridge creaked and groaned loudly. His next step caused two of the floorboards to break and fall soundly into the river. Owen gulped and looked back, but it was too late. The dinosaur jumped towards him in a wild attempt to catch him.

Unfortunately for both Owen and the T-Rex, the bridge went down. The T-Rex wailed as it fell with the rest of the bridge, making a big splash in the river. Owen screamed as he began to fall to his death, wildly clutching at the air. No, he couldn't go like this! There was so much he needed to do and he had to stop Nobody and—

Suddenly, he stopped falling.

Gasping in confusion, Owen opened his eyes to see the hood of his sweatshirt had gotten caught on a floorboard. The part of the bridge that hadn't been cut off was still connected to the other side of the gorge. Laughing breathlessly at his luck, Owen shakily climbed the connected floorboards until he reached the top. He pulled himself up onto the grass and kicked away from the edge, hoping to never fall into it again.

Grinning from ear-to-ear, he stood up. _Yes_! He did it! His legs wobbled, and his hands shook. But once he turned around, his smile faded. He found himself surrounded by a group of adults, age ranging from twenty to fifty. What? Where had they come from? A moment ago there'd been no one when Owen had looked across the bridge. Or maybe he hadn't noticed, since he'd been trying to escape from the dinosaur.

Owen awkwardly waved his hand at the people, thinking it was weird how they were all just staring at him. "Um, h-hi? I-I'm Owen. Just almost died back there." He tried for a smile, but none of the people returned it. "Sorry to intrude, and sorry about destroying your bridge. Who ar—"

Before he could finish his sentence, something sharp pricked the side of his leg. He cried out and fell to the ground, suddenly unable to move. Hands grabbed him, lifting him up and carrying him inside their premises. He heard conversation between the strange people, but he couldn't detect what they were saying.

In his fading effort to stay conscious, he sputtered out one name that was the centerpiece of all his worry, which had been constantly in the back of his mind all day.

"Bethany!”

* * *

  
Bethany shut the book. Her heart was fluttering with anticipation with every word that drew her in. She felt like she was being absorbed into the book, connecting instantly with the story it told. It was action-packed and kept her light on her feet. It made her both fearful and excited for what was to come next. Every word was laced with mystery, every syllable dripping with adventure, and every sentence ending in a cliffhanger. Would the boy survive? Would he die? She could hardly wait to find out.

But now, her heart was pounding not out of excitement, but out of horror. The main character —Owen— said her name! Her's! She knew it was most likely coincidence, but it was almost eerie how everything seemed all too familiar. First, the boy on the cover seemed familiar. He looked like that boy from her math class, who's name was also Owen. That part was probably was strangest of all. She knew that she could recognize him from anywhere. He was unforgettable . . . except he was only a fictional character.

Then again, he had said her _name_. What fictional character was named Bethany? It was so strange how it felt like destiny when she found this book . . . only to be given the surprise that one of the character's names was Bethany.

Wiping the sweat off her forehead, Bethany sighed and set the book on her nightstand. She sounded crazy. Fictional people weren't real! Neither did they bear any connection to real people. It shouldn't even bother her that a fictional character happened to have the same name as her. But something about it felt _off_. Like she was missing something important.

Even with these unsettling thoughts, she managed to close her eyes and embrace the quietness of her house. With one last look at the mysterious book, Bethany curled into her blanket and slowly drifted off to sleep, which brought dreams of boy magicians, evil villains, and best friends named Owen.  
  


* * *

It was dawn when Bethany cracked her eyes open. She lifted her head, glanced at the alarm clock next to her bed, and groaned. 6:09 a.m, _really_? She got up early for school, but not _that_ early. She must've woken up automatically, despite it being the weekend. 

Sighing, she threw her head back onto the pillow and waited for sleep to come again. But sleep wouldn't come. Her mind was racing, and the drowsiness she felt earlier was gone. After laying there for ten minutes, Bethany abruptly sat up, accidentally banging her head on the bedrest behind her. 

Fine. Maybe her body just didn't _want_ to sleep. She gazed about the dark room, where the first of the sun's rays would begin to shine through the curtained window of her bedroom. With a faint smile that was worn mostly in solitude, she looked, one by one, at her many books stacked along her shelf.

They had always brought her a sort of certainty, knowing that there were worlds hidden in those pages. No matter the book she read, they always told a story. She knew she would not always have the luxury of reading whenever she liked. With every year of school, more work was pushed towards the students, and Bethany found herself reading a bit less than she would like. But, oh well. She could reread them all if she wanted.

Then, a thought came to her, and she automatically reached for the book on her bedside table, _Story Thieves: Pick The Plot_.

"Wait . . . what am I doing?" Bethany whispered to herself.

The sun hadn't even risen yet. She should wait until it was actually _light_ outside . . . yet something stopped her from refusing. She felt the dire need to read this book and learn what happens to Owen, no matter how long it took. She'd never felt this sort of determination to finish a book, but she embraced it. Sure, the main character had called out her name, but that was not a reason to get stupidly frightened over nothing.

Both frustrated at herself for getting worried over nothing and feeling the need to read her new book, Bethany brought her knees to her chest and opened the book to its bookmarked page.

* * *

"Gah!"

When Owen opened his eyes, it was when a bucket of cold water had been thrown on him, drenching his hair and clothes. He sprang upright, sputtering and gasping as he adjusted to his new surroundings. It was obvious that he wasn't in a jungle anymore. It looked like he was in a laboratory.

The walls were a plain gray, with various locked doors stationed everywhere, and labeled things like "airlock" and "fuel room". Rooms that resembled jail cells were all along the hallway, which was what Owen currently resided in. The cell was simple enough, with a small bed, sink, toilet, chair, and window. Next to the door was a man in an orange jumpsuit, holding a now empty bucket and looking quite intimidating.

"Ah, I see you're awake now, stranger. That sleep dart was good for knocking you out, but it was taking long, and we are all impatient for answers," said the man, setting down the bucket on the floor. "So tell me, boy, state your reasoning for recklessly wandering the jungle. Planning to hunt down and single-handedly kill a dino on your own? Without a squad?"

Owen gulped. He tried to process what the man had said, but it was hard to when his head felt a little foggy, he had no idea where he was, and the last thing he remembered was almost getting eaten by a dinosaur. How had he gotten here, and what was this place? Was he in a dream? Had he hit his head? Who was this guy, and why did he look like a crazy person? What was _happening_?

"Well?"

"Huh?" He blinked. "Wha— wait, I don't live here. I-I've never even _seen_ a dinosaur until today! I was running from it, and then I made it across the bridge and found you guys. And then you um . . . blow-darted me." He glanced down at his leg, and sure enough, a tiny pinprick was on it.

The man narrowed his eyes, crossing his buff arms around his chest. Owen noticed that the man was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit, labeled TSA in small letters at the right hand corner.

"Wherever you came from, you're an idiot for coming here,” the man said. “You're lucky we decided to let you live. Most of my crew thought you'd be useless as an inexperienced member. I said we could benefit from training someone from the outside. I better be right, or else you and I will not be on good terms."

"Um . . . okay," Owen replied, trying to hide his nervousness. "Is there a way, you know, out of this world? This might sound crazy but I need to save my friend Bethany, a girl who can travel between worlds. The whole world could be in danger if I don't help her. I won't be any trouble if you show me the way out." He forced a smile. "I promise."

The man stared hard at him, taking a step closer. "Show you the way out?" He snorted. "There's _no_ way of getting out of the agency unless with a hunting squad. Like it or not, you're with us now. No way around it. You go out there? You get eaten by dinos." He backed away, his tone harsh and low. "Now get changed into that jumpsuit on your bed and join everyone in thirty minutes for dinner. Make some friends, because you'll be stayin' here for the rest of your life. Well, unless you get fed to the dinos." 

"Wait, but did you not hear the part where the world is in danger? My friend, Bethany, she needs my---"

Before he could finish, the man left and slammed the cell door behind him. Owen stared after him, gaping. Okay, clearly _that_ man didn't care that the worlds could be in danger from Nobody. He walked up to the bars of his cell, tugging at them with both hands. Of course, they didn't budge. Owen groaned.

So basically, he was in some kind of agency. An agency for what? On the man's uniform, there'd been three letters on it. _TSA_. Oh, so that must be what the agency was called. Owen guessed that the "A" stood for agency. As for the "T" and "S" . . . he didn't know. Either way, he wasn't meant to be here. He hadn't done anything wrong, so he shouldn't be locked up!

The man hadn't even introduced himself or asked Owen his name. He guessed it didn't matter. He would learn everyone's names eventually here. Well, that depended how long he stayed. And he wasn't planning on staying long. Could he escape somehow and get back to Bethany before the worst occurred?

He would do everything in his power to stop Nobody and defeat him once and for all. He was not the same boy that he was a few months ago. He felt different, older almost, and definitely braver. He had to save Bethany! Just like that Star Wars quote: _he was her only hope._

Mentally, he cursed himself for not learning some jailbreak tricks from Moira. If anyone could escape from jail, it would be her.

"There's no way out!" said a girl's voice.

Owen jumped, practically five feet in the air. "Who's there?"

There was a small chuckle. "Look to your right."

He looked to the right to find that a small section of the prison cell next to him was connected to his. He hadn't noticed it before. Walking over, he saw a girl sitting cross-legged on the ground. She was Owen's age; she wore the same orange jumpsuit as everyone else, and her pink hair was just above her shoulders.

Out of everyone he'd seen here, she looked harmless enough. She was pretty, too. Though he couldn't be sure she wasn't dangerous. She was a prisoner here, after all. If this was a prison for murderers, Owen would rather talk to less people than more. Being here made him nervous enough!

"I don't understand why you're here," the girl said, shaking her head in disbelief. "How did you --- _why_ did you come here?"

"Um . . ." Owen shifted on his feet. "Same as everyone else, I guess? You're not gonna . . . hurt me, are you?"

The girl's eyes widened. Then, she broke out laughing. 

Owen kept staring at her, not sure whether to be amused or terrified. "What's so funny?"

Her laugh slowly faded, and she smiled at him. "No, it's just --- of all people, you'd think _I_ would hurt you on purpose. After everything we've been through, y'know?"

After everything they'd been through? What did _that_ mean? Owen glanced behind him, wondering if she was talking to someone else. Maybe an imaginary friend, or something. What was happening? Did she think they were friends? Or maybe he looked a lot like someone she knew, and that's where the mixup was coming from. 

"Are you sure you're talking to the right person?" Owen asked her. 

"Yeah. I'm looking right at you. Who else would I be talking to? My invisible future self?"

_She's crazy_ , Owen thought. _Okay, play it cool, Owen. Just play along, and hopefully, she won't try to kill you or anything._

"Anyway . . ." Owen awkwardly cleared his throat. "Can we back up? Maybe introduce ourselves."

The girl's brows raised slightly. "Okay, if you really want to. My name's Kara, as you already know." She smiled, and he didn't have the heart to tell her that no, he _didn't_ know. "What's your name, fellow prisoner? It's not actually John Smith, is it?"

"What?"

"That's what the time agents decided to call you, when you were knocked out."

As weird as this situation was, Owen almost smiled. "Oh, no it's, uh--- my name is Owen. I'm Owen Conners."

"Nice to meet you, Owen Conners." Her smile faded, her expression quickly turned serious. "Now, can we talk about what's really important? I think the most important question is: what are you _doing_ here? I thought I told you not to come here!"

He frowned. "What?"

"I left you a note, remember? It's safer for me to be here," the girl said, slowly standing up. "I really don't get why you came. You've only gotten yourself trapped here, like the rest of us. I told you already that I'm not leaving. You can't convince me to do that."

"Right," Owen replied, feeling immensely confused. "Well, now that I came, I guess I'll . . . um, _leave_ , if you could show me the way out?" 

Yeah, that sounded good.

Kara quirked an eyebrow, realization dawning on her face. "Wait . . . you don't know who I am, do you?"

Slowly, he shook his head, giving her a guilty smile.

"That actually makes a lot of sense," she said, letting out a breath. "Weird. I thought I'd only be meeting you once, when we saw each other a year ago."

"Once?" Owen repeated. A year ago? What was she talking about?

"It's a time travel thing. Don't think too hard on it. The first time I met you was in my past, and now the first time you're meeting me is your present."

"Wait, you time travel?" Owen asked, too confused to acknowledge the other things she said. Kara simply nodded, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He grinned. "That's perfect! You can get me out of here! I've had the _worst_ day. I'm currently trapped inside a book, my best friend will be split in half unless I can do something about it, and now I'm in a prehistoric jail cell!"

Kara stared at him, brows furrowed. "Okay, well that sounds like a crazy day. Kind of unbelievable, though. Except that last part, because we really _are_ being held prisoner in the prehistoric era."

Owen shook his head. "It's true! Okay, I get that it sounds crazy, but it's true. I'll explain everything, I swear, but you need to time travel me out of here. If you just put me back in time, that will give me all the time I need to save my friend and escape this book."

"I can't."

"Oh, thank you, grea—" His eyes widened. "Wait, you can't?"

Kara rolled her eyes. "Owen, do you not see the prison we're in? There's no way out of this place, unless you can time travel. And that's only optional for people with a time bracelet." She tapped her wrist. "With the bracelet, you can easily go back in time."

"Do you have one?"

"Nope! That's the first thing the time agents took from me." She smiled slightly. "So convenient, right? So basically, unless you have a time bracelet, you really aren't getting out of here. The only people who even make it outside are the dinosaur wranglers and hunters."

"Dinosaur hunters," Owen repeated. "I've heard that before . . . from that really scary man who was in my cell a few minutes ago."

"His name is Tobias. We all have to call him 'instructor' and 'sir.' He's one of the instructors of the agency," Kara said, making a face. "Never get on his bad side."

"Trust me, I don't plan to stay long. If we can't time travel out of here, what other ways can I escape?"

"No other way. But if you want to get out of the joint and be outside, you can become a dinosaur wrangler or hunter and explore the jungle, hunting for dinosaurs." Kara looked down, playing with the edge of her sleeve. "The job is dangerous, though. Many people don't come back alive."

"If that's my only way of escape, then so be it," Owen said in a tone that was much braver than he felt. "I have to escape this book before the readers make me get into worse situations than before."

"Book?" Kara asked. "What book? What readers? Is this one of your nonfictional things again?"

Owen sighed apprehensively. "I'll tell you the full story . . . maybe tonight or at dinner." He glanced at her. "Do we get dinner? Is that a thing here?"

"Of course! The food here is actually pretty good." She tilted her head. "For prison food, anyway."

At least there was that. After the eventful day he'd had, Owen wouldn't mind having a full plate of food. No matter how worried he was. 

"You'll probably want to change," Kara added. "Dinner starts soon."

"Change?" Owen's cheeks grew warm, having no idea what she meant. Then she pointed to something behind him, and he looked over his shoulder, where his bed was sitting. _Oh_. Right, his jumpsuit!

"Do I have to wear it?" Owen asked as he walked to his bed, picking up his new bright orange jumpsuit. Sure enough, it said _Smith_ on the name tag. How strange. "I'm not technically a prisoner here. I haven't even committed a crime in my life!"

"Yeah, I'm surprised the time agents actually threw you in here." She chuckled. "You look too innocent to even cause a time slip!"

"A what?" Owen asked.

"It's a time travel thing. I'll explain later."

After making sure he had some privacy, Owen changed quickly, setting his dirty sweatshirt, jeans, and socks on the bed, exchanging his white socks for new black ones. His stomach rumbled. Fictional world or not, Owen was hungry. 

Apparently, he didn't have to wait for dinner long. A ringing sound blared three times across the building, alerting every member that dinner was starting. Every door opened automatically, and Owen stepped out, soon followed by his new friend.

"So," Owen said as they walked side by side through the hall. "What do prisoners do here, exactly? The jobs can't only be dinosaur wrangler and hunter."

"No," Kara agreed, her short hair flying behind her. "There are lists of other jobs you can be assigned to, all of which I can't name at the top of my head. First, you have your skills tested with a simulation test. The test will decide your top three job choices, and from there you are free to choose which job you will do. Everyone has to do a job, and we all must work each day for as long as your job requires. Each job is mentored by an instructor, who teaches you the basic skills before sending you on your own."

He groaned. "This'll take up more time than I realized. This entire stupid thing is delaying me from saving Bethany."

She glanced at him. "Bethany? I remember you talking about her. Is she your girlfriend?"

He felt his face go red. How embarrassing. This was even more embarrassing, now that he was trapped in a book with hundreds of people reading. He hoped no one _he_ knew was reading this. "What? _No_! She's my best friend, and she's in danger from this guy named Nobody —"

"Kidding," Kara said, amusement in her voice. He let out a breath of relief. 

Surprising him, she placed a hand on his shoulder. Her touch felt both comforting and strange at the same time. Her eyes were sympathetic as they stared into his. "Hey, it's okay, Owen. I promise I'll help you figure it all out. For now, let's get dinner and you can tell me your whole insane story from start to finish."

Just like that, he found himself relaxing. "Okay."

He would find Bethany someday. He felt it in his heart. But for now, he had to fill his empty stomach, prepare for a simulation test, and find out how the heck he was going to escape this place.

* * *

_“I don't remember it all, but I know that I was invincible. Like the heroes in the cartoons, saving lives through my living room . . .”_


	3. The Glowing Object

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the fictional world, Kiel crosses paths with fictional Bethany and discovers what’s happened to her.

**_The Less I Know The Better (by Tame Impala)_**

_"I was doing fine without ya, 'til I saw your face, now I can't erase . . ."_

* * *

**Three Years Ago**

The world had been much quieter since justice had been restored, and Magisteria and Quanterium had found peace in their unity. Ever since magic and science had collided, the people had never felt so whole. Neither side was complete without the other, and neither wanted to be separated by two planets again. They were both learning, and both making new inventions together each day. Well, it was a working progress. Some Magisterians were still anti-Quanterium, and some Quanteriums still despised Magisterians. Somehow, he knew this little kink would be worked out.

Kiel Gnomenfoot spent most of his days huddled in his tower, studying all forms of magic from his new and improved spell book. Some spells were more difficult than others, and required immense concentration and successfully learn and perform them. One particularly difficult spell took nearly two weeks to learn, an extremely exhausting task for the pre-teen boy. Relearning magic was hard, possibly the hardest and most frustrating thing he'd ever had to do. The process was long, and he wanted it to speed up so he could use magic again.

Sighing tiredly, Kiel pushed the chair he'd been sitting in away from his table, standing up and stretching. He'd been doing this for months, ever since he returned from Bethany and Owen's world. Frankly, he wasn't sure how long it'd been since he last was there. He had planned to meet his friends somewhere next time they visited. Where was it? Which part of the planet?

He scratched his head, trying to remember. Knowing him, he most likely had missed it. He was late to nearly everything. He had been in hiding for a while, now, intent on finishing his studies on magic, no matter how many months it took. When he first came back to his world, he immediately sought out a new master. After a week of searching, he found a magician by the name of Abdo, an old man who lived in the countryside. Abdo had studied magic all his life, and was more than eager to teach it to the young boy.

Kiel saw his new master every now and then, as he popped in twice every week. As he got stronger, Abdo showed up less, and said many times he believed Kiel could study magic without his help. Every now and then, he'd take a break and would venture out into the streets of the town nearest him, to make new acquaintances and get fresh air.

Truthfully, it was to deal with the loneliness that sometimes seized him. This was the price he payed for dedicating himself to the study of magic, but being lonely was seldom a problem since he was so busy. While he remained in high spirits, he did miss his best friends, that was for sure. Sometimes, he considered getting in contact with Charm, but he knew she was busy dealing with fame after helping save the world.

So here he stayed, trying to figure out who he was and where he belonged now that his magic was ripped from him.

Walking over to the tower window, he noticed it was beginning to drizzle lightly, and the windowsill was covered in small wet dots. He shrugged and pulled on his boots. A little bit of rain was the least of his problems.

An owl hooted in the distance, it's call echoing over the woods in front of him as Kiel clambered out of his tower. An almost-full moon was shaded by clouds, barely giving him enough light to see by in the vastly darkening environment. The air was a bit chilly, so he'd brought his cloak along and burrowed his hands deep in his pockets. A light rain sprinkled on him as he walked through the familiar path in the woods, where a nearby village he often went to would be waiting at the end of.

He walked at a slightly fast pace, not to keen about getting caught in a rainstorm at night. He could just make out the bright lights inside the houses, which were much more technologically improved now that science had mixed with magic. The fact that the two polar opposites, enemies since the beginning of time, had actually made peace was appalling to Kiel. He didn't know how Charm had done it. Or maybe it wasn't Charm, but he himself. Hadn't he (well, technically Owen) played a part in saving the world?

_Obviously_ , Kiel thought, shaking his head. Why would he even ask that when he already knew the answer? According to Bethany and Owen, he was much more famous than he believed.

He wondered if he'd ever do something like save the world again, now that he knew the truth about himself, about his world. He was fictional. He wasn't a real person, and never had been. And yet, he felt real, and he had emotions and a life of his own. Was that not real? Even if an author named Jonathan Porterhouse had wrote his story and brought him to life, he still had the same things Owen and Bethany had. He, just like everyone else in his world and other fictional worlds, was real. Maybe not in the eyes of the "readers", but to him, he was.

His breath came in clouds as the rain gradually got heavier, and the air grew colder. He removed his hands from his pockets and hugged himself close, silently wondering if the need to go to town was really worth it anymore. He was about to turn back when he noticed a peculiar light shining in the sky, getting brighter with every second. Transfixed, he watched as it got bigger and bigger, until he was convinced it wasn't a light at all.

Something was coming.

He began to panic at the bright object that came barreling down from the sky, going through a list of spells that might help him. He couldn't think of any strong protection ones that he could cast, not without his spell book close by. He also wasn't as strong as he used to be, and was generally quite weak when performing magic. He raised his hand in front of his face and began to murmur a protection spell, a small one that should keep him safe.

The object got closer, so close he was blinded by the brightness. He raised his other hand to cover his face and made a feeble attempt to run or take cover. The explosion followed a few seconds later, knocking Kiel off his feet and sending him flying into the dirt. He was slumped against a large tree root, breathing heavily feeling nothing but pain rocketing through his body. He heard screams in the distance, and voices calling out in alarm. The damage was over, and Kiel felt lucky that the glowing object hadn't killed everyone in the countryside.

Struggling to get up, he brushed the dirt off his sleeves and ignored the pounding in his head and ringing of his ears. He put a hand against the nearby tree for support and slowly stood, head spinning as he took in his surroundings. Not too far away, he saw people from the village running into the woods to see what had fallen from the sky. Kiel silently shuffled back onto the path and noticed the glowing light was gone, so he followed the direction of where he assumed the object had landed.

A dozen thoughts went through his head. It couldn't have been a bomb, because if it was everyone would be dead. But what had enough impact to cause an explosion? Was it a meteorite, like the ones he'd seen in space before? Owen told him about meteorites once, and explained a few had collided into the moons surface, which is why it looks dented. He thought hard about this. While it could be a meteorite, why was it glowing so brightly? He'd never seen anything that glowed so bright, but was convinced it must've been some magic spell gone wrong.

Kiel continued on, noticing the villagers were going in a different direction than him, given the fact that they didn't see where the glowing object landed in the first place. Despite the situation, he grinned, and hurried at a faster pace down the path. The fact that no one else but him would discover this dangerous thing that fell from the sky was enough to get him excited about finding it. He kept walking, noticing out of the corner of his eye a fading light in the distance, deep in the woods. Casting one last look over his shoulder, Kiel stepped off the path.

As he walked, he had to be more careful about where he stepped. Chunks of tree branches had fallen after the explosion, and the dirt had become muddy as the rain drenched the landscape. Squinting in the dark, Kiel stepped over every obstacle in his path with ease, despite not being able to see very well. The rain was pouring down harder now, and the boy was both cold and drenched. Sucking in a slow, freezing breath, Kiel realized the glowing light was much closer than before. Shivering, he kept going, not stopping once until he found the object.

A sick feeling grew in his gut. He had trouble ignoring it, but blamed it on the cold and the rain anyway. Nothing bad would happen! He was Kiel Gnomenfoot, and investigating a glowing object that caused an explosion was the safest thing he'd ever done, which was saying plenty. He could see the light now, faint but still glowing ever so slightly in the darkness. Rounding a bend of oak trees, Kiel finally could see the glowing object, and it was much bigger than he'd anticipated. Eyes wide, the boy slowly took a step closer, then another. The glowing object wasn't an object at all. It was —

"Bethany?" Kiel gasped. His voice cracked, but he didn't care, because all he could focus on was the girl lying unconscious on the ground. He rushed to her side and slid onto his knees, placing his hands on her shoulders.

He shook her gently, staring at her with worry. "Bethany? Can you hear me?"

His friend didn't move, and looked to be unconscious, or maybe even dead. Her body was still glowing faintly, illuminating her skin with a strange pale texture. Her face looked ashen. Her hair didn't seem as vibrant of a red as it used to be. Even the color of her clothes were faded and run-down. Nothing was right.

He shook Bethany again, hoping to rouse her but failing again. With chattering teeth, he looked to his right, then his left, for anyone that could help him. There was no one around, and the air seemed the be getting colder by the minute. The rain fell into a steady downpour, drenching Kiel and causing him to tremble violently. He looked down at Bethany again, just in time to see the last of the remaining light from her body was fading fast. Seconds later, complete darkness enveloped him. Kiel clenched his teeth. She needed help.

"H-Help!" Kiel shouted, feeling lame at the sound of his shaking voice. He felt so, so cold. The rain was relentless and it sent a wet chill through his body.

Inhaling slowly, he closed his eyes and tried to make himself stop shaking so he could concentrate on a spell. As he recited the lines of the spell, he imagined warmth and light forming in his hands, spreading throughout his entire body like a tidal wave. At an agonizingly slow pace, he felt the chill from his body wash away as warmth radiated from his head to his toes. When he opened his eyes, he noticed a glowing light radiating from his body, and smiled in triumph.

Now able to see and move without the overbearing darkness and cold, Kiel slid his hands under Bethany's lifeless form, struggling for a bit to stand. When he finally got a good grip on her, he began the long walk back to the path. Supporting both her weight and the spell was exhausting, and he felt himself growing weaker with every step he took. He forced himself to keep going so he could bring her to shelter, to a safe place where he could know she would be okay. The last thing he was going to do was give up because of his weariness.

This determination helped, but not for long. Kiel was close to the path when he wasn't able to hold his spell any longer. He'd never had to hold one this long, but now that he had he felt as if all the energy had been zapped from him. The light from his body slowly faded into nothingness, causing him to trip into an unseen tree branch. He lost his grip on Bethany, and he fell. Where he fell, he wasn't sure, but he couldn't fight the exhaustion any longer. As coldness seeped back into his body, and heavy rain poured relentlessly on him, all Kiel wanted was sleep. He stared into the darkness, and the sick feeling in his gut returned.

He could feel the threshold shift.

The link between fictional and non-fictional worlds was gone. The gate was closed.

* * *

_  
"She said it's not know or never, waiting years we'll be together. I said better late than never. Just don't make me wait forever . . ."_


	4. Reminiscence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While in Magisteria, Kiel explains the situation to a memoryless, fictional version of Bethany.

**_Pumped Up Kicks (by Foster The People)_ **

_"All the other kids with the pumped up kicks. You'd better run, better run, out run my gun . . ."_

* * *

**Three Years Ago**

Everything was a dizzy, swirling mass of dark brown. The first thing she noticed as her vision came into focus was the corner of a table. It looked like it'd been carved from wood, and there was a clay cup of water sitting on it. The blurriness slowly went away, and she noticed several blurry figures situated around it, all sitting in chairs. There was a heavy, warm blanket on top of her, and it felt like it was suffocating her entire body with its heat. Blinking in confusion, she moved her head to the side and noticed it was held in place. No matter how hard she fought against it, whatever was holding her head wouldn't let go.

She felt dizzy, and the room wouldn't stop spinning. Her arms and legs felt weak. As the grogginess began to fade away, she looked at the faces of the figures. They were complete strangers. Eyes widening, she began to thrash around, trying to escape from this contraption. The effort was exhausting, however, and she felt as though she'd just run a marathon. Panic settled in and her heartbeat quickened. She had to get out of here.

She continued to fight, and a woman stood up, yelling for the others to help her. "Calm her down!"

"N-No, no, n—no" she stuttered, her words slurring as she struggled against her bonds. The woman put an arm on her shoulder, while two men grabbed her flailing arms. "No! NO!"

"Calm down! Calm down!" The man to her left shouted at her, which only made her fight harder. She tried throwing her head up again, which only resulted in pain. She kicked the blanket off and managed to kick one of the men in the stomach, who grunted and held her tighter.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a long, thin tube linked to her forehead. She ripped it out with her free hand, wincing at the burning sensation that filled her entire head. She was dimly aware of the blood beginning to pool on her forehead. The woman moved to hold her arms down, which gave her the opportunity to free her head of the contraption and hit the woman hard in the shoulder. Not prepared for the sudden impact, the woman toppled over. She moved to fight the other men off, but they were quick to hold her back down.

"No!" she cried angrily, staring the men in the face.

"Stop fighting!" the man to her right said. "Calm down! We won't hurt you."

She ignored him, kicking and punching with all her might against the men.

"Hey, boy! You have to calm her down!" the woman called, hurrying into a doorway she hadn't seen until now.

"I'm coming!" a voice replied, and a boy rushed into the room, skidding to a stop as his eyes locked with her's. "Bethany! You're awake."

"Yeah, she's awake. All she's been giving us is trouble," the man she kicked said, rubbing his stomach.

Bethany stared at Kiel with terrified eyes, and he squeezed in between the strangers and sat on the chair by her side. She looked around at the woman and two men standing around her, who released their grips on her but continued watching her every move warily, as if she'd try to escape again.

"It's okay!" Kiel said enthusiastically, looking down at her with a barely contained grin. "You're safe now. These guys found us out in the storm and saved us."

"Storm?" Bethany parroted, feeling deeply confused about everything that was going on. Why was Kiel here? Where was she? Who were these people? "What storm?"

"It was raining and freezing cold last night," said the woman, straightening her disheveled shirt. "Kiel said he saw you . . . fall from the sky? Was that it?"

Kiel nodded. "There was a glowing light falling from the sky. It crashed in the woods so I went to find it, and instead I found you. I thought you were, um, dead—" He cleared his throat as his voice rose an octave, and she realized suddenly how grave her situation was.

"Josef, here —" the woman said, gesturing to the shaggy-haired man who Bethany had kicked. "— found you two unconscious while on a late night walk. You both would've froze to death if he hadn't saved you."

Bethany looked at the strangers around her with a newfound appreciation, feeling her heartbeat slowly return to normal. She felt embarrassed having made such a big scene, although they had seemed like people holding her captive at the time.

"I was unconscious?" she mumbled, her head pounding.

"Yeah," said the other man next to Josef. "We have a lot of questions, which we couldn't have answered until you woke up. We're all very curious to hear your . . . story."

Frowning, she looked at Kiel, who's eyes held the same questions as the others. The only problem was . . . she couldn't seem to think of the answer.

"You need to rest more," said the woman, gently pushing Bethany back onto the bed. Feeling overwhelmingly exhausted, she obeyed, allowing them to put the thick blanket back on her. She assumed it was there to keep her body temperature heated, since the man had said they almost "froze to death".

Josef picked up the head contraption (which turned out to be an assortment of wires and a small plastic headpiece), and fit it back on her scalp; as he did so, the women wiped the blood from Bethany's forehead and stuck the needle back in her skin.

"Don't move," Josef warned with a slightly teasing tone, offering her a friendly smile.

She rolled her eyes. _Now_ she wouldn't.

"Go to sleep," the woman ordered in a stern tone. "You look better than before, but you don't look . . . right."

Bethany furrowed her brows, another wave of tired confusion hitting her. "I don't? Is something wrong?"

She glanced at Kiel, who shrugged. "I also noticed something was wrong right away. You don't look like your normal healthy self."

Just as she began to get even more concerned, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Just — don't worry," he said, forcing a reassuring smile. She stared into his eyes, a million questions in her head. What about this situation wasn't worrying?

"Why not?" Bethany pressed with a frown.

"You're fine," he said, removing his hand. "Everything'll be okay. Once you get sleep we'll figure it out. Then you can jump yourself back home . . . if you want."

"What are you talking about?" she whispered, her eyes half closed.

Kiel continued smiling. "Y'know, use your powers! Which shouldn't be hard once you get better. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen you or Owen in a few months. It's weird not having you guys around."

She stared at him. ". . . Powers? Who's Owen?"

He stared back. "Why are you asking that?"

At Bethany's prolonged confused stare, he sucked in a barely audible gasp. "Oh no. I'll talk to you later, just um, get some rest right now."

What was he talking about? she wondered as he rushed away into the other room. She decided that he must be crazy, because she'd never had powers, and she didn't know anyone named Owen. This was all one huge mass of confusion. It must be a dream, because Kiel being here didn't make any sense.

The only thing that did make sense was that she needed to get home, back to her father. But weirdly, when she thought about her dad, no specific memories came to her. The memories were all just a blur of her exciting childhood, mostly consisting of training alongside him as a superhero. She called herself Twilight Girl, a superhero name she was quite proud of. She picked it out herself when she was eight, when she first got her superhero outfit. It didn't fit her anymore since she'd grown a significant amount, so she had recently gotten a brand new suit when she turned twelve.

Bethany hoped there would be answers to what was going on. She could tell something was wrong by the look on Kiel's face. Something feltwrong, but she figured it was only because of the pain in her head. If it was true that she really had fallen from the sky and looked to be dead, then something was seriously wrong. But she couldn't recall any reason — any memory — that showed an explanation for what had happened to her.

* * *

Kiel was worried.

From the moment he'd heard her say the words—"Who's Owen?"— he knew there was something deeper going on. He had looked into Bethany's eyes for any sign that proved she was joking, but there was only confusion in them. For some reason, she didn't remember Owen, or the very important fact that she was half fictional, half nonfictional, and had the power to jump into books.

He felt glad she remembered him, but then felt a little guilty for feeling glad. Owen was their best friend, and he was the only reason they'd met Kiel. Without him, a lot more problems could've happened, and they wouldn't have survived everything they did. He wondered why Bethany couldn't remember him. Of all the people to forget, why was it him? Had Nobody erased all her memories of the nonfictional world? No, that was impossible. It wouldn't make any sense. There would be no way to do that. If he did, did she believe that she's fictional, and that's why she couldn't remember being half nonfictional?

He ran through all the possible things she might remember if she had forgotten about her powers. Nothing abruptly stood out to him, which worried him further. But if she remembered him, did that mean she remembered all the other books they had visited?

He sat down on a wooden chair at a small kitchen table, watching Bethany's sleeping form. She looked healthier now, and her skin had returned to its natural color. He was glad she was awake, now. After what he saw last night, she might as well have been dead. Or she could've gone into a coma. There was no way he could loose her. He could even _imagine_ a life without her in it. She was his best friend.

He put his head in his hands and racked his brain for ideas, trying to think. No, Nobody couldn't have erased all her memories of the nonfictional world. The only thing he wanted to do was free the fictional world from the nonfictional one.

Suddenly, he came to a realization, and it sent his world tumbling down.

"Oh no," Kiel muttered. "No, no . . ."

There was no other explanation than the fact that Nobody had managed to separate Bethany. It had to be true. And if it was, that meant the Bethany with him now was fictional. Only fictional. That also meant there was a nonfictional Bethany, who most likely was with Owen. It made sense, but it scared him. That meant that she didn't have powers anymore.

What was Nobody going to do, now that he had separated the worlds? He wasn't just going to sit around and do nothing. If fictional Bethany didn't remember anything, Kiel had to do something. He'd never seen her so weak, except maybe that time she had been nearly drowned by Doyle Holmes. The only person that could fix this was him.

Saying something and actually doing something were completely different things, Kiel had discovered. To stop Nobody, he assumed he had to reunite Bethany's fictional self with her nonfictional self. In order to do that, he probably needed to create a spell big enough that could open a portal to the nonfictional world.

The only problem was he had no idea how to do that. It could take years, and he was still learning magic again. How was he supposed to do this all by himself? He needed to find some help, and he figured he'd need more people than Abdo to help him. He thought about contacting Charm, then denied that thought. Charm didn't know much about magic, and she was busy.

He stopped thinking about the topic at hand, and instead thought about what he'd do when he got to the nonfictional world. Once he got there, that meant his spell had succeeded. Once he found nonfictional Bethany, all he had to do was tell her she was half fictional, and convince her to reunite with her fictional self. That part would be easy, he was sure of it. After that, everything would be solved, and everything could go back the way it was. It sounded a lot easier than it looked.

"She's going to be stable, if that's what you're worrying about," a voice said, causing him to jump and bang his knees on the bottom of the table.

"Oh," Kiel breathed. "Do you think she'll be okay by tomorrow?"

The woman took a seat beside him. He hadn't met her until this morning, but from what he'd learned, she was a nurse, and had recently opened her house into a small hospital. The other men were her assistants. Unlike most Magisterian nurses, she used equipment from Quanterium instead. It reminded Kiel of the time he'd visited the hospital in the nonfictional world. Surprisingly, a lot of their equipment looked like Quanterium's.

"I'd like to monitor her overnight, to see how the swelling in her brain goes down," the nurse said. "I've been warming her up slowly with a heated IV and heating blankets, since you were both moderately hypothermic as of last night."

"You seem to know a lot from Quanterium's medical institute," Kiel noticed.

"Is that a problem?" she asked sternly, her eyebrows raised.

"No," he said quickly. "It's different, but it's good to see people in Magisteria using Quanterium machines. It's really moving technology along."

"Okay," the nurse said, and Kiel could've sworn he saw her roll her eyes.

"So, do you think Bethany will get better? I mean, long term. She doesn't remember much. That's what I'm worried about."

"If it's memory we're talking about, she's probably just got amnesia from all the head swelling. Her memory could come back in a number of hours, or days, or months, or even years —"

" _Years_?" Kiel cried loudly, his panicked voice rising an octave. The nurse shushed him.

"Yes!" She assured him, her face softening. "But she does remember _you_. Maybe you can help jog her memory faster."

"I dunno, I guess." He huffed, suddenly feeling annoyed at how calmly this woman was talking to him. This situation was scary, much scarier than any battle or war or quest; those things were fun. Usually, he was the one who had everything figured out. This time it was the opposite.

The nurse grimaced at him. "Don't get annoyed with me. I saved your lives, remember?"

"Yeah, right," he said. "Thanks.”

She looked out the window. "It's past noon. How far away did you say you lived?"

"Not far. I just need to walk down the path in the woods."

"You should get going," the nurse said. "Your folks must be worried about you."

"No," Kiel said brusquely.

"You're in good condition to leave! Your family must be worried sick. I'll take care of your friend. She must stay and recover."

"I'd prefer to stay here with her," Kiel retorted. "If she wakes up I want to be here."

"Five more minutes," the nurse said sharply, and when Kiel began to protest, she held up her index finger. "Five. Minutes. Understand? You can come back in the morning."

She peered at him closely, enough to make him uncomfortable. "You're a young boy. Shouldn't you be having fun with your friends?"

"I've saved the universe more times than you can count. I'm more grown up than you think," he said, and then he pushed himself out of his chair and briskly walked past the nurse, taking a seat at Bethany's bedside. He didn't turn around. He didn't want to see the look of shock on her face, the look that he sometimes got from adults. Saving the world meant he was different from every other kid.

Ever since he learned he was made of science, it all made sense. It was painful to hear, but it made sense. He hated that Dr. Verity was the one who had made him, since all it meant was that he was a clone. He may look human, but he couldn't even be sure at this point. If Jonathan Porterhouse had the intention of giving him a tragic backstory, it had certainly worked. He didn't even have parents. The only person he'd ever had as a father figure was the Magister, who turned evil when he discovered the truth about their lives. Despite this, Kiel still cared for his old master.

Not that many adults knew about Kiel's backstory, however. All they thought about was the hero Kiel Gnomenfoot, and when they actually saw him, they realized he was only twelve years old.

Kiel wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and looked at Bethany, watching the way her chest rose and fell as she slept. He had never seen her asleep. She looked peaceful, for once, and much less worried.

"I'll be back tomorrow, okay?" he said softly, flashing her a smile. He didn't except an answer, but he wanted to say it anyway. The last thing he wanted was for her to freak out again when she woke up to strangers.

* * *

When Bethany woke the next morning, she discovered her head hurt a lot less. She moved to sit up, and also noticed that her head contraption was gone. The heavy blanket had been replaced with a light fluffy one, which allowed her to sit up without feeling trampled.

"You're up early," said a voice, and Bethany turned to see the woman from yesterday entering from a nearby hallway.

"Yeah," she said, stretching her limbs. She looked down at herself and was surprised to see herself wearing new clothes instead of her usual superhero outfit. She was wearing a simple long sleeve shirt and long trousers, which were loosely held in place with a belt.

Bethany began to take in her surroundings. The room she was in looked like a miniature hospital ward. Next to her bed were five other beds, which all had the same machinery next to it. As far as she could see, it wasn't much. In the room in front of her was a small table and a kitchen. Down the hallway was a small bedroom and another room full of supplies.

"Sorry about the mess," the woman said. There were clanging noises coming from the kitchen, and from the looks of it, she was cooking breakfast.

"It's not very messy," Bethany said truthfully, sliding out of the bed. She noiselessly walked over to the kitchen and put a hand on the wall to steady herself. The small dining table was mostly covered in medical books and strange ointments, which were all shoved to the side of the table and threatened to crash onto the floor.

"Do you feel better?" the woman, who Bethany assumed was a nurse, asked. She was mixing a pot of food over a fire, and didn't turn around.

"Yeah, I do," she said gratefully.

"Your name is Bethany, correct?"

Feeling a little defensive with a stranger in these unfamiliar surroundings, she slowly nodded. She had to remind herself that the only reason this woman knew her name was because Kiel had told her. It wasn't like she was a wanted fugitive.

"Once you are certain you feel better—"

"I am," Bethany said immediately.

"—I'll let you go. But first I need to do check-ups to make sure your body is healthy," she continued. "That was quite a wreck you put your body through. Many of the townsfolk, including me, are very curious as to what fell out of the sky. A very bright object had fallen from the sky. I haven't told anybody it was a person, but I also haven't heard an explanation, either."

When the young girl didn't say anything, she continued, "Don't worry about explaining right away. You must be hungry and worn out. I'm making breakfast. Are you hungry?"

"I guess," Bethany said warily. In fact, she was starving. She took a seat at the small wooden table and studied the many jars of ointments with faded words written on the labels.

"Order up," the nurse chimed pleasantly, despite the ever-present gruffness in her voice, as she spooned a pile of food onto the plate in front of Bethany. She eyed it suspiciously. It looked different from what she usually ate, but she was hungry. She ate fast, even when the nurse ordered her to slow down.

"Now," the nurse said. "I need you to answer a few questions. Kiel confirmed he saw you fall from the sky. Do you have any recollection as to why?"

Bethany looked at her with reluctant patience, then shook her head. "I don't know. I don't remember anything about that."

"What else do you remember?" The woman leaned forward in her chair. This was starting to feel like an interrogation. "Is there a parent we can contact?"

Bethany's face brightened. "My father. He's —" She cut herself off and tried to think. Whenever she tried bringing back memories, the thinking process became harder.

"He's what?" the nurse asked with growing impatience, concern on her face.

"I was going to say I know where he is, but I don't know specifically. I know he isn't from here. He's from, um, a different world."

"A different world," the nurse repeated. She shook her head. "That sounds a bit crazy, don't you think?"

"If there's anything I'm positive about, it's my father," Bethany said confidently. "He knows I'm missing. He'll come find me."

"Is there any way to get in contact with him?"

"Can I go see Kiel?" she asked, peering out the window as if he might be outside.

"I asked you a question. Can we contact your father? What about your mother?"

She drummed her fingers on the table in anticipation and looked back at the nurse. "I'm not sure."

"You're not sure . . . what?" the nurse questioned, looking irritated now.

"I just don't know, okay?" she said, the worry rising in her voice. "I don't know how to contact my father. I don't know who my mother is. I've never had one."

"I see," the nurse said. "Well, I told Kiel he might be of some use to help rouse your memory. Do you think that might help?"

Bethany nodded. She was glad that at least Kiel was here, since she couldn't seem to remember much of anything, lately.

"I'll let you know if I remember anything," she said, and the nurse nodded, sitting up and clearing their plates.

She looked out the window and awaited Kiel's return like a lost dog, feeling both annoyed and afraid. She must've had a memory charm cast on herself, because really there was no explainable way for her memory loss. It was irritating. All she wanted to do was scream, because not remembering something was the _worst_. But also, that meant something terrible might've happened, and she might never remember what it was.

A knock on the door caused Bethany to jump from her chair, and she immediately ran to open it. Kiel was standing there, looking a mixture of surprised and relieved.

"You're awake? How are you? Are you feeling better?" he asked. There was concern written across his face, but a smile crept onto his lips anyway.

"I'm okay, but the woman says you can help jog my memory," Bethany said, looking at him with worry. "Can you do it? I want to know what's wrong with me." 

"I don't know if I can bring your memories back," Kiel confessed. "I'm still relearning magic, but I think I already know what's wrong."

Bethany looked at him expectedly. "Okay. What is it, then?"

He sighed. "I'll tell you the truth, and even if you don't believe me, you have to because it's true."

Bethany groaned. "That doesn't make any sense. Would you just tell me already?"

"You don't feel like yourself because the other half of you is in the nonfictional world," Kiel said quickly. "You were split in half by Nobody, this evil faceless man everyone's been telling me about. He split you in half because he wanted to get rid of the connection between the two worlds — and you're that connection. So that's my theory. And if my theory is correct, that is also the reason you can't remember anything."

" _What_?" Bethany demanded, flabbergasted. "Kiel, how is that possible? I think you're the one who sounds crazy. I've lived with my father my whole life, training to be a superhero —"

"Wait!" he cut her off. "Your father? You said you've lived with your father your whole life?"

"Yeah," she huffed. "What's the big deal?”

"Beth," Kiel said slowly. "Ever since I met you, you've been looking for your father. We went on billions of trips searching in books for him. That was your goal — to find your father. And now you did!"

"Kiel, if you're lying to me I really will —" she started to warn, but he interrupted her again.

"Trust me, I'm not. Before now, you've had the power to jump in between fictional and nonfictional worlds. The fictional world — the world we're in now — is written by people called 'authors' in the nonfictional world. You should know this, because you're the one who taught me this. When I first learned the truth I felt the exact same way. Crazy, huh? But now I know that the two worlds exist."

When Bethany remained silent, he continued, "You were half fictional, half nonfictional. That meant you had the power to move between worlds. You were the only person who could do that, until I'm guessing Nobody took your powers away. When he took your powers away, that caused you to split in half and now you exist as half a person."

"If I'm here, does that mean my . . . other half . . . is in the . . . nonfictional world?" Bethany asked uneasily, feeling greatly confused.

"Yes!" Kiel said, with a little too much enthusiasm. "The nonfictional half of you is there, but has differences. She probably can't remember anything about the fictional world, since you don't remember Owen or the nonfictional world. I swear I'm telling the truth."

"If you are . . ." Bethany said warily. "Can you prove it? Is there actual proof that everything you're telling me is true? Kiel, I've lived with my dad my whole life. I don't remember anything except my life with him, and the adventures I've had in that time. I'm sorry, but I don't remember whatever you're talking about."

He then held up his hand, and began to murmur a spell. "This is a truth spell. It's called the Fog of Truth spell. If I tell anything but the truth, my brain will collapse."

"But—"

Kiel then proceeded to tell her stories. Stories about their book-jumping adventures. Their fight with the Magister. The time they spent trapped in the Doyle Holmes book. The many fun trips they took into books. The times they almost were killed, and the times they came close to finding Bethany's father, but never did. And lastly, he talked about Nobody splitting Bethany in half, and separating her nonfictional and fictional selves.

Bethany waited for something bad to happen. Not once in the entire story did his brain collapse. His mouth moved on it's own, pouring out words until there was nothing left to say.

She gulped nervously and stumbled onto one of the hospital beds in the nurse's house. "I need to sit down."

"Everything I said was true!” Kiel protested, removing the spell from himself.

"I know that, now," she said, her head spinning. "But I don't even fully believe you. It can't be true. I have no memories whatsoever about what you've just told me. And anyways, there's nothing we can do about it. I'm sorry, but I think that maybe this Nobody guy did me a favor. If what you said is true, I have a great life now. I'm with my father."

"What?" he asked, shell-shocked. "No, no, no. Beth, you need to come with me and reunite with your nonfictional self. We have to stop Nobody."

"You said you might not even be able to get to this nonfictional world," she pointed out. "It's no use trying when it probably won't work. You can try, but I don't think it will. I'm not about to fight this Nobody guy."

"The Bethany I know wouldn't give up without a fight," Kiel said quietly, feeling beyond disappointed.

"I'm not giving up," Bethany shot back. "I'm just saying, I like my life how it is. I'm training to be a superhero, and there's nothing else I'd rather do than that. I'm being realistic —"

"You're being stubborn!"

"— and the life I've had is everything I've wanted, like you said. I'm happier with my father in my life. It isn't my biggest concern to stop Nobody."

"But it should be!" he fought back. "He's tearing the worlds apart. He'll take over the world. Including the fictional world. _Our_ world. If we don't stop him, everything will fall apart. I'm serious."

"Fine," she said. "But I already told you there's nothing we can do. How are we supposed to open a portal to a nonfictional world that is closed?"

"I don't know," he said, feeling disheartened. "But we have to try. You might not realize it, but I'm trying to save you. Without your other half you aren't yourself. We need to fix you first, and then stop Nobody. You were born with the power to jump in between the two worlds. They're your powers. Even if you don't remember them, you were born with them. Why would I lie about that? Are you going to let a stupid villain take that power away?"

"No," Bethany said, a feeling of determination suddenly coursing through her. "I guess I won't."

Kiel's hopes were lifted again. Now that he was sure she was convinced, all he had to do was make that spell. He grinned, feeling hopeful that he once again had luck on his side. "Okay. Good."

"Yeah, whatever. As long as we do it quickly," she replied, fighting the urge to roll her eyes, and instead giving him a smile. They drifted off into a comfortable silence, and Bethany kept her attention balanced between wondering about what was going on with Nobody and the current memories she possessed.

Several minutes later, the nurse and her two assistants entered the house, and they did a quick check-up to make sure if Bethany was free to go. Thankfully, she was, and the two kids made their way back to Kiel's tower.

"Are you sure your dad can find you from here?" Kiel asked during the long walk through the woods.

Bethany shrugged. "He should be able to. I'm not sure what other way to contact him, but I know he'll be able to find me."

"Are you going to start researching about the spell right away?" she asked. "I'll help, but I don't know how good I'll be at researching magic. And if it takes too long, I need to go home to my father. We've been doing superhero training."

He nodded, and began fidgeting with his wand knives. It was clear that he had a lot of nervous energy.

"Do you know what exact spell we need to find?"

No response. Maybe a spell powerful enough to open a gate into a world outside their own was harder finding than it looked.

"You don't need to worry," Bethany said, feeling strangely calm and carefree. Maybe it was because this was her fictional side, but she had barely worried about a thing since she learned of her real memories. "You're Kiel Gnomenfoot, remember? Haven't you killed dragons?"

"The fact that you're telling _me_ to stop worrying is even more concerning! Usually, all _you_ do is worry," Kiel said. Then he looked at her and forced a wink. "But you're right! What could go wrong?"

"Nothing, I hope," Bethany said, and they both shared a smile.

As they found out later, they were very wrong.

* * *

_  
"All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, you'd better run, better run, outrun my bullet . . ."_


	5. The Time Security Agency

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bethany attends a meeting at her school’s book club. Owen learns more about his newfound powers, the time security agency, and Kara.

**_What You Know (by The Two Door Cinema Club)_ **

_"And I can tell just what you want. You don't want to be alone, you don't want to be alone . . ."_

* * *

Bethany loved Saturday.

This was her favorite day of the week, because she could waste the whole day reading. She'd get all her homework done the night before, just so she could spend the day flipping through books. Her mom sometimes had to drag her out of her room, to "get fresh air" and "hang out with friends." Bethany did those things! . . . Well, not on Saturday. Saturday was a day for leisure, for reading and learning about new worlds. So was Sunday, as a matter of fact. The problem that often occurred, though, was her mandatory school book club.

She joined the club once she started high school, as an excuse to read more and talk with others about what she loved most. She got to hang out with Liz as well, which was a double bonus.

Big mistake.

In addition to group meetings every Saturday, they met five out of the seven days in the week, leaving out Friday and Sunday as free time. They were given a list of books and had to read a book per week, and at each meeting they discussed what part they were at. It wasn't all that bad. Bethany loved reading, and the more books the better.

But she couldn't say she had to same love for the people in the book club itself. Although there were a few people in the club, Bethany couldn't exactly find a common ground with anyone, because none of them enjoyed reading for fun except for her and Liz. Was it too much to hope that she'd make another friend who devoted themselves to books as much as her?

The book club meeting started at 9:30 am, and went on until 10:45 am. It was held in the school library, which was open every Saturday for the students. Bethany thought it would be so much easier if they held it at her favorite bookstore instead of the school. She really, _really_ preferred not to go back to school again on the weekend, while the other students had two precious days to spend far away from it. She'd considered dropping out of the club before, of course, but why? She loved reading at any chance she got, and being a part of that club offered the opportunity to being forced to read.

The last person that attended their book club meeting was Mrs. Ugliano. She was a heavy-set woman who had taught English at her school for nearly twenty years. Over time, however, she was replaced by a younger teacher in her thirties, due to the fact that Mrs. Ugliano was in her seventies, and should be retiring soon. As an easy job, she became counselor of the book club, and took charge of everything the girls had to read.

Once she was part of the book club, their meetings became something Bethany looked forward to. She led group discussions, gave them fun activities to do, and even let them perform small skits about the books they were reading.

Bethany loved the activities they did as a group, and it made her feel closer to her club members, somehow. Not only was Mrs. Ugliano fun, but she was also kind, and she always prioritized the teenagers' needs before her's. She never seemed to get angry when the girls became too out-of-hand, and she'd always set aside everything she was doing whenever they wanted her attention. Once, she even took them out to ice cream, which was a double bonus.

So, imagine Bethany's surprise when she arrived at school at 9:28, exactly on schedule, when she found the front door to her school was locked. That _never_ happened. The front door was always open, except on Sundays. She tried jiggling the knob again; once, twice, three times. It didn't budge.

Frowning, she took out her phone and called Liz. After a few rings, she picked up. "Hello?"

"Liz! What's going on? I'm at school for the book club meeting, and—"

"Oh yeah!" Liz exclaimed. "The book club was canceled."

"What?" Bethany demanded, clenching the phone tighter. "How? _Why_?"

"To be honest? I don't know. I think Mrs. Ugliano retired."

"How could she? She might be old but she loves hosting our book club meetings."

"Still." Liz sighed over the phone. "I can't imagine her wanting to do this forever. Maybe she's just sick."

"Yeah, I hope that's what it is."

Bethany's mind raced with questions as she climbed in her mom's car fifteen minutes later. She couldn't shake away the bad feeling. Something more must've been going on for it to be canceled. In all the time she'd been at this school, the book club had never, not once, been canceled.

It didn't take her long to get home. Feeling disappointed, she wiped her shoes on the mat and opened the door. Her mom made a point to tell her to do something besides "read in bed all day", but of course, Bethany didn't listen, because that was exactly what she was going to do. She sighed, taking off her shoes and climbing the stairs. She reached her room and closed the door, throwing her book on her bed. She really didn't know what to do today, now that the book club was cancelled. Her day had just gotten a whole lot less eventful.

Quickly, she texted Liz, asked her if she wanted to hang out that night, and stuffed her phone in her hoodie pocket. Then, she plopped down on her bed and picked up the book she hadn't been able to get out of her head — _Pick The Plot_.

* * *

Explaining everything that had happened to Kara was easy, basically because she already knew everything Owen was telling her. As they sat in the dining hall that night, Owen told her about Bethany, his half-fictional best friend. He told her about getting trapped in the seventh Kiel Gnomenfoot book, his escape from Doyle, his failed attempt to fight Nobody, and his journey with Bethany into the superhero novel, where he discovered who Bethany's father was.

Most of this information, Kara already knew. And Owen didn't have a clue how she knew him.

"I'm confused," he stated, setting down his fork. "How do you know this? Did I tell you?"

"Yes," she said, nodding. "Most of it, anyway. You didn't tell me the full story about Bethany until now. This is the first time you meet me, it must be. Before I got in this prison — that's when I met you for the first time. In the past. I still don't understand why you let me turn myself in. Did you do it because you knew you'd be here, in the future?"

At Owen's confused stare, she sighed and shook her head. "Never mind. You'll understand if you don't think too hard about it. What matters is that Nobody threw you in here. We have to get you out before the whole world falls apart."

Owen couldn't agree more with that. He had to get out of here and stop Nobody before everything he fought for was lost.

He assumed that everything that was happening with Kara had to do with time travel. She was a time traveler herself (which he remembered from the Kara Dox series), but Owen still didn't understand how he didn't remember her specifically. How could he meet her at a different time than she met him? Even trying to think about this was hard.

"Don't think too hard about it," Kara said. "Don't worry. I'll help get you out of here, even though I know there's no way this will in any way be quick." She looked up, as if pondering something. "Of course, there hasn't been an escape from this time prison in decades, so really —"

"Kara!"

"Okay — okay!" she said, laughing. "Sorry."

Fighting the urge to smile despite it coming naturally, Owen skewered a chunk of sausage and bit into it. "Before we start planning an escape, maybe I should learn about you. You know, just so I know I can trust you."

"You can trust me —" Kara began to say, then stopped herself. "Right. You don't remember me, and you don't know if I'm trustworthy. That's fair. You want to know why I'm here, in this time prison? I turned myself in voluntarily." She looked at him. "I belong here, Owen. I'm in here for the safety of . . . everyone. If I left, I'd mess up the world. I'm too dangerous."

Judging by the tone in her voice, Owen figured she was definitely touchy about the subject. Quietly, he said, "Okay" and they continued eating until dinner was over.

Later that evening, as the time prisoners were directed back to their cells, Owen tried making up an escape plan.

"Here's the plan," he whispered to himself, writing an imaginary list in his head and drawing it out with his finger. "First, learn what I can about this place. Second, have Kara help me steal a time bracelet. Third, use the time bracelet and escape to a different point in time. Fourth, somehow escape from this book, just in time for me to save Bethany."

As he imagined the scenario, he felt more hopeful. He had never been great on devising the plans, but he was confident that this plan was the best one he could make — for now. He couldn't imagine anything getting any worse except for the fact that Kara mentioned the time prison was heavily guarded. Oh, and he had to take a simulation test tomorrow. There was also that.

"Can you stop talking to yourself?" Kara's voice rang from the cell next door. "I'm trying to sleep, Owen."

Heat rose to his cheeks. "Sorry," he whispered. Then a second passed, and he suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to talk to someone. "Hey, Kara?"

When no one responded, he pushed himself off the floor and walked over to the right of his cell, where their cells connected. Moonlight was shining through his window, casting a faint glow on the metal bars. If he tilted his head to the right, he could almost see the corner of a bed.

"Kara?" he called.

She sat up, ripping the covers off her and marching over to him, curling her hands around the cell bars. "What?"

He recoiled, partly because their faces were so close, and partly because she looked angry. "N-Nothing."

"Then what were you calling me for?"

"I want to talk. About the escape."

Her eyes widened, and she thrust her hand in between the bars and put a finger on his lips. "Shh! Keep your voice down!"

"Sorry," Owen whispered, lowering his voice. "I know it's late, but I need to talk to you about it. If this place is as heavily guarded as you say, how are we supposed to get the time bracelets?"

"We'll have to figure that part out later," she said, returning her arm to her side.

Owen grew horrified. "You mean you don't know where the time bracelets are?"

Kara motioned for him to quiet down. "Not . . . right now. I haven't tried escaping, because —whatever. It's not safe for me to be anywhere else but here."

"It doesn't matter!" he hissed. "You said you would help me, right? So we need to locate those time bracelets."

"They're surrounded by high security," she said. "That's all I know about them. I don't know where they're located, since we're pretty much caged everywhere we go. But the only time we'd get to look for them is at night."

"Why not during the day?" Owen asked.

"Remember all those jobs I told you about?" she asked. He nodded. "That's all we do during the day. Everyone is required to go to meals, and then right after that we do our jobs until dinner."

_Crap_ , he thought. This would take a lot more time than he had.

"Okay," Owen said, taking in all of this new information. "That isn't so bad. We just need to look for the time bracelets at night."

"If we can find a way out of our cells," Kara added, then tried not to laugh at the bewildered look that must've been on his face. "Just kidding. I _do_ know how to get out of the cell."

"You do?" Owen gasped. "Then why are we stuck in here still?"

"Because even if we can get out of the cells, we wouldn't be able to freely run down the hallways without guards catching us."

How terribly ironic. Of _course_ the book Nobody threw him in would have the best security. He wanted to make sure Owen would never find a way out. In fact, he had planned on it.

A feeling of exhaustion suddenly hit him, and he said goodnight to Kara, pealed off his shoes, and dragged himself to the small bed at the corner of his cell. He decided he was going to sit and think the plan through, but only for a minute.

He pulled his knees up, rested his forehead between them, and stared at the darkness. He tried to think about what to do next. Out the window, he heard the distant roar of a dinosaur.

_Good riddance_ , he thought. He never wanted to almost get eaten by a dinosaur again.

* * *

"Hey, Beth?" her mother's voice called from downstairs.

Looking up from her book, Bethany felt a little irritated now that her mother was breaking her concentration. Right when she was getting to a good part, too!

"What?" she asked, shutting the book.

"You might want to come see this. It's that old lady who is in charge of your book club!"

"What?" Bethany repeated, jumping from her bed and making her way down the carpeted stairs. "What happened?"

She walked down the hall to find her mother sitting on the couch in the living room. The TV was on, and she could see a News channel was playing. A News reporter stood in front of a small, gray-brick house. In the background, police were walking around in the yard. Next to the reporter was none other than Mrs. Ugliano.

"It's that old lady who teaches your book club meetings," Bethany's mother said, her hands hugging the pale yellow sweater she wore closer to her body.

"I know," Bethany said, taking a seat on the couch. "Do you know what that News reporter is doing at her house?"

"I just turned the channel on," she replied. "She looks scared. I sure hope that nothing bad happened."

Bethany turned her attention back to the TV, where she saw the News reporter holding a microphone, asking Mrs. Ugliano questions. "So, you say you saw a boy. . . appear in thin air. Is that right?"

The old woman nodded, looked shaken. "He didn't just appear in thin air! I was cleaning my dishes, getting ready to go down to the high school I host a book club at. I looked out my kitchen window, and I saw this. . . strange light. When the light had faded, a boy was there. He just—appeared! He just appeared! Nothing about that is natural!”

The News reporter patted her on the shoulder in an effort to calm her down. "It's all right, ma'am. Did you see anything else after that?"

"Y-Yes," Mrs. Ugliano said, struggling to regain her composure. "After that, he fainted. I went over to help him, but as I put on my coat and made my way over, he suddenly stood up and pushed me over! He had weapons."

Bethany and her mother exchanged a worried look.

"Well, do you know where he went after that?" asked the reporter, looking slightly impatient now.

"He ran into the woods behind my house," she replied. "I-I don't know where he went after that. But I called the police straight away."

"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Ugliano," he said. "The police will get to the bottom of this straight away. One last question: do you know what he looked like?"

"I didn't get a good look at his face. For one thing, he had black hair. And he was wearing black clothes, too. He looked—I don't know—maybe fourteen or fifteen. Maybe even sixteen. I was never very good at predicting ages."

"Thank you, ma'am," said the News reporter, turning to the camera with a bright smile. "That'll be all. Back to you, Jim!"

The TV switched to a different News reporter, who was talking about a murder incident outside of a grocery store. Bethany tuned it out, turning to her mother with wide eyes.

"This is terrible!" she said. "I feel so bad. She could've been killed by that boy!"

"God, I know!" her mother exclaimed, rising from the couch. "I feel so bad for that poor old woman. She must be terrified."

Bethany nodded. "It makes sense that she canceled the meeting today."

"I tell you — so many kids your age are going crazy. I'm glad you aren't one of them. Ever since kids started doing drugs —"

"Mom."

"— and alcohol."

"Mom," Bethany groaned. "I don't do those things. And I'm definitely not crazy, either."

Her mother nodded, smiling. "I know, Beth. Just be careful when you're walking to the library. I know you have Elizabeth with you, but you still need to be careful. If that boy on the News is a psycho, I won't feel comfortable with you being by yourself."

"But I won't be," she said. "I'd be with Liz. And even if he was crazy, he definitely wouldn't want to kill me."

Bethany's mother laughed. "I wouldn't kill you either. You're addicted to reading and studying."

"Not my fault I need to get good grades," Bethany said, smiling. "Can I go back upstairs now? I was kind of in the middle a really great chapter."

"Yes," she said, walking over to the kitchen and opening the fridge. "I'm glad all your book-jumping days are behind you, Beth. I really am."

What was she talking about? Book-jumping? Deciding it would be better not to question her about it, Bethany returned to her room, feeling confused as ever.

Mrs. Ugliano's experience with that crazy boy on the News popped back into her head, and for some reason, she wasn't able to shake that strange feeling away. There was no logical explanation for a boy suddenly appearing in thin air. There simply wasn't.

She sat on her bed again and picked her book, _Pick The Plot_ , up. She stared at it, letting out a long sigh once she realized she had forgotten to bookmark the page.

"Shoot," she whispered, opening the book to a random page and flipping through, looking for the right one. After a few minutes of searching, she found it.

* * *

A loud noise stirred Owen from his sleep. The cell was still dark, but his door was now open. It took him a moment to realize that it was the bell to wake everyone up, since the prisoners in other cells were starting to travel down the hallways.

Dazed, he threw off the covers and started to stretch. He felt like he hadn't gotten any sleep last night, with the considerable amount of dinosaur roars keeping him awake. Slowly, he started to put on his shoes. He was in the middle of tying them when he spotted Kara walking out of her cell.

She glanced at him and slowed to a stop. "Hurry up!"

Tying his shoes as quickly as he could, Owen darted out of his cell and joined the group of prisoners walking down the hallway.

"Do they really have to use that bell to wake people up?" Owen choked, his voice hoarse.

Kara gave him a smile. "You get used to it. It was so annoying when I first came here.”

"No wonder the people here are so grouchy," he muttered, looking at the group of adult prisoners who walked with them.

The hallway ended, branching off into a larger hallway. More groups of prisoners emerged from other hallways; each group was led by a guard, who carried a small futuristic-looking gun. Owen looked down each hallway as they passed, hoping to see some sort of exit sign. He saw a lot of air locks, similar to those in _Jurassic Park_ , but he didn't see a way out.

His group, along with the others, were led into the dining hall. At the center of it was a huge buffet filled to the brim with food, which probably smelled as delicious as it tasted. The room seemed brighter than it had been the night before, and Owen found himself squinting.

"Do you eat breakfast?" Kara asked, walking to the buffet line. "I'm usually a breakfast person."

"Huh," he replied, too preoccupied with looking around. Maybe it was the aftershock that he was really stuck here, but everything seemed a lot bigger. He noticed something that he hasn't before — besides him and Kara, all the prisoners were adults.

"Owen?"

He turned back to Kara. She was in the line, holding an empty plate and staring at him expectantly.

"Are you sure you're meant to be here?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "I already told you, the whole world would probably fall apart if I left —"

"Okay, I know that part. But did you realize that we're the only kids here?"

Looking around, she seemed to notice his observation. "I mean, yeah. We are. It's because most kids aren't time travelers. Not that you are, of course."

He shrugged, but couldn't shake the disturbing fact that every other prisoner here was an adult. He knew Kara shouldn't be here. Even if this was a fictional book, and Kara was the heroine, he didn't think it was right. She didn't even seem like a criminal!

"Age doesn't matter here," Kara said simply, putting a piece of toast on her plate. "Don't worry about it."

"Why not?" Owen asked. "A lot of these prisoners look really intimidating. I just don't get why you're in this prison, too."

"Can we not talk about this?" she asked abruptly. "Seriously, the only thing we need to focus on is your escape plan."

"Escape plan?" a loud voice said. Both of them cringed, then turned around to see a large, stocky man walking towards them.

"How did you hear that?" Owen demanded, unconsciously backing away into the food table.

"I have ears," the prisoner said, smirking. "Believe me, you won't be escaping. I've tried. Forty-three times."

Kara forced a smile, turning back to putting food on her plate. "Good for you."

"No, _Kara Dox_ ," the man said, getting closer. "Not good. Every time I've tried escaping, the guards catch me, electrocute me, and lock me up again."

"I've been there," Owen muttered, thinking back to the times he'd gotten tasered. Once by Moira, and a second time by Fowen. It wasn't something he ever wanted to happen to him again. But if this guy had tried escaping so many times, he must've been tasered a _lot._ Poor him.

"You think you can do better than me?" the man spat, choking out a laugh. 

"Uh, no, I don't _think_ so?" Owen said, frowning. "I just have to get out of here for um, personal reasons. Maybe you failed so many times because you're not good at escaping."

A short laugh burst from Kara's mouth. As quickly as it had come, she clamped a hand over her mouth. She shot him an alarmed look, and they both turned to see a very angry expression on the man's face. "Say that to me again."

Owen realized two things. The first thing: almost everyone within a ten-degree radius was watching them. The second thing: this man wasn't going to quit. He really, _really_ hoped he wouldn't be dragged into a fight.

"Can you leave us alone?" Kara said, glaring at the other prisoner. "We're kind of in the food line."

"Oh, sure, I'll leave you alone," he said. "Once your friend here apologizes to me."

"Me?" Owen's eyes widened once he realized the man was looking at _him_. Apologize? But all he'd said was that the prisoner might not be good at escaping because he'd failed forty-three times!

The man clenched his fists. "I'll pummel you both right now for insulting me."

"What?" Kara demanded. "I never —"

"Stay out of this, Kara Dox," the man said. He pointed at Owen. "You, apologize."

Owen gulped. "Sorry, I --- I didn't mean it like that."

The man stepped closer, towering above the two of them. Involuntarily, Owen flinched. The line started moving again, so he quickly busied himself by grabbing some eggs. The prisoner continued following them, watching their every move. It was becoming annoying.

"Owen, just apologize to him," Kara said. "A lot of prisoners have picked fights with me before. They won't stop unless you do something about it."

"But I already apologized! He's being a jerk," Owen said, then added, "And a creep."

Following her to the end of the line, he turned to see that the man was still watching them furiously. He gulped. Apologizing sounded like a pretty good idea right now, but he technically already apologized, didn't he? He didn't even mean it in a bad way, even though the man _did_ seem kind of scary.

WHAT PATH WOULD YOU LIKE FOR OWEN?  
Owen eats his breakfast and ignores the man.  
Owen fights the man.

"Let's just go to a table," Kara said, tugging on his arm. But for some reason, Owen couldn't move. Crinkling his eyebrows, he tried picking up his foot. It remained rooted to the ground. Panic set in. What was happening now?

"Why aren't you moving?" Kara asked.

"I can't," he said. "I don't know what's happening!"

"What?" She grabbed his arm again and pulled. He didn't even stumble toward her.

"Hey!" a tattooed woman yelled. "Stop holding up the line!"

"I'm really sorry!" Owen apologized, desperately trying to push himself forward. "What's happening?"

Suddenly, his feet began to move. He could barely contain his shocked gasp as his legs set themselves into motion. The only problem was . . . they weren't going in the right direction. He attempted to steer himself the opposite way, but it didn't work. It was as if he were being controlled.

Kara had to run to catch up with him. "Owen! Where are you going?"

"I don't know — ask my legs!"

His feet continued moving on their own, at a brisk pace. There was nothing Owen could do to gain control in his legs. After a few seconds of struggling, he gave up trying to escape and looked to see where he was going. To his horror, the prisoner who had been following them appeared right in front of him. He abruptly halted to a stop.

"Oh no," Owen whispered, eyes widening as the man's mouth stretched into a humorless grin.

"Looks who's back," the man said, cracking his knuckles. There was a group of prisoners around him, all staring daggers into Owen's eyes.

"I'm not here to fight you," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. But at that moment, his fist swung out. The man caught it with his hand and twisted Owen's arm. He yelled in pain and tore his arm from the man's grasp, gingerly holding it with his other hand.

"What are you doing?!" Kara asked, finally having caught up with him. He looked at her and opened his mouth to explain, but was interrupted.

"A good fight is what I've been missing while I've been cooped up here!" the prisoner yelled, swinging his fist into Owen. 

He stumbled into Kara, who put a hand on his back to steady him. "We need to get out of here, Owen!" she yelled. "Come on!"

He tried to move, but he couldn't seem to control his actions. He kicked the man in the shin, but it hardly effected him. The man responded with a well-placed punch in the face. His ears rang. He tried to back away.

"I don't like a little boy who insults me," said the man, kicking him in the chest.

"Stop . . . hitting . . . me!" Owen gasped. He could feel Kara's arms around him again, trying to pull him away. His body fought against her, and he approached the man again, attempting to throw a punch in his face.

"No! Stop!" Kara shouted, but her shout was drowned out by the yells of others. 

He hadn't realized that a crowd was formed around them, and they were all chanting: "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

The man responded by grabbed his arm and throwing him to the ground. He hit the floor with a thud, barely breathing. A shadow towered over him. His brain screamed at him to hide and cower, but his body would not listen. He threw his arms over his head and closed his eyes, bracing for a final hit.

Nothing came. There was no response but silence.

Owen looked up, sucking in short breaths. Above him, the man was frozen mid-kick. He gulped as he realized it was aimed right where his head had been. He immediately scooted away from the man's foot pushed himself off the ground. He looked around, and noticed for the first time that time seemed to have stopped. For some reason, no one moved. The crowd that gathered around them was frozen, their mouths open and backs hunched. Kara was in the middle of shouting something, her hand outstretched.

Feeling confused, he pushed past the crowd and walked aimlessly around the dining hall, studying each person. It was eerily silent. It was as if time was frozen, and the only one who wasn't effected by it was Owen.

"Am . . . _I_ doing this?" he asked. His voice echoed across the now-silent room, which had been deafeningly loud a minute ago. He continued walking around the room, waving a hand in front of unresponsive faces. This was the weirdest thing that had ever happened to him in a book — and that was saying something!

From down the hall, he heard a strange popping sound, like the air being sucked into a balloon. The air around him seemed to ripple.

"Hello?" he yelled, hoping that there was someone else who could help him. He rushed to the entrance and put an ear against the door.

"This situation is very rare," said a women's voice, footsteps echoing down the hall. "In a time prison like this, incidents of time being frozen should not occur. We must find the source."

Just as he realized the footsteps were growing louder, a man and woman wearing gray one-piece suits opened the door, each holding briefcases. The door hit his face, causing him to tumble to the side with a yelp. The agents turned at the sound, and Owen quickly held himself in place.

"Hmm," the man said. "Why is this one on the floor?"

"He must have slipped on some water. Cafeterias are not the cleanest."

The woman rubbed her temples, glancing around the room. "Ugh, look at all these criminals. It appears there was some kind of fight before time was frozen. This whole prison must be reset."

"Yes," the man said. "I have a feeling that I know who did this."

Owen forced his eyelids open, trying not to blink as the agents approached his direction. Were they going to kidnap him? Did they know he was the only one who remained unfrozen?

"Since when did children start going to this prison?" the woman asked, gesturing at Owen. He was sure that they were going to kidnap him now. They could probably hear his heart beating.

"Since Kara Dox," the man said, and the woman shuddered. "I suspect she was the reason behind this. Even in this prison, she is causing ripples in time everywhere. Now she's stopping time? We should find her before she destroys this entire prison."

"Agreed," said the woman. "But first, we must reset the time to its normal speed."

The agents briskly walked out of the room, moving out of Owen's sight. He gasped for air, filling his lungs with some much-needed oxygen. He needed to warn Kara about the agents, but he couldn't do that until time returned to normal. He waited a few moments to make sure the agents weren't coming back before standing up and walking over to Kara.

"Kara?" he whispered, tapping her on the shoulder.

She was still frozen in place. She didn't appear to be controlling time as the agents had said. So maybe he'd been doing this, after all. There had to be some sort of explanation for why he hadn't been effected.

All the sudden, everything was set back into motion. Owen darted backward as the sound of a screaming crowd filled his ears, and everyone began to move. The man who had initially attacked him kicked at air, making a shocked noise when he realized no one was there.

"Wha—" the man shouted, then turned to see Owen a few feet away. "How'd you get over there?!"

"Get away from my friend," Kara growled, stepping forward. "Or I'll send you forward in time — as forward as when the sun explodes and kills the Earth."

The man flinched, which was amusing to watch, given that a few minutes ago he had been punching Owen. "You can say as many threats as you'd like, Kara Dox, but you'll never get your hands on a time bracelet."

"Neither will you," Kara said. "But if you hit Owen again, you'll regret it."

The man stepped back, scowling and looking back and forth from Owen to Kara. The crowd booed as the fight ended, and eventually dispersed to their tables. A flood of emotions filled Owen: relief, fear, and mostly confusion.

"Thanks," Owen told her, grinning. "That guy is insane."

She smiled back, but then lightly swatted him on the arm. "What were you _doing_? I thought you wanted to escape, not cause a scene!"

"I do!" he cried. "I can't explain how — but it was more like a _feeling_. I couldn't fight it. My body felt like it was being controlled somehow. But then, the weirdest thing happened that you won't believe. Time stopped, and—"

"Mr. Conners?" a voice said. "You're coming with me."

Owen turned around to see a TSA instructor who he didn't know the name of. His tattooed arms were folded, and his eyes held a menacing glare. Seriously, what was it with mean, intimidating characters in this book?

"Why?" he asked, his voice rising an octave. He wondered if they knew about the fight or the freezing time incident.

"It's time for you to take your simulation test, which will determine what job you will be assigned to."

"Oh," he muttered, glancing at Kara. She nodded in confirmation and gave him a reassuring smile, which calmed his nerves a little. "Okay," he said, and followed the man out the door.

* * *

"If I've been informed correctly, I understand that you are from the outside, and you wandered onto the property of the Time Security Agency," said the man, shutting the airlock door behind him. "If you have any plans of escape, you best get those ideas out of your head, because your working for us now. Understood?"

Owen nodded, even though he planned doing the exact opposite. It was a good thing he wasn't under a truth spell, or else he'd have to spill all his plans of escaping. And if that happened, he'd pretty much have _no_ way of escaping.

"Good." The man stared at him. "My name is Rocco. I am in charge of the simulation process. Before we begin, you should wipe that blood off your face. It will be much easier to run the simulation without another face filled with germs."

Owen reached up to his face, and was a little surprised to find he was bleeding right under his nose. He also had scrapes all over his body, and every muscle ached with pain. He hadn't even been given ice, so his wounds remained a bit painful. In a few days, he probably would have black-and-blue marks everywhere, especially on his face.

Rocco handed him a disinfectant cloth, and Owen used it to quickly wipe his face. His nose was thankfully the only part of his face that had blood on it, and it was only a little bit. Satisfied, the man took the cloth with a gloved hand and threw it in the trash.

"Now," he said, as he strapped Owen into a table. It took all of his willpower to not fight the man, since it brought back too many disturbing memories of Dr. Verity performing open-heart surgery on him.

Once he'd finished strapping Owen down, Rocco walked over to a counter, assembling a few items. "This shouldn't hurt . . . unless you're a weakling. Then it will, for you."

Owen frowned. "Can we do this fast? I have a thing about being strapped down."

"Don't use that tone on me, boy!" the man shouted, with an alarming rise of anger. He took a deep breath, forcing a smile at a terrified Owen. "Let's get started. This will only hurt for a second, and then you will be in the simulation. I recommend following your gut instincts. They will confirm exactly what job you can handle the best."

Owen gulped as the man held up a syringe, slowly walking over to him. He bent down and put a hand on the side of Owen's neck; he used the other to insert the needle, right below his jawline. Owen squeezed his eyes shut, crying out as a burning hot pain entered his body. His neck felt like it was on fire. A second later, the pain subsided, and he could feel himself getting lightheaded.

"Wha—what's . . ." he whispered, staring at Rocco. He was going to die. He was poisoned! He must've been poisoned! Why hadn't he seen this coming? This happened _all_ the time in books. Since these instructors were basically the villains, they couldn't be trusted.

Rocco shook his head, patting him on the face. "Shh. Close your eyes."

Owen managed to hold his eyes open as long as he could muster, but his vision became blurry, and he found his eyes closing voluntarily. At first, there was nothing but blackness stretching for miles. And then, an impossibly bright light.

He found himself adrift in a churning void. He felt as if his body was being stretched in all different angles as he was dragged into multiple timelines. He screamed, but nothing came out of his mouth. His body floated aimlessly around, zipping through the void at a fast pace. Everything become impossibly dizzy, and he could hardly breathe. He tried to scream again, but a glowing light radiated all around him, blinding his vision. Before he could even blink, he was back in the jungle.

He stumbled into a tree, wrapping his arms around it and panting. He felt like throwing up. When he finally regained himself, he was able to look around. It was the exact same jungle as the prehistoric one the dinosaurs were in, except there was two paths.

"Choose one," said a voice. 

Owen jumped. Then he realized that it was all part of the simulation, and there wasn't actually another person in here with him. He walked forward, observing both paths. The one on the right was a more rocky terrain, dense with shrubbery. The one on the left was a more clean-cut path, with flat ground.

"Really?" Owen whispered, looking back and forth between the two. 

He weighed his options. Both of these paths would probably lead to something bad, no matter which one he decided to go on. His eyes lingered on the flat path, the one on the left. Out of both options, that one certainly looked less intimidating. And since he didn't want to twist an ankle, he decided to take that path.

He started along the left path. A few seconds later, he heard a loud roar. "Oh no. Not again. Not more dinosaurs—!"

Before he could finish his sentence, a Coelophysis dinosaur tore through the bushes, snapping it's sharp teeth. Owen immediately jumped back. "Ahh!"

The dinosaur roared at him, sending saliva flying in every direction. It then advanced towards Owen, opening and closing it's mouth. He continued to backpedal, looking around for anything that he could defend himself with. His foot bumped into something hard, and he turned to see a giant sword. Quickly, he scooped it up and waved it inches in front of the dinosaur's face. The creature slowly began to back away, hissing.

Suddenly, the sword and dinosaur disappeared, and the scenery changed. Owen found himself in a deserted hallway, alarms blaring loudly. He could hear a faint hissing sound in the distance, as if something was coming. 

Filled with fear, Owen sprinted away from the noise. The hallway seemed to stretch impossibly long, and he felt like he'd been running for hours. He stopped and leaned against the wall to catch his breath. As soon as he stopped, the hissing sound grew louder. He turned to see a giant snake making it's way towards him; it was half as wide as the hallway, with huge fangs and black eyes.

His eyes widened, and he began to back away. He had to remind himself that this was only a simulation, but it felt more real than anything. The snake hissed at him, it's tongue slithering out of it's mouth.

Owen tried to imagine what Kiel would do in this situation. He always knew what to do, and he always knew how to be the hero. What would he say now? What would Bethany say? They were the heroes, not him. But the more he tried to think of how they would act, the more he didn't know what _he_ should do. Both of his friends would've jumped into the danger, facing it fearlessly. For him, doing that wasn't so easy.

The only thing he seemed to remember right now were Pop-culture references, which didn't really help. The more he thought about it, though, an idea formed. Ignoring his anxious thoughts, Owen lunged towards the snake, and (resting his faith solely in the fact that he'd seen Indiana Jones do this in a movie), placed a hand on each of the snake's fangs. Before it could bite him, he ripped the fangs out of it's mouth. The impact sent him tumbling to the ground, and the snake hissed in pain.

"Whoa --- I _did_ it!" Owen grinned at his handiwork, dusting himself off. "I saw that in a movie! All credits go to Indiana Jones for that idea."

The snake disappeared, and he was once again somewhere else. This time, he was in his own room. He had to take a moment to adjust to his surroundings, because being back home felt too surreal. He ran a hand over his soft bed, staring around his room. It had felt so long since he was last home, and a wave of sadness struck Owen. This was the worst place the simulation could've sent him. It was only a harsh reminder that he was stuck in a book, separated from his mother and unable to save Bethany.

"Owen!" a voice called from downstairs. "I'm home from work!"

"Mom?" Owen whispered, eyes wide. He threw open his door, his legs carrying him down the stairs. He sprinted down the hallway, sliding across the wood floor. He came to a halt as he spotted his mother next to the door.

"Mom!"

He darted forward, wrapping his arms around her. She blinked, surprised, before hugging him back. "Owen? Did you miss me that much at school today?"

He laughed, pulling away from her. Her face looked exactly as it always did, except now she looked concerned. "Did something happen today?"

"I want to come home," he begged. "Please. I want to go home. I want to leave this book."

"You are home, Owen," said his mom, giving him a smile. She ruffled his hair and moved past him to set down her purse. "Why don't you get started on your homework?"

His lip quivered, but he said nothing. There was nothing to say. This wasn't real.

"I'll be home soon," he said, feeling both determined and hopeless. "I promise I'll be home. Don't worry about calling the police if you can't find me."

His mother turned around. "Are you sure you're feeling okay? I'll start making dinner. That'll make you feel better."

"I feel fine," Owen said quietly. "I think I just need to rest."

"Okay, sweetie," she said, walking into the kitchen. He watched her retreating figure, wishing he could say what he really wanted.

The scene switched again, but this time, it had faded into pitch blackness, followed by a bright light. A second later, he opened his eyes and found that he was back in the Time Security Agency. Rocco stood over him, holding a clipboard.

"Welcome back," he said. "Your results will be calculated in a few minutes."

"That . . . was . . . the worst thing," Owen muttered, trying to collect his bearings. "Why did you show me my home?"

"All of the simulation tests show the same things," Rocco told him. "The third thing prisoners are shown is the place they grew up. How their brains respond to this information is what helps calculate the results."

Owen found himself wondering where Kara had grown up, and how she had responded to the simulation test. He wondered if she'd been as freaked out as he was now.

"Ah, here we go," Rocco said, writing things on his clipboard. "You have three choices. Since most of your responses were driven by actions, your choices are these: Dinosaur hunter, patrol worker, or Raptor-feeder."

"You feed _Raptors_?" Owen asked, unable to contain his shock. So that was a real thing in dinosaur books? It was scary to think about feeding real-life raptors. Well, fictional raptors. As for the small part inside him, he was also trying not to get too excited about the mention of his favorite dinosaurs.

"We do. We capture the ones who don't put up a fight and train them to fight against each other. Our main purpose here is to capture each dinosaur. Of course, if they eat one of you prisoners, we kill them."

"Oh," Owen muttered. This Kara Dox series was a lot darker than he thought!

"So, what's it gonna be?" Rocco demanded, looking impatient. "You don't have all day to decide."

WHAT PATH WOULD YOU LIKE FOR OWEN?  
Dinosaur hunter  
Patrol worker  
Raptor feeder

"Dinosaur hunter!" Owen blurted out, before he even had a chance to think. Wait, what? But he hadn't even thought it through! The thought of choosing that had entered his brain so quickly, completely overpowering any other thoughts.

Rocco wrote something onto his clipboard, then set it down and unstrapped Owen from the table. He led him, quite forcibly, out of the room. "The instructor for dinosaur hunting is Tobias. Happy hunting!"

* * *

_  
"And I can't say it's what you know. But you've known it the whole time, yeah, you've known it the whole time . . ."_


	6. Kiel’s Spell Dilemma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Kiel struggles to relearn magic and create an all-powerful spell that’ll take him to the nonfictional world, he reunites with a faceless enemy and makes some new friends along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I wrote this chapter back in last August (I remember writing this so clearly idk why) and it was my longest chapter that I’d ever written. I really enjoyed it bc it’s all written in Kiel’s pov and I love my fav boy magician sm

**_Whatever It Takes (by Imagine Dragons)_**

_"You take me to the top I'm ready for whatever it takes, 'cause I love the adrenaline in my veins . . ."_

* * *

**Three Years Ago**

It was late, almost midnight, when Kiel found his face wedged into the side of his spell book, some nasty-looking droll formulating on the pages. He sat up, swiping at his mouth with slight disgust. It was rare and completely against Kiel's nature to over-exhaust himself over endless researching. In the past when he got too tired, it was usually from using too many strong spells.

Usually Bethany was the one who researched, Owen contributed, and Kiel managed to slack off for a while until one of them got mad. While the others were more scholarly, he was an excellent strategist. He was better at taking action once they were inside a book. If they got in trouble, he was more than willing to fight the enemies with a smile on his face.

He looked down at the page the spell book was open to. It was a teleportation spell, which he'd been reading and attempting to study for hours. Usually, the spell book opened to whatever spell Kiel needed most, but most times the book seemed confused. It would flip between various spells, as if unsure about which spell would be the right one. Unfortunately, he was dealing with the same problem. There was no specific spell that allowed a fictional person to jump out of a book, so that made everything much more difficult. He resorted to researching every spell that he could find for the situation.

But he was terrible at research, and lacked the patience for it, but with Nobody's threat hanging over him he knew he didn't have much time. He wanted to do what was right, and he believed that he was doing the right thing. But it was hard creating a spell that would form a link to the nonfictional world. He had to do it alone.

A few weeks after Bethany crash-landed in the woods, he realized no one would be able to help him. So far, there wasn't much proof that the world needed saving, even if Kiel's gut said otherwise. He remembered how confused he felt when he was first in the nonfictional world, and how difficult it was for him to understand that he wasn't real. He thought about asking Charm, but he knew how she'd react. She wouldn't believe him, and would call him crazy for trying to create this spell. He realized that others would call him crazy, too.

"What am I doing?" he whispered under his breath, eyes lifting from the book. Although Charm believed it all the time, it was the first time _he_ felt stupid.

"That's exactly what I am thinking," a voice said.

Kiel jumped from his seat and looked around, but saw no one. "Who's there?"

"I've come to know that you're trying to create a spell that will make a link between the fictional and nonfictional worlds," the voice said, drawling out each word. "I can't let you do that, Kiel Gnomenfoot. I can't let you single-handedly destroy everything I've carefully worked to fix."

Eyes wide, he picked up his wand-knives from his desk. "How do you know that? Who told you that?"

"Nobody," the voice echoed, now sounding amused.

From the shadows of the room, Kiel watched a man step into the moonlight. He had never recalled seeing him before, but the minute he saw him he knew exactly who he was. He took the form of a man, but his face was disturbingly featureless. There was nothing where his eyes, nose, and mouth should be.

"You!” Kiel shouted, lifting his wand-knives. " _You're_ the one who separated Bethany. I knew it!"

He had to admit, he couldn’t help feeling a little proud of himself for figuring it out. Okay, a _lot_ proud. Who could blame him? He hadn’t even _been_ with Bethany when she’d gotten split into two halves, and he’d figured out the entire mystery! Without even meeting Nobody, either. If he were here, Owen would’ve appreciated Kiel’s detective skills, even if he hated mysteries now. 

"I knew you were more clever than you held yourself accountable for," Nobody said, a mouth appearing on his face when he talked. "You're right. I _did_. And because of that the fictional world will be better off. To thrive, our world needs isolation. We need to stop relying on these 'authors' who ruin and control our lives."

"You're not helping our world by destroying it," Kiel pointed out.

"Hmm, well, it depends on your view of things," Nobody said simply, walking slowly over to him. "Everyone else will be grateful."

"No, they won't," Kiel said, glancing at his spell book. He considered teleporting away, maybe to where his teacher Abdo was, but it was too risky with Nobody right here. He'd have to do it while Nobody was distracted.

"I'll see about that." The faceless man looked at him with disapproval.

At that moment, Kiel darted for his spell book, ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice. Nobody got to him first.

His impossibly long arms extended outward towards Kiel, wrapping around his waist and trapping his arms. He gasped as the arms lifted him off the ground, squeezing into his stomach.

"Not so brave now, are you Kiel?" the faceless man asked, chuckling to himself.

Kiel tried his best to inhale, but the pressure squeezing his body was too tight. "Let . . . me . . . go . . ."

Nobody shook his head. "Sorry. If you agree to end this foolish quest, I'll let you go. To create a spell that would have enough power to make a portal to the nonfictional world would not only ruin everything for the fictionals, but it would also ruin things for your dear friend Bethany. I know you care deeply for her.” His words stirred up unfamiliar feelings in Kiel’s heart. “You wouldn’t want her life to be ruined all over again, would you?”

Kiel wanted to crack a joke, or maybe an insult, or a mix of both. But he couldn't say anything else without much difficulty, so he remained silent.

"So you see the problem you're stirring up, Kiel?" Nobody asked, walking over to the window. "Both worlds are better off without each other. Us fictionals can finally live without these 'masters' controlling us. This is the start of a new and brighter future. Bethany will forever be grateful now that she's got what she's always wanted: to have her father back."

"No . . . she . . . won't . . ." Kiel gasped, glaring at the man. "I—" He struggled to say more, but the pain in his body was too restricting. He forced a wink, just to assure Nobody that he was going to escape and successfully fight him.

Nobody smiled unemotionally. "I've had enough of the antics of first Owen, then Bethany, and now you trying to stop my plans. You're not going to. None of you are capable."

"Ha!" Kiel exclaimed, grimacing immediately. "That . . . is where . . . you're . . . wrong. We . . . are."

"Although they are incorrect, I understand your beliefs," the faceless man said. "Then I suppose you leave me with no other option."

He gestured, and the world began spinning. A strange, whistling sound could be heard all around them, and Kiel felt his ears ringing. He couldn't even shout as his body felt very heavy, then suddenly very light. It was dizzying. A blur of different colors clouded his vision, forcing him to close his eyes.

When he opened them, he was standing completely alone in a white, empty room.

* * *

Maybe it had only been a few minutes, but it felt like several hours had passed while in the white room. It probably couldn't have passed for a room, either. More like an endless void. Everywhere Kiel looked, there was nothing but white. No matter how far he walked, there was no escape. There was no wall. There wasn't even a door. Not even a single window. Even worse, he felt no hunger, pain, or fatigue. Kiel would've preferred to feel those things. At least he could've focused on that instead of the blank nothingness around him. But one thing was certain: this was obviously a prison.

"HELLO?" Kiel shouted for the hundredth time, waving his arms above his head. "Just so anyone knows, this is so embarrassing that I, Kiel Gnomenfoot, would have to be rescued like this. No, actually, never mind. I've got this handled. I can escape here without any help. I've done it hundreds of times! Thousands!"

When no one answered, he dropped his hands and made a frustrated noise at the back of his throat. "Nobody, you'll need _much_ more than this to keep me locked in."

He sighed and sat on the ground, sprawling his legs out and placing his palms behind him. This definitely was a slight change in plans, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He'd been captured lots of times. This was simply just a . . . malfunction. Once he escaped from here, he'd go back home to research the spell. But the more he thought about it, the less hopeful he was about creating this spell.

He remembered back when the Magister had borrowed some of Bethany's powers, which allowed him to travel to Owen's room and bring him back to their tower. He wondered if maybe he could do something like that, since it seemed to be a little less complicated than creating a spell. Then Kiel remembered about Bethany losing her powers, and he realized how badly that plan wouldn't work. And since Bethany was now split into two halves, there was no easy way to create a link between the fictional and nonfictional worlds. It would have to be a spell. A very powerful one.

"This is certainly going to be a problem," Kiel mumbled to himself, looking up at the whiteness. Time didn't seem to move.

He stared hard at the ground, clenching and unclenching his fists. He tried to think of a spell that might help him escape, but without his spell book he was practically useless. _Useless_ , Kiel thought with a weird feeling of amusement. That word had never been one he'd ever described himself as.

"Hello?" he asked softly. He cleared his throat and spoke louder. "Hello? Is anyone here? Can anyone help me? Can someone let me out?"

No one answered. So he really was alone.

* * *

_Too bad Bethany hadn't stayed with him._

The thought entered his mind sometime around the past days he had spent in the endless void. It was difficult to tell time while he was locked up like this. There wasn't even an indication that showed any time had passed. He began to worry that he'd be stuck here forever.

Shortly after helping Kiel do some research in his spell book, Bethany vanished. They had been staying in his tower for about six days before she left. One night, Kiel was practicing out new spells and she was teasing him each time he didn't get one right. The next morning there was no sign of her, the only indication of her whereabouts being a note, which said that she had cast a portal using the spell book to get back to her own world — her father's world. Although he was disappointed, Kiel didn't blame her for leaving. She wanted to be with her father, not on some mission that she didn't fully believe in. But he was glad that she wasn't there when Nobody had kidnapped him. He probably would've kidnapped her, too, and then the entire plan would be ruined.

Out of nowhere, a strange noise erupted through the quiet white void. Acclimated with the never-ending silence, the boy magician found this very unusual.

The noise happened again. It sounded like a giant piece of paper being ripped at an agonizingly slow pace.

"Hello?" Kiel called, standing up. He prepared to attack, in case the situation called for it. Luckily, he still had his wand-knives with him.

The ripping noise happened again, echoing around the entire room. It continued on and on, growing louder with every passing second, until the sound was so loud that Kiel was forced to cover his ears. Another ripping noise was heard, and a tremor shook the ground as a gigantic _something_ crashed through the void and suddenly appeared in mid-air.

Kiel must've been going crazy. He had to be. If not, there really was a real pirate ship, crew and all, floating in the sky.

"Kid!" A man dressed in leather frantically waved him over. "Get on! We're picking up all the prisoners and getting out of here!"

He continued to stare. This must just be a dream. There was no way this had really just happened.

He watched as a couple of men lowered a long rope until it touched the floor of the void. The man continued to wave, looking impatient. "Hurry! Let's get going. Stop staring and get on."

When Kiel finally got his feet to move, he sprinted to the enormous ship, feeling more than embarrassed that he was unable to escape from Nobody's prison on his own. Maybe if he had spent more time learning mag—

"Hurry up before we face the wrath of the faceless demon!"

"You people sure are impatient!" Kiel muttered as he made it to the rope. He put both hands on it and began to climb, the pirates also pulling at the rope to speed up the process. He made it to the top and stumbled onto the deck. He promptly found himself being easily lifted into the air and set back down onto the wooden deck. He looked around at his saviors, who appeared to be about twenty pirates, along with a mishmash of other people who Nobody had imprisoned. All of them looked desperate, and as for some, maybe even a little stir-crazy.

"Are you okay?"

He turned to see a man, looking a bit friendlier compared to his fellow pirates. Compared to the other pirates, though, he looked different. Instead of having a normal skin tone, he was green. And not in a sick-kind-of-way. His skin was _actually_ green, and it surprised Kiel for a moment. After all the strange things he'd seen in his twelve years of life, it was easy to not be freaked out by it. In fact, Kiel thought it was cool. As someone who liked to be different, he appreciated it when he saw others doing the same. Even if it wasn't by choice.

Kiel nodded, smiling gratefully. "I'm much better now, thanks. Hey, how did you guys even get out of the white void?"

"We tried every method," said the man, suppressing a shudder. "It's better if you don't know the details."

"All hands on deck! Get ready for the next stop! You, pull those sails up! You, tie those ropes! You three, get the cannon ready!" A heavy-set, bearded pirate, who looked like he was the captain, was shouting orders left and right, holding a long sword above his head.

Kiel watched for a moment as the crew sprang into action. Everyone seemed to be busy doing something important to prepare their ship. Beside him, the man hurried over to the ship's wheel at the other side of the deck. Without meaning to, Kiel followed.

"Hey, if you want to steer the ship too, be my guest," the man said in a joking tone, looking at the boy magician. He placed both hands on the wheel and began slowly turning it in the opposite direction. Kiel stumbled sideways and almost fell over the side, but quickly caught himself. He placed both hands on a rope to steady himself, and turned back to the man.

"So, Nobody locked you up too?"

"Yeah." He briefly looked at Kiel, seeming kind of distracted. "It's a world of bad guys here. Nobody is the worst of them all."

Kiel nodded. "He's kind of annoying like that. He definitely isn't very popular. He get's around a lot, huh? But he's evil and scheming, and I have to say if I wasn't worried before I'm a lot more concerned no—"

"Good!" the pirate captain barked. "Now, let's put this ship in a straight line, you useless lot! Full speed ahead!"

"What's your name?" Kiel asked, actively ignoring the gibberish that had come from the captain's mouth.

"Why do you want to know?" The green man stared straight ahead, but he looked amused.

"I just want to know," Kiel said, glancing at the white nothingness before them. "Might as well have a conversation. I was just rescued from a prison that had no one to talk to."

"You must annoy some people back home."

He shrugged. "It's all part of my charm. That's what my former teacher — the Magister — said."

The man turned, looking shocked. "Did you say the _Magister_?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I, well, when the entire crew was taken by Nobody into this prison, I saw your Magister. He was using magic to help Nobody."

Kiel scrunched his eyebrows. "He was? That doesn't sound right. Last time I checked he was in his study. But he did turn evil for a short time because he wanted to take over the nonfictional world."

The man gave him a confused look. "Nonfictional . . . world?"

He winced. He had accidentally broken his own rule. "Did Nobody tell you anything before he imprisoned you?"

"He told us that he was rebuilding every world until they fit his exact needs, and anyone who doesn't agree with him or join his side will be locked up. He said that he's wiping everything out and starting fresh, and he's making it into something called 'pure possibility'. He already started doing it everywhere. I noticed a few days ago that some of the ocean was starting to vanish."

"Vanish?" Kiel whispered. This was much worse than he thought. He had to get home immediately. He had to finish that spell and reconnect Bethany's halves before it was too late. Not that he didn't think he could do it in time. He obviously did, because he was amazing at things like that. But Bethany had already been in enough danger from Nobody, and Kiel hadn't even known. He'd been in Magisteria the whole time.

"Yeah, like _poof_." The man gestured with his hand. "Gone. There's nothing there but this white mist. It's happening very slowly, but I know it's because of Nobody."

White mist? Did he mean the pure possibility?

"This is so bad," Kiel said, lifting a hand to massage his forehead. "Really bad."

"I know."

The pirate captain bellowed an order that Kiel couldn't make out, and each person immediately latched onto the nearest object. The whole ship starting vibrating, and the loudest noise he had ever heard echoed all around them. The ship groaned, and it felt like they were being pulled towards something like a magnet. He realized the man beside him was yelling.

"What?" Kiel shouted. Both of his hands were clamped over his ears.

The man repeated himself, but he still couldn't hear. He leaned closer and shouted again. "Hold onto something! Or you'll be sucked into who-knows-where!"

Realizing his mistake, Kiel quickly lifted his hands and grabbed the side of the ship. Once he got a good grip, he watched the white nothingness with a growing feeling of uneasiness. He bent slightly over and planted both feet firmly on the ground, in case he lost his balance again. The ripping sound was growing louder with every passing second. Slowly, the room around them began rippling, and without warning the ship lurched forward at a high speed. Everyone was clinging for their life to anything within arms reach as the ship broke through the barrier of Nobody's prison. Everything was moving so fast that even the whiteness seemed to streak past them. Just as quickly as it had sped up, the ship slowed down within a second. When it was over, they found themselves in a dimly-lit castle with extremely tall walls, which had to be none other then Nobody's residence.

Kiel was breathing heavily. He slowly removed his hands from their death grip on the ship's rail, a small grin spreading across his face. He looked around and noticed the others seemed to be a little dazed too, and many were struggling to stand. It was one thing hearing and seeing this happen, but it was entirely another thing to be a part of it! If he hadn't gone through hyperspace before, he definitely would've felt sick by now. At least the danger had been exciting!

Beside him, the man was looking a little queasy. He continued holding the wheel with one hand, and with the other he clutched his stomach.

Kiel leaned down. He couldn't help but automatically wink. "Whoa. You're meaning to tell me you've never jumped through hyperspace before?"

"So far?" He counted on his fingers. "Six times. My stomach's reaction is always the same. We've been rescuing people back and forth for the past — I don't know — day and a half?"

"Maybe you should sit down."

"No, no." The man waved him off and he stepped back. "We're supposed to keep working until we rescue every captured person. No time for breaks with Nobody lurking nearby."

Kiel nodded. The last thing anyone wanted was to get captured again. "So, what's your name?"

"You _still_ want to know?"

He nodded again. Vigorously. "Why wouldn't I?"

The man glanced over at the pirates before looking back at Kiel. "Okay. My name is Elijah."

"I'm Kiel Gnomenfoot."

They shook hands.

"Hey!" the pirate captain yelled, stomping over to them. He was a full foot taller than Kiel. "Back to work! I don't want to see you conversing with anyone else but your captain! You don't get payed for nothing! And that goes for the rest of you — get back to work!"

When he stormed off and started shouting orders, Kiel made a face. "That was rude. I can turn him into a hat, if you want."

Elijah shook his head, straightening up. He walked over to a knotted rope and began retying it. "No thanks, Kiel. I'm indebted to him. I owe him everything."

"What do you mean?"

"He saved my family's life. So in return I have to serve on his ship until my debt is paid off."

Kiel's eyes widened. "How many years have you been here?"

He sighed tiredly. "Maybe twenty-five or twenty-four? I haven't really counted."

"You have been in this ship for that long? And you haven't been able to talk to anyone but _him_?"

"Well, I talk to other people sometimes," Elijah said. "I used to even write letters to my family. But he forbade me from it, since he thought it was distracting me from my work. That's just how it is around here."

"But don't you want to just blow his ship up?" Kiel asked, an excited glint in his eyes. "You wouldn't have to deal with him ever again. Or this ship. _And_ I can do it for you if you're too afraid."

He shook his head and went back over to the wheel. "No. This is all I have. Once I'm done serving him, I can go live with my family again."

"But —"

"I'm serious. I'm happy where I am." His tone told Kiel he was done talking about this, but his expression told him that he wasn't happy.

Kiel frowned, glancing over his shoulder. Everyone was busy preparing the ship again for the next rescue. Within a few minutes, the ship began to move again, and he held onto the nearest railing as the same process happened again. For the next few hours, they went from destination to destination, rescuing each fictional person from Nobody's prison. Kiel recognized a few of the creatures from some of his previous quests.

The last prisoner they rescued was a dark-skinned girl, looking about Kiel's age. She was wearing a green superhero outfit, long gloves, goggles, and her curly black hair was in a ponytail. She was smiling as she shimmied up the rope and planted both feet on the deck of the ship.

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "I was _not_ expecting that."

Some of the pirates grumbled tiredly in response. Others just glared. It seemed like everyone was in a bad mood.

"Last one!" the pirate captain shouted. "Let's get out of here before that faceless demon finds us! Full speed ahead!"

There were a chorus of "yes sir's" as the crew burst into action for a final round, everyone intent on escaping and going back to their respective worlds.

"Wait!" Kiel said, rushing down the stairs and over to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Elijah giving him a warning look. "Don't we want to blow his place up? You know, with those cannons? It would be an awesome explosion."

"No one tells me what to do," he spat. Then he laughed. "Especially not a little boy. My ship, my rules. We're getting out of this place before he comes back."

Kiel was really tempted now to turn him into a hat. If only he had relearned the spell beforehand. He placed both hands on his twin wand-knives, just in case he actually got the chance to fight the man. He didn't know why Elijah didn't want him to just fix the issue. The fight would be both easy and fun, so it wasn't like that part was a problem.

"I totally second that," a voice said. He whirled around, only to see the girl.

"Oh, I know," Kiel said with a grin. "How hard is it to blow Nobody's place up? If only Nobody was here, though. It would be cool to watch his face."

She laughed. "Yeah! I normally would never want to project any harm on _anyone_ , but I think he deserves a taste of his own medicine for a change. I was trying to save my friend, who turned into a thousand light particles, but I think Nobody got to her first. I'm not sure how to get back to her."

"Really? Maybe she's in the prison."

"I had hoped so! But . . ." She shook her head. "The pirate captain said I'm the last person they're rescuing. She's not here."

"Sorry about that."

"It's fine. I'm sure she'll be okay. She's great at handling herself." The girl smiled again.

_She definitely is the most optimistic one here_ , Kiel thought.

"What's your name?" she asked. "I'm Gwen. That's my real name. My superhero name is Earthgirl." Before he could answer, she added, "I recently just discovered that there are so many other worlds outside of mine! I never could've _dreamed_ that there would be other places. Could you?"

He chuckled. "No, for a while I couldn't either! I only knew Magisteria and Quanterium before I . . ." He quickly cut himself off. He didn't want to scare people off by talking about the nonfictional world. "I'm Kiel."

Gwen's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. "Kiel? Kiel Gnomenfoot?"

"You know me?" Owen and Bethany were right — he was more famous then he gave himself credit for!

"You're Betha—"

"Enough with the chitchat!" the pirate captain's voice boomed. He looked pointedly at Kiel and Gwen, who were the only ones doing nothing. "Everyone, prepare for our last trip!"

"Hold on to something," Kiel instructed, recalling how sickening each trip out of the white void was. He ran over to the stairwell and made his way back to the upstairs deck, Gwen following close at his heels. He latched onto a masthead, and she held onto a rope. The white void began rippling once again, and the loud ripping noise rang in Kiel's ears as the ship darted forward. After what felt like forever, the ship slowed to a stop, and they were back in Nobody's residence.

There was no sign of the faceless humanoid creature anywhere. Kiel considered going against the pirate captain's orders and blowing a few holes in the place, just for fun. But before he got the chance, the pirate crew beat him to it. They started loading up cannons and fired them into the wall, until a large chunk of it fell to the ground. The ship floated out, back into the outside world. They were met with thousands of beautiful, rolling hills that stretched on for miles. But the strangest part was that on each hill was a glowing portal, and on the other side of each one was a different location. Kiel realized that Nobody must've set up these portals so he could travel between any book of his choosing.

This was not good. At all.

"He could destroy each world so much faster this way," Kiel said, his heart sinking.

"Or capture people," Gwen said, sliding up beside him. "He's obviously planning on taking over the world. All of our worlds."

"I can't let him do that."

"What do you mean?" She gave him a confused look. "We don't know any way to stop him."

"I think I do," he said firmly. "I'm going to create a powerful spell. I just hope it'll work."

Gwen patted him on the shoulder. "I bet it will. You're Bethany's friend. You're a magician, right?"

It was his turn to be confused. "Wait, you know Bethany? Bethany Sanderson?"

"Yeah!" She brightened. "She's my best friend! And uh, your's too, I guess. She's the one who turned into millions of light particles."

"It's impossible to turn into millions of light particles," Elijah called back from his spot on the ship's wheel, without turning around.

Kiel ignored him. He was too busy feeling amazed, trying to imagine Bethany turning into light. He always thought Bethany could do anything that she set her mind to, but . . . _wow_ , turning into light? "How did she do that?"

"Charm gave her these new shapeshifting powers to fight against the Dark. She used them to turn into light as a last resort."

"Wait — _Charm_?"

So _this_ was what he'd been missing out on for the past few months? Ridiculous. He should've been invited.

"Yeah!" She squinted at him. "Didn't Bethany tell you? Oh, never-mind. You weren't there." She looked away, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Well, I'm sure she made it out. I just hope she's okay."

Okay? Yes. Still half-fictional? Definitely not.

"Yeah." He nodded, a sick feeling in his gut. "Me too."

The ship continued gliding forward in mid-air for a few hundred yards. When they finally got to where the thousands of portals were, the pirate captain dropped a rope and ordered everyone to climb down.

"Now!" he shouted. "Crew, go split up and find the portal for our world. As for our guests, you can find your respective worlds on your own. Let's get moving! I'm leaving you all behind if you don't keep up!"

"I really _am_ tempted to turn him into something," Kiel told Elijah, who was walking beside him. "You should let me. It would be completely painless for him, I swear!"

Elijah shook his head, but chuckled. "No, Kiel."

"Why would you want to turn him into something?" Gwen whispered to him. "He saved us!"

"I'll explain later," he whispered back. He watched as everyone began splitting up, each searching for the portal that would lead to their world. He was glad that he had met Gwen and Elijah. Maybe they could even help him with saving Bethany!

As they wandered around the field of portals, an idea slowly formed in Kiel's head. It was an amazing idea. One that neither of them could possibly refuse.

"Gwen," he said. "You want to help Bethany, right?"

She looked at him. "Of course! Is that even a question?"

He grinned. "Okay. And Elijah, you want to get away from this evil pirate captain who you're indebted to?"

Elijah gave him an uneasy look. "Whatever you're thinking, stop thinking it. I'm not leaving."

"I'm not forcing you to leave," Kiel stated. "I'm just asking. I've been trying to create this spell, but so far it's been tricky.”

"What does the spell do?" Elijah asked.

"It's supposed to take me to a different world. I started researching about two weeks ago, but my spell book isn't acting like it usually does. It's also been difficult because I'm trying to relearn magic."

Gwen frowned. "What does this spell have to do with Bethany?"

"Who's Bethany?" Elijah questioned.

"Bethany is my friend," he quickly explained. "And she's kind of . . . in trouble. I need to create this spell to save her. It's a little complicated. Nothing I can't handle myself. But . . . it would be nice to have assistance."

"I thought you said that you hadn't seen Bethany in a while," Gwen said. "So she's in even more trouble? More trouble than exploding into millions of light particles?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "But the only way I can help her is with this spell. So, are you in?"

She looked around. "I want to help. I really, _really_ do. But I've been gone from my planet for a while. And I'm not sure if there's much I can do. I don't know anything about magic."

"You could still help Bethany," Kiel offered. "You don't have to be good at magic to do that."

"I don't know," she said. Then she brightened. "But maybe once you've created this spell I can help! I'm against violence, but if you need to fight evil or save the world, I can definitely help you out."

He winked. "That's the fun part."

He noticed that Elijah remained very quiet, but he didn't want to force his new friend to help him unless he really wanted to. They were trudging up and down a few more hills before Gwen called out and pointed. "Hey, there's my planet!"

They turned to where her finger was extended, only to see a green planet behind the portal.

"This is where you live?" Kiel asked. To be honest, he was a little surprised. The planet looked deserted.

"Yeah," she said wistfully. "It'll definitely be weird going back home."

She turned back to them and smiled. "Well, see you guys! If you need my help later, Kiel, you know where to find me."

Kiel watched as she began running to her portal, jumping straight through it without a second of hesitation. Next to him, a smile formed on Elijah's lips. "She's very cheerful for someone who was just kidnapped by Nobody."

"Wouldn't you be if you just escaped?" Kiel asked teasingly.

Elijah sighed. "I'm relieved that we escaped from Nobody's prison. But I'm not so ecstatic to go back home. For years, working on that ship is all I've had. But now I wonder if there really are other options."

"Of course there are!" Kiel turned to him, feeling hopeful. In his most convincing tone, he continued. "Elijah, you can be whatever you want. You don't have to be indepped —"

"Indebted."

"— to this guy! You can come with me. You'll never have to see them again. You can finally see your family. I'll make sure you do."

He frowned, looking around at the various portals. "I don't know . . . it would be nice, though. But this is how my life has been since I was a little boy. I don't think it's that simple to leave."

"Elijah!" one of the pirates called from a few hills away, waving him over. The rest of the pirates were walking into a portal, one by one. "We found our portal! You don't get payed to stand there! Let's go! If you don't get over here now, we're dragging you with us!"

Kiel thought about the way he felt when he discovered that authors were in charge of his entire life, controlling his every move. He had eventually come to terms with it, but he dissuaded himself from the truth, by telling himself that authors could only see into his world, not control it. It didn't bother him as much as it used to, but Kiel still knew that no one liked being controlled.

He grabbed Elijah's arm before he could move. "You can't let them boss you around. It's your life! Don't let someone else control you."

Elijah nervously glanced back and forth from the group to him. He began edging towards the pirates, shaking his head. "I can't —"

Suddenly, the ground shook violently beneath them. Kiel almost lost his footing, but his friend grabbed him before he could fall. The ground continued shaking, causing each portal to vibrate and ripple. The remaining pirates shouted in alarm and cowered back from their portal, pointing swords at it.

"What's going on?" Kiel shouted.

His question was answered as Nobody himself walked out of one of the portals. As usual, his face showed no emotion. But when he spoke, his tone told Kiel that he was very much annoyed. "What is the meaning of this? You think you can _escape_? Nice try, but I think I'll have to put you back where you belong."

He thrust a hand out and seized a nearby person by the arm. In an instant, the person disappeared. Everyone gasped.

"There you go. Back to my prison, where you're _supposed_ to be," Nobody said, rolling his eyes. "Who's next?"

He started running at an impossibly fast speed and grabbed another person before they could jump into a portal. They disappeared just as quickly. Screams were heard in the distance as Nobody zipped from one person to the next, sending each of them back to his prison. Everyone scattered, and many of the remaining uncaptured people dived into random portals.

"We need to go," Elijah ordered. "We need to go, Kiel. Now!"

Kiel had a lot of pent-up anger still about Nobody hurting Bethany and splitting her in half. Although he really felt like fighting Nobody, he also didn't want to be put back into prison. So together, they ran as fast as they could up and down each hill, searching wildly for the right portal. Somewhere to the left, something caught his eye. It was another glowing portal, which looked exactly the same as the others, but the location looked familiar. In it was a tall, brick tower in the deep woods, labeled "Magisteria".

"There!" Kiel shouted, frantically tapping Elijah's arm and pointing with his other hand. They raced down the hill and climbed back up another one. They reached the top, panting slightly.

"This is your home?" Elijah asked, peering at it. "Are you sure it's the right —"

"I'm sure! We need to go!"

"Kiel Gnomenfoot!" Nobody's voice boomed across the entire field, sending the grass rippling. He appeared right in front of them, completely blocking the portal. "I don't think that's a good idea, do you?" He pointed at Elijah, who looked shell-shocked. "This man is a servant, and he will be until his debt is paid in his own story! Just as I have safety locked you up for the good of everyone, you are about to cause even more chaos for me."

"Elijah is my friend!" Kiel said, glaring at Nobody. "And I'm not going to let you ruin my plans, either. I'm _saving_ Bethany. If you want to fight me, all you have to do is ask. I'd be glad to do so." He winked. "I'll even go easy on you so it'll be a fair fight. How's that sound?"

"Don't be stupid," Elijah muttered. "He can easily hurt you with an attitude like that."

Nobody laughed. "He's right. I can hurt you. However, I do not _want_ to." He stepped closer to them and narrowed his eyes. "I'm being generous by locking you into this prison. You won't have any reason to cause trouble, and I won't have anyone working against me, so we'll both be happy."

"Eh . . . I wouldn't say _happy_ ," Kiel said, slowly sliding his hand into his pocket. "I think that you're going to let us go."

Nobody raised his eyebrows, stopping in his tracks. "And what makes you say that?"

He quickly muttered a spell and thrust a glowing hand into the faceless man. The spell hit Nobody dead-on, and he stumbled a bit, his eyes glazing over.

"What did you do?" Elijah asked, a toothy grin forming on his face.

"For the next ten minutes, he's forced to do whatever I say. If he tries to refuse, he'll feel an unpleasant burning sensation." Kiel couldn't help but grin. "I can't believe it worked! This is the first time in a while that my spell has worked without having my spell book nearby."

Nobody straightened back up, hatred in his eyes. He was motionless except for his face, which was an expression of anger. "How dare you use a spell to control me! You shouldn't have even _gotten_ the chance to cast that spell."

"My first order for you is that you'll never set foot in my world again," Kiel stated, a smug smile on his face.

Nobody growled, his nostrils flaring. "How _dare_ you —"

He thought for a moment. "You're not allowed to stop me from creating my spell. And you're not allowed to stop me from going to the nonfictional world. You can't stop me from rejoining Bethany's two halves."

The faceless man didn't say anything, but he was breathing heavily, looking angrier by the second. He tried to move his body, and grew even more frustrated when he remained in the same spot. He glowered at them. "I will find you, Kiel Gnomenfoot! You'll regret ever casting this spell!"

"Nope, I don't think I will!" he replied, winking.

He stepped around Nobody and entered the portal. Instantly, he was standing back in front of his tower, surrounded by a mass of trees. After a moment of hesitation, Elijah followed. The portal closed up behind them, leaving an enraged Nobody behind.

"Remind me to bring you everywhere I need to go," Elijah said with a laugh. He was busy looking around at the scenery. He brushed his hand along the bark of a nearby tree. "Your magic is a life-saver."

Kiel looked around his shoulder, straightening out his cloak. "I'm surprised it worked at all. I just started learning magic a few months ago. I used to be great at it, but I've gotten much weaker. Of course, I have to say I'm still _very_ impressive."

"We're lucky. If your magic really was weak, we would be back in that prison." Elijah looked down at him, a smile on his face. " _Thank you_ , Kiel. I mean it. I can be free, now."

The boy smiled. "No need to thank me. By the way, you aren't dressed for Magisteria. At all." He held up the ends of his cape. "Do you want a cape like mine? Or maybe some new pants?"

Elijah laughed and looked down at his own dirty, ill-fitting clothes. "I didn't know I'd be entering a fashion contest."

"It's more just to look cool." Kiel gestured at the tower. "Want to go inside?"

"Sure. After you."

* * *

"And, uh . . . what's this?" Kiel asked, holding up a small green plant stem. He had to admit: he wasn't an expert at all when it came to plants. He had never even been anywhere tropical before. He didn't know a place like this existed in his world.

"It's thyme," Abdo said. "It grows from the ground."

"And, this?" He plucked a green leaf from a bush.

His new magister looked at him. "Kiel, my young apprentice. It's good to be curious. There are always new things to learn. But when the time comes, you must use your knowledge."

"I am — I'm trying to." Kiel huffed. "But what does that have to do with these plants?"

"These plants are part of my special recipe. I'm making an ointment that won't wear off once you go on your mission — for healing purposes."

He nodded appreciatively. "Smart. I never would've thought of that."

"That's because you're young," Abdo said, taking the cut-up thyme and sprinkling it into the mixing bowl. "But you'll learn. Once you have a real near-death experience."

"I've had many real near-death experiences!" Kiel scoffed, feeling defensive. "I'm a hero. You think I haven't?"

"You've only been going on these quests of yours for a year. Give it time. In five years, you'll have even more experience."

"Hmm." Kiel watched him pluck leaves off of a nearby bush and grind them on the table until it looked like green dust.

After a while of watching him and commenting on each plant every now and then, Kiel lost interest and walked out of the greenhouse. Almost a full week had gone by since he escaped from Nobody's time prison. When he and Elijah arrived, there was a note from Abdo, showing Kiel the directions to Abdo's hideout and instructing him to teleport there.

As far as Kiel knew, he appeared on a deserted tropical island where Abdo's main study was. It was there that Kiel filled his new magister in about his plan to create the spell, vaguely mentioning that a friend of his was in danger. He didn't say anything about this being the fictional world, because he didn't want to scare him off. Really, he had no choice. After being captured by Nobody, Abdo wouldn't let Kiel stay in the hideout without an explanation.

Elijah had decided to stay behind. He didn't want to interfere too much with Kiel's outside life, which he understood. They were from different worlds and he didn't fully understand everything about Kiel's world, although he had explained (in great detail) the rivalrous story of Magisteria and Quanterium to the man. He also had made sure to explain the nonfictional world to him, and the importance of bringing Bethany's two halves back together. Elijah said that he would spend the alone time getting to know Kiel's world and learning some things about magic.

He tried to imagine what it would be like once this spell was finally completed. The moment felt forever away. He wished he could have it over with already, so he wouldn't have to do all this preparation and research. It was difficult, but if he didn't do it he would never be able to get to the nonfictional world.

He entertained himself by practicing some magic as he wandered down the hallway, observing all of the interesting magical items his teacher owned. He had never met anyone else who practiced magic besides the Magister. It was nice to see the handiwork of other older magicians.

"Kiel!" Abdo called from the other room. "I'm finished with the ointment."

"Okay!"

Kiel walked back over to the greenhouse, where Abdo was patiently waiting next to the wall. The healing ointment, which was a vibrant green color, was in a small jar on the cutting board. He picked it up and observed it closely. "How does it work?"

"You're not supposed to eat it, if that's what you're wondering," his teacher said with the wisp of a smile. "It's a paste. If you get injured, all you need to do is rub it into the wound, and you'll be healed instantly."

Kiel stuffed the ointment into his pocket, his eyes a bit wider. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me. All I hope is that you don't have to use it." He waved Kiel to the door. "You should get going, now. No time to waste on this spell. I'll stop by every now and then to help you with research."

He edged out of the room. "I really don't think I need much help with that part. But if it makes you feel better to help me, you can."

Abdo sighed, following him out the door. "Kiel, when can you admit that you need some help? You're a twelve year old boy. It's simply not easy to create a spell by yourself at that age."

Kiel shrugged. "I've been relearning magic. It'll take a little time, that's all."

"More than a little time. Creating a spell is harder than you imagine, especially when this spell is creating a link to a world that we ourselves cannot simply teleport to." He stepped a few feet away from his apprentice. "I'll stop by sometime in a week."

Seeing his cue, Kiel said good-bye and teleported back home.

* * *

**A few years later**

As always, the boy magician was absorbed in his spell-making. He felt like the only thing he did nowadays was research, write notes, and cast spells. He loved the occasional trips he went on a few times every month. A year ago, when he was fourteen, he had gone on a cross-country trip for a few months to seek out any magical individuals who had advice on how to create a powerful spell. He received different but helpful advice from everyone he met, although some of them called him crazy (and insisted he should try looking the specific spell up in his spell book, which he had already done many times). He had also contacted Bethany a couple of times, and through magic he was able to learn about her father and the world she lived in. She always seemed to be having fun with stopping crime and fighting evil, which Kiel was envious of. He wanted to do those things too. But he needed to finish the spell and reunite Bethany's two halves before anything else.

Since Kiel didn't yet know of a way to move between worlds on his own, Elijah had decided to live with Kiel since it was more convenient. They'd become close friends over the past three years. Despite knowing only a little bit about magic, he'd insisted on staying to help Kiel with his research. It was completely appalling to Kiel that he had even wanted to stay with him instead of trying to find his family in the first place! Not that they _hadn't_ tried finding a way to move between worlds, but the only person that Kiel had ever known to do that was the Magister.

And for obvious reasons, seeking out the Magister for help wasn't what Kiel wanted to do.

Kiel frowned, setting down his wand-knives. He was so beyond frustrated at how long this spell was taking. Why couldn't his spell book just give him the spell, like it usually did? Was it that difficult to create a portal to a place that was unreachable? Did it really have to take three entire years — maybe even longer for him to get it right? He sat down at his desk, twirling his wand knives in his hand and thinking about each spell he had gone over. He had them memorized by heart now.

He knew everything about the portal spell and the teleportation spell, along with any other traveling spell, but he knew nothing about one specifically that would take him to the nonfictional world. He wasn't used to failing, but he had many times in the past few years. Everything used to be so easy and effortless. Not that he was being cocky about it, but it really _had_ been easy back then. All he did now was study and learn new spells, and there was nothing fun about studying the same spells over and over.

Several times he had almost given up, but the thought of saving Bethany is what drove his determination. He was a hero. He had to save her and he had to save the world before Nobody's 'pure possibility' wiped everything out.

Speaking of Nobody, the white nothingness had begun to slowly make parts of each world vanish. Not slow enough, though. Already, time was running out. Much of Magisteria was turned into pure possibility. So if he didn't figure this out soon, his world would be destroyed. He had no idea what would happen if he didn't create this spell, but he didn't want to find out. Every single fictional world would vanish, and Nobody would be able to rewrite _everything_. Above all, that was the worst possible outcome out of any of this.

Kiel opened his spell book and read through every spell he could find, trying to find anything that could be useful. Since there were millions of spells to choose from, he had studied as many as he could, and had practiced them all various times. He had gotten much better at his spell-casting; even better than he'd been when he was twelve, since he was practicing so often.

Then suddenly, everything came to him all at once, like a train hitting him square in the face; that was how he felt, because a physical force felt like it had pushed him onto the ground. Wincing, he held his head in his hands as a surge of ideas barreled into him, and all of the sudden he knew everything he needed to. He pushed himself off the ground and ran across the room, grabbing a parchment paper. He ran back to his desk and began to write. He wrote lines, erased them, and rewrote them again. His mind was a blur. He envisioned combining each spell he had researched into one whole spell. He imagined the spell taking him to the nonfictional world and breaking the barrier between the two worlds, so that they could be connected again. He couldn't see the things he wrote down, but his hand continued to scribble the words, as if it had a mind of it's own. He didn't stop writing, even when his hand began to ache. He wrote long into the night, until something told him the spell was finished. He released his grip on the pencil, sending it clattering to the floor. He picked up the parchment paper with both hands, eyes wild as they darted back and forth between every line, surveying the finished spell.

"It's done," Kiel whispered. Shock, followed by joy coursed through his veins.

"It's done!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, not even caring who heard him. He shot out of his seat, gently placing the spell down on the table. Three years. Three years of research and memorizing spells and asking for help and attempting to write the spell but failing. In a span of two hours, he had written it. Finally, it was done. His hands tingled with excitement. He was going to the nonfictional world. He was finally going to save Bethany.

Footsteps echoed down the hall, and a bleary-eyed Elijah opened the door. He yawned. "Kiel? Did you get attacked?"

"No!" Kiel shouted, causing the man to flinch. He was grinning so wide that his face hurt. "I'm done the spell! I _wrote_ it!"

Despite his exhaustion, a smile formed on Elijah's face. "That's wonderful! I knew I never was much help. You're the powerful magician here."

The boy magician slowly picked up his newly-written spell, feeling as though it was very fragile. "It's weird. I spent three years on this and . . . it's only about twenty lines. It just came to me, and then I knew exactly what to write."

Elijah shrugged, still smiling. "I don't think the length matters. What matters is whether it works or not. You want to cast it tomorrow?"

Kiel set the parchment down again. He felt nervous all of the sudden. He would be seeing his best friends, Owen and Bethany, again. Most importantly, he would be saving Bethany, along with the fictional world. He hadn't seen her nonfictional half yet. "Well, I'd rather cast it _tonight_ -"

"Nope. Not a good idea."

"Fine. Tomorrow, first thing." He glanced around the room, grabbing random things from his messy desk. "I need to pack everything first. I don't even know how long this will take."

"Good idea. Now you should get to bed! It's windy outside. I bet a stiff breeze will blow your skinny body out of the tower."

He laughed. "I am not _that_ skinny."

"I bet that's why you wear your cloak," Elijah said, smiling. "To cover up your tall body and skinny arms."

Kiel scoffed, pushing past him in the doorway to get to his room. "Cloaks are cool. I wear them because they make me look _awesome_."

"Ha. Okay, but I don't think you have many people to impress! And most importantly, this nonfictional world you're going to doesn't have the same fashion sense as you, so I suggest you pack some other clothes."

"You're right," the boy magician said, removing his black cape and gloves. "See? This looks normal."

"I'd say that looks good," Elijah commented, putting a hand on his chin. "And still fashionable. But are those really your only clothes?"

Kiel nodded again, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course!"

"Uh huh. Well, maybe you shouldn't wear only that. Got to impress Bethany somehow, right?"

"Impress her? Why would I need to do _that_?"

* * *

Sunlight filtered in through the windows, giving the tower a warm and hazy glow. A soft breeze blew into it, ruffling some of the papers scattered around the study. There was a brown shoulder bag on the desk, which was half-way filled with supplies for the trip. Kiel's flying cat, Alphonse, was looking bored as he licked his paw.

"You almost packed?"

"Almost!" Kiel entered the room again, carrying his healing ointment and a bag of medical supplies. He wanted to be prepared for this trip, just in case his magic stopped working when he got there. He stuffed the supplies into his bag and double-checked to make sure his spell book was still in there. He ran back out of the room and grabbed a jug of water and some food, and placed that in his bag as well.

"Okay," he announced, closing his bag and slinging it across his shoulder. "I'm ready."

He had made an effort to dress more like the nonfictionals' dressed. Instead of his usual outfit, he had officially ditched his cloak, gloves, and boots (which he magically changed into Adidas sneakers). He still was wearing all black, but he didn't think that would be much of an issue. He observed himself in the mirror, making sure nothing about his outfit screamed "I'm Kiel Gnomenfoot!", which was a problem that happened the first time he came to the nonfictional world. Feeling satisfied, he adjusted the bag's strap on his shoulder and picked up the written spell.

  
Elijah entered the room, looking wide-awake although it was very early in the morning. He spotted the parchment in Kiel's hand and sighed, offering him a reassuring smile. "I guess this is where you test it out."

"Yeah. It should work. I know it will. I've gotten much better at spell-casting, so this should be easy, right? I've been working on it for years. This spell will be cast in a minute, and I'll be out of here in no time to save Bethany! And our world," Kiel said, feeling jittery. Holding up the spell at eye-level, he began to recite it. It took a few minutes, because the words he had written were easy to trip over.

"Don't talk so fast," Elijah interjected half-way through the spell. "You aren't at a race."

He frowned. "I'm doing awesome."

The man only looked amused. "I never said you weren't."

He lifted the paper back up, taking a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. He had to get this right. He began to recite the spell again, slower this time. He made sure to pronounce each word as clearly as possible. When he was done, he lifted his eyes from the parchment expectantly. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the ground shifted and a low, humming noise filled the room. In the center of the room, a large force field of energy appeared, humming and vibrating with power. The force field of energy shifted and re-formed into a circle that closely resembled something more like a portal. Just by looking at it, Kiel could tell this was much more powerful than any portal he'd ever seen.

"It worked!" Elijah shouted over the noise, looking ecstatic. "This was all you, Kiel!"

"I can't believe it."

Well, he kind of could. He already knew that he was amazing at casting spells, but _this_ amazing? Kiel grinned, taking a few steps towards the portal. Unlike most portals, there wasn't any indication of a location on the other side. Only a glowing field of energy.

He turned back to Elijah. "You think it'll take me there?"

His friend nodded vigorously. "Of course! You worked hard to make this spell. I'm sure it will."

"Are you sure you don't want to come?"

He shook his head. "This is your quest. But I'll be here, if you need anything."

Kiel was a little disappointed at that, but he couldn't stop smiling either way. He had created the most powerful spell and it worked! Well — sort of. Now all he needed to do was walk through and see where it took him. He said good-bye to Elijah, gave him a quick hug, and stood back in front of the portal. He gazed at it, unable to tear his eyes away. Despite all his success, part of him couldn't help being a little nervous. He pushed his conflicted feelings down, forcing himself to remain confident. This was going to work. It had to!

Taking a deep breath, Kiel closed his eyes and walked inside. He was met with indescribable energy. It vibrated through his entire body, causing him to shake uncontrollably. At one point he attempted to open his eyes, but the glow that was inside the portal blinded him, so he squeezed them shut again. He was only in the portal for about five seconds before his eyes opened again and he saw his destination.

He took a staggering step out of the portal, completely blinded by the sudden brightness all around him. A bitter, freezing wind tore through his clothes, which made him wonder if he'd calculated the wrong area. He felt incredibly sick, and his body was still shaking violently. His vision began to blacken around the edges, and his eyes rolled back into his head. He tipped sideways into the snow.

* * *

_  
"Never be enough, I'm the prodigal son. I was born to run, I was born for this . . ."_


	7. Back To The Real World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiel makes it to the nonfictional world and discovers that many things have changed since he’s been gone. Nonfictional Bethany, lacking memories of the fictional world, does not remember him.

_**Silhouette (by Aquilo)** _

_"Devil's on your shoulder, strangers in your head. As if you don't remember, as if you can't forget . . ."_

* * *

  
"Oh my . . . good heavens . . . what is the meaning of . . ."

Kiel's eyes fluttered open at the sound of heavy footsteps and a woman's voice. His body felt frozen. He was laying on something cold and he had a blasting headache. He didn't know how he'd ended up on the ground. He blinked rapidly to regain his vision, making out the blurry shape of a hunched figure standing above him, outlined by a gray sky.

He darted upward and threw himself into the woman, causing her to gasp and stumble into the snow. He quickly got to his feet, automatically putting two hands on his wand-knives and scrambling away from the woman, almost tripping several times. He turned around in a daze and broke off into a run. Lucky for him, he was pretty much an expert at running fast.

The texture of the ground felt crunchy and hollow. His feet sank about five feet every time he took a step, and cold water seeped into his sneakers. He ran blindly into the woods, and he didn't stop running until he was sure the woman wasn't following him.

Gasping for air, Kiel sank against a nearby tree and made a feeble attempt at brushing the cold water off of his clothes, but it was no use. From his feet to the top of his head he was soaking wet. His hands shook tremendously, and the tips of his fingers appeared to be a little blue.

He glanced around at his surroundings, observing the whiteness that blanketed the ground and trees. There was a stiff, cold breeze in the air, and there was a certain stillness here than there was anywhere else. There was something both strangely beautiful and suffocating about it, all at once. Kiel's teeth soon began to chatter, and he rubbed his arms, which only helped a little.

He wondered if the spell had actually worked. Had he made it to the nonfictional world? If he had, this definitely wasn't the right area. He remembered Bethany and Owen's town to be slightly chilly, for the most part. But it hadn't been cold enough to reach this temperature.

He let out a breath. He watched, transfixed, as a fog escaped his lips. The weather was so different than it was in Magisteria. He was quickly becoming very cold, and his entire body felt numb.

After a couple of minutes sitting there, Kiel shakily got to his feet, suppressing a shudder. A freezing wind tore through his body, ripping through his clothes and causing him to shiver harder. He hitched his bag higher over his shoulder and began slowly walking in a direction. As he walked, small white flecks began to drift from the cloudy sky; they peppered his hair, clothes, and eyelashes. He managed to avoid them at first, but once he realized they did nothing harmful he ignored them.

The snowfall soon began to pick up, and the woods became difficult to see through. He held a frozen hand to shield his eyes from the white cloud that fell mercilessly down upon him. At one point, he tripped over an unseen fox hole. He shouted in surprise and fell to the ground, the thick blanket of snow breaking his fall. Both literally and figuratively, he froze. He heard laughing in the distance.

A moment later, the laughing stopped, and he heard footsteps. He scrambled to pick himself up, wiping the snow off of his face. He was _freezing_. He began running blindly, panting heavily. Small clouds of fog escaped from his mouth. His feet felt heavy and sore. He pushed past trees and moved branches out of the way as he ran, the snowfall still relentlessly raining down on him.

"Hey!" a muffled voice yelled. "Hey, hey!"

He continued to run, not even looking back. But the terrain was difficult to run in, especially with his sneakers. Each time he took a step his foot sank deep into the blanket of snow, and he had to yank it out with much effort.

"Hey!" the voice shouted again, closer this time. "Wait!"

He didn't know if it was the exhaustion or the cold or the fear in the person's voice, but he stopped in his tracks. He reluctantly turned around, only to see a family of five. The woman who'd been calling him was bundled in a thick coat and scarf, along with her husband and three small children who were dressed similarly. They were all panting, with red noses and flushed faces.

"We were calling you," the man said. "Didn't you hear us?"

Kiel only stared, trying to blink away the snowflakes that dotted his eyelashes.

"Are you okay?" the woman asked, stepping forward. "We were having a snowball fight in our backyard when we saw you running by yourself in the woods. You must be freezing! Are you lost?"

"N-No," Kiel croaked, his teeth chattering although he tried to hide it. He forced a grin. "Y-You d-don't need to w-worry. I'm nice and w-warm, actually."

"You look very cold. Would you like to come inside our house real quick? You can borrow some gloves and a coat."

He looked left, then right, then back at the family. They were looking at him expectedly, and they seemed harmless enough, so Kiel quickly nodded. He didn't even know if he was in Bethany and Owen's town, but he knew for sure that he didn't want to freeze. "T-Thank y-you."

They started walking back towards the families house, which was about half a mile out of the woods. When they made it to the backyard, the children broke out into a run towards the back door of the house, laughing breathlessly. Their parents trailed behind, casting glances at Kiel every now and then. He remained silent for once, and hugged himself closely in an attempt to keep warm. He was relieved when they entered the home and found it to be warm inside.

"Take off your shoes, Samantha!" the woman shouted, closing the door behind them. "You can't leave a trail of water everywhere for me to clean up!"

"Sorry, Mommy!" a high-pitched voice replied, and a giggling little girl ran back in the room to wipe her feet on a mat. The couple did the same and removed their shoes, placing them on a rack beside the door.

"I'll go get you some of George's things," the woman said, shrugging off her coat and walking out of the room. "He won't mind, as long as you return them."

"Thanks," Kiel said, wiping snowflakes off of his soaking wet clothes. "I appreciate it."

The man, who he assumed was George, shook his head. "Don't worry about returning it. I have plenty of coats. You can borrow one of my hats, too. Might be a little old-fashioned for your taste."

Kiel laughed breathlessly. "It doesn't matter. I don't know much about fashion in this world."

"What world?"

"Uh, I mean . . . in this weather."

"Winter . . ."

He forced a smile, feeling uncomfortable. "Right."

The woman rushed downstairs, arms laden with different articles of clothing. She handed Kiel a long gray, wool coat. He put it on and was immediately enveloped with warmth. "Wow! This is great for keeping myself warm. I never knew the real purpose of these things until now."

The couple exchanged a confused look, and he quickly realized his mistake. "Ah — I'm just cold. My brain isn't fully functioning right now! I have what they call a — you know — brain freeze."

"I can see that . . ." the man commented slowly. "Did you know running around in the snow isn't healthy for your body? You could get hyperthermia if you don't wear a coat. Or frostbite. Your hands and feet fall off first."

Kiel had no idea what hyperthermia or frostbite were, but he nodded, feeling a little sick at the man's words. "That's good to know."

"Here." The woman handed him a pair of black, stretchy gloves and a gray winter hat. "Sorry that the hat is old-looking. George had this old thing since he was little."

"Oh, that's alright," he replied, putting them on. While the hat fit perfectly, the gloves were a little big, but he wasn't complaining. He remembered Elijah's words of advice about packing other clothes and he scolded himself now for not listening. But at least he had been given some free clothes! Unless they were poisoned, but Kiel doubted a family like this could poison him.

"Do you need anything else? Maybe a sweater? You're wearing a very thin black shirt . . ."

"Jane, I think he's fine," the man said in an annoyed tone. "Do you want to give away all of our clothes?"

He shook his head, not wanting to stay any longer than he needed to. He moved to the door. "No. The coat is warm enough. Thank you for the clothes!"

"We're happy to help," the woman said kindly. "Stay warm!"

Kiel opened the door and walked outside, careful not to slip on any ice on his way down the steps. The snowfall had subsided for now, but the freezing temperature remained. Looking at his surroundings, he noticed that the house was facing a slightly curved road. There were a few more houses nearby, but they were all separated by trees. He started walking along the sidewalk. If this was the right place, he definitely didn't see anything familiar.

A few cars drove past along the road, sending a breeze that whipped his hair around him. As he walked he studied the gray skies and the trees, which were strangely bare. He hadn't remembered the trees to be lacking any leaves when he was last in the nonfictional world. It was weird to see how much had changed here. This weather called "winter" definitely wasn't his ideal or like anything he was used to.

He had been walking for a long time before he finally came across another town, which had many more buildings, with freshly snow-covered roofs. Among the buildings he noticed a familiar library. That was when it dawned on him — it was where Owen's mother worked!

Filled with relief and newfound excitement to see his friends again, he crossed the busy street and made his way over to the library. For a short while he stood in front of it, simply staring. Then, with an excited smile on his lips, he walked through the sliding doors.

The moment he walked in, he knew that he was in the right place. He was greeted with the quiet buzz of conversation from a couple of tables over. The library looked the same as ever, except it was slightly updated and looked like it'd been repainted, although the carpet was still orange. He glanced over at the window, and felt a small rush of disappointment that the Kiel Gnomenfoot poster was no longer there.

He began wandering down rows of books, noticing the familiar spots that he, Bethany, and Owen had hung out in. He couldn't believe that had been three entire years ago. The library felt much lonelier than it used to. He felt a pang of sadness to be reminded that everything had changed, and nothing would ever be the same as before.

After walking the entire length of the library, he decided that none of his friends were around. He had no idea what time it was, but he assumed they must be either at school or at their houses. He surveyed the room for Owen's mother, but she was nowhere to be found, either. Even her office, which she usually was in, was locked and dark inside.

"Huh," Kiel muttered, walking out of the building. "It must be the weekend."

Since Owen's house wasn't too far from the library, he walked. Not that he had a choice, but if there was a chance of his friend being there he didn't want to waste it. The walk was only around ten minutes, through the path in the woods that he, Owen, and Bethany used to take on the trips to and from the library. After going back and forth so many times, Kiel knew the way by heart. 

By the time he arrived at Owen's house, it had started snowing again. A grin came to Kiel's face as he stared at the house, the realization settling in that he'd finally get to see Owen after three years. Bethany, too, if she happened to be here. Shivering, Kiel brushed the snowflakes off his face and rapped his knuckles on the door.

He heard shuffling inside, and then the door swung open, revealing Owen's mother. She looked weary and sad, and her hair was unkempt.

"Hi," Kiel said, smiling. "I'm looking for Owen. Is he here or at school right now?"

Her puffy eyes widened. She held onto the doorframe with both hands. "What do you mean you're looking for Owen?"

He kept the smile plastered on his face. "I mean exactly what I said! I'm just wondering because I haven't seen him in a while, and we were going to catch up . . ." He trailed off, his smile fading once he realized how stricken the look on her face was.

"Ms. Conners? Is something wrong?"

"He's been missing for three years," Owen's mother said weakly. "I'm sure you would've heard by now."

"Three _years_?" he exclaimed, furrowing his brows. "But — but that's impossible! Where did he go?"

She sighed. "I don't know. I asked myself that question millions of times. I tried calling him, tracking him down . . . but nothing worked. There is no trace of him. I don't even know why he ran away . . ."

"I can't believe it." He felt incredibly shocked, to say the least. He had expected Owen to be here, but missing? How and why? Millions of questions ran through his mind, but there were no answers.

"I still don't," she said, shaking her head and wiping her eyes. "In fact, yesterday was the three year anniversary of him leaving. There wasn't even a note. I don't understand. He was only twelve . . . such a good, honest and hard-working boy, with an active imagination and a passion for reading. I don't think I'll ever begin to understand what made him run away."

She began to tear up, and Kiel felt guilty for having ever stopped by in the first place. He smiled reassuringly at her, although he felt just as distressed. What made Owen leave? The Owen he knew would never run away.

"I'm sorry for bothering you," he said quickly, and moved to walk away.

"Wait!"

He looked over his shoulder. She still had the same sad, desperate expression on her face. "You're . . . you're that boy Kiel, right?"

"Yes."

"You were a great friend to my son. You and Bethany. He didn't have any best friends before you two. It's unfortunate the three of you haven't hung out since."

He nodded numbly, kicking his foot into a pile of snow. "Yeah. I haven't seen them in a while."

They lapsed into silence. Owen's mother continued standing at the door, watching Kiel long enough to make him uncomfortable. He didn't want to meet her eyes again. He didn't want to see the lingering sadness behind them.

Then, he thought of something that he hadn't before. If he was going to convince Bethany to rejoin with her other half, there was a chance that she didn't remember him. And since she spent majority of her time at school, he needed to find an easy way to become a student. That was the only place he knew he'd find her, because there was always a chance that she no longer went to the library, and he couldn't just barge into her house. Last time, it had been easy getting enrolled in the school because he had used magic. But maybe this time, he could put some creativity into his disguise.

"Would I . . . would I be able to use your, um . . ." He tried to think of the word. "Comp . . . computer?"

She looked surprised, but she nodded. "Feel free."

"Thank you. I'll be quick." He walked into the house, and she led him over to where her computer was. Kiel had already used it a couple of times, but it felt like an invasion of privacy without Owen here. He logged into the computer and clicked onto the Internet. After searching for a few interesting disguises, his eyes drifted to a website that he'd never seen before.

"Your-tube . . ." he read slowly, clicking onto it. A video started to play, and displayed a twenty year-old man sitting in his bedroom.

"Hey guys!" he said in a cheery, deep voice. "So, today's video is on how I survived my trip to Germany, which is by faking an accent and pretending I live there." He let out a long, dramatic sigh. "I know, I know. You're saying: Jonathan, why would you ever do that? Well the thing is, I've always wanted to be accepted everywhere I go. Everyone loves people with an accent! And us Americans love it even more when we get a foreign exchange student. I wanted to blend in there. I did it through three simple steps. You must, uh, want to write these down . . ."

Kiel searched widely for a notepad and pencil, finally finding one just as the man began stating his three steps.

"One," he said. "Fake it until it sounds real. Watch all the videos on German accents that you can, until you sound German yourself. Two: always talk about how much you miss the food in Germany. Germans love their food, and they don't like American food very much. Three: Study German! You have to know how to speak the language. If you don't, people will see right through you." He shuddered. "It happened to me because I forgot my own third step."

After writing this down, he concluded that this definitely was the best idea he'd come across. He'd use some magic to convince to school he was an exchange student from Germany, and then the rest would be simple! And if he wanted to see more videos, he could easily use the computers at the library. Smiling in satisfaction, he closed the tabs on the screen and turned the computer off. He stood up from his chair and walked across the hallway to the door.

"Thank you for stopping by," Ms. Conners said, from where she'd been sitting on the couch.

"Of course," he said. "I'm sorry about Owen."

"It's alright. Talking about him makes up at least a little bit for his absence . . ." She looked forlorn again for a moment, but she forced a tight-lipped smile. "Be careful in that snow. The sidewalk can be slippery."

"I will!" He waited until she looked away to leave. He thought about walking to Bethany's house, but it was far, and he was very cold. He had to go somewhere as a last resort.

Once he had walked a couple of blocks past Owen's house, Kiel walked back into the woods that lined the neighborhood. He looked left, then right, then left again to make sure nobody was watching. Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a teleportation button, which allowed him to go anywhere he willed it to. Readjusting his bag across his shoulder and chest, he pressed the button and we instantly teleported to his old house.

Surprisingly, it was quite bare, and there wasn't much else besides the necessary furniture. It was the same house that he had created with magic when he was living in the non-fictional world for a couple of months, and he was surprised it was still here. He had expected that someone else would've bought it by now, but everything about the house was the same, including the giant Kiel Gnomenfoot poster he had proudly displayed above his bed.

He took off his bag, coat, gloves, and hat, and set them on the couch. He also removed his sneakers, which were wet from all the running in the snow. Now that he wasn't being watched, he said a spell aloud. A second later he felt his entire body being filled with warmth, and the wetness seeped out of his hair and clothes.

"That's better," he said, taking a moment to feel proud of himself. Now that he was where he needed to be, he felt so much more hopeful than before. All he needed to do now was get some new clothes, get enrolled in the school, and find Bethany.

His stomach growled, and he searched through his bag for the food he had packed early in the morning. All of today's journey had made him almost forget about his own needs. He finally found the bag and was disappointed to see that it wasn't much, but it might last him through the day. He took out a loaf of bread and began taking bites of it. He had worked up an incredible appetite, so it wasn't surprising how fast he ate it. He threw a glance at the remaining food in the bag. There wasn't much left. Definitely not enough to last him through tomorrow.

The nonfictional world was different, because not everything was at Kiel's fingertips. Magic was more difficult and tiresome, and so was getting hands on the necessary items. He figured he could use magic to acquire money, but he didn't remember what it looked like. Was it a papery texture, or was it hard and rough? He remembered it being green, but not much else other than that. What he really needed was Owen, because he always explained everything there was that needed to be explained. Since that obviously wasn't an option, he'd have to go with plan B.

It was time to be a magic thief again.

* * *

On Monday morning, Bethany was getting ready for school. She absolutely dreaded Monday, more than any day of the week. It meant leaving the weekend behind and going back to school, which wasn't something she particularly liked. She didn't think anything except English class was very interesting, and even that class managed to be unlikeable because of her teacher's rude manner. She had accidentally fallen asleep in that class numerous times, so she had faced the wrath of her English teacher enough times to dislike him.

Yawning, she finished getting dressed for the day and went downstairs. As usual, her mom was gone for work. She always left early in the morning and came back late at night. It gave Bethany almost no time to see her mom except for weekends, but she didn't fully mind. She was used to it by now.

Checking the time every now and then, she scarfed down a bowl of cereal and put on her backpack. She headed out the door and speed-walked to the bus stop, making it just in time for the bus to arrive. The bus lurched to a stop, letting out a low screech. The loud conversations and shrieks of teenagers filled her ears as soon as she climbed on, and she bit back a groan. She shuffled down the small aisle and took an empty seat near the middle of the bus.

Sometimes she biked to school, but that was only when it wasn't winter, or when she wasn't extremely tired. She placed her bag on the spot next to her and stared out the foggy window, eyes glazed as she listened to the loud conversations of students behind her. A short while later the bus rolled to a stop, and the driver announced their arrival. One by one, the high schoolers filtered out of the bus, and were greeted with the cold December air rushing to their faces.

Bethany walked among the crowd of tired but chattering students, who surprisingly had a lot to talk about although it was very early in the morning. Piles of snow had been cleanly swept onto the grass, which allowed slush to form, making a mushy substance at the bottom of the students' shoes. Like most winters here, it got pretty cold. She was at least glad that the inside of the school was warm.

A group of girls in front of her pushed upon the double doors and she flocked in behind them. As usual, it was already becoming crowded since classes would start in ten minutes. Bethany made her way over to her locker (which was a few hallways over), dialed the code into the lock. The locker clicked open, and she emptied some of her schoolbooks that she wouldn't need until after lunch.

"Bethany!" an elated voice said.

Bethany shut her locker and turned, a smile forming on her face when she saw who it was. "Liz!"

  
"How was your weekend?" the shorter girl asked once she walked up to Bethany. "Do anything fun?"

She shrugged. "I read a book."

"I _actually_ meant other than . . . never-mind."

At first, the two girls walked to their first class quietly, their minds drifting off into different things. Their first class of the day was English, which was their only class together.

"Wait," Bethany said, eyes widening as she remembered the events of Saturday. "Did you see the News?"

Her friend shook her head. "You know my family doesn't watch much TV. I'm the only one who watches it, but I never watch the News. I'd rather watch, like, romance dramas. Ugh, they're _so_ good! Oh my gosh. Last week I was watching this show called —"

"Liz!" Bethany interjected. "Focus!"

"Sorry." She laughed. "What were you saying?"

"Me and my mom were watching the News on Saturday. And you know how Mrs. Ugliano wasn't at the book club meeting?"

Liz nodded.

"It was because this boy attacked her. She said this random boy appeared out of nowhere in her backyard — which I definitely think is impossible, by the way. And then she said that he fainted, and when she ran over to help him — he attacked her and ran away!"

Her friend gasped. "That's crazy."

"I know. I can't believe it either. The police are on this whole investigation to track him down. Mrs. Ugliano said he looked around our age."

"I hope he doesn't go to our school," Liz said timidly. "He sounds dangerous."

They entered the classroom and Bethany walked over to the back of the room, where her assigned seat was. Almost the entire class was already seated and chatting with their friends, and more kids rushed into the room to take their seats before the bell rang. The teacher, Mr. Tompkins, strode in just as the bell rang, closing the door behind him. She hoped he had forgotten the falling-asleep incident, but with her record she knew he probably hadn't.

"Alright!" Mr. Tompkins barked, straightening his small round glasses. "Everyone, take out your books. We'll be picking up where we left off, and then we'll be having a small quiz on the chapter at the end of class."

The students fell silent and there was some shuffling as they each took out _Frankenstein_ , setting it on their desks and opening to the correct page.

"This time, I'll make sure all of my students are present and awake," Mr. Tompkin's said, directing a look at Bethany and causing the class to laugh. She flushed, but managed to straighten up a little. Inwardly, she groaned. Why did he have to bring that up?

A knock sounded at the door, and the teacher opened it. "Hello? Ah, Principal Dunlap. Perfect timing. We were just about to read _Frankenstein_."

The men shook hands, and the principal came striding in, followed by a boy. "Good morning. This is his first class of the day, so I wanted to make sure he made it here safely without getting lost."

Mr. Tompkins nodded, and Principal Dunlap walked back out of the classroom, wishing them a good day. Everyone's eyes were now on the boy, who looked to be the same age as Bethany. He wore a long, gray wool coat over a black sweater, black pants, and a gray hat on his head. He was tall, with a pale complexion and black hair. He was also noticeably good-looking, but she'd never say that aloud. His eyes scanned the room, as if looking for someone, and then they landed on her. His expression changed into something like recognition. She quickly looked away, but his eyes remained trained on her.

The teacher cleared his throat. "So, I hear you're an exchange student. Where are you from?"

Before the boy could speak, everyone turned to each other and began whispering excitedly. Bethany sneaked a glance at Liz, who sat in the middle row across the room. She was staring at the boy with dazed eyes, a hopeful smile on her face. Bethany chucked to herself. The boy hadn't even been here for ten seconds and her boy-crazy friend was already crushing on him.

Mr. Tompkins sighed and motioned for everyone to quiet down. "Let him speak." And then, he added bitterly, "Give him the respect you don't give me."

"I'm from Germany," the boy said, and sure enough he had a thick accent. He looked like he was concentrating on each word as he spoke.

"Wow!" the teacher exclaimed. "Our first German exchange student! You know, we've gotten some exchange students from China and Japan, but never from here. Well, good to know! What's your name?"

The boy tensed for a second, but then looked back at Bethany and relaxed. "Kiel. Kiel Bauer."

"Wow, did you know you have the first name of a popular book character? The _Kiel Gnomenfoot_ books."

He smirked. "The book series was created after me."

This caused the students to laugh, mostly the girls. Except for Bethany, who thought he was kind of arrogant.

"All right, all right," Mr. Tompkins said, motioning with his hands for the class to quiet down. "Kiel, go sit next to Lucas. He's the one with the blonde hair and white shirt."

Kiel's eyes followed to where Lucas was, but he didn't move. "There's another open seat in the back of the room. Could I sit over there?"

Her heart skipped a beat. He was looking at her again. Why did he keep doing that?

"Sure. I don't see why not. I just thought that maybe you'd like to sit in the middle of the room. To get acclimated with some other students."

Kiel shrugged and walked down the aisle of desks, everyone's eyes following him. He sat down at the desk to the left of Bethany, putting his bag on the floor. He removed his coat but his hat remained on his head, assumedly meaning that he'd forgotten it was there. He took out a copy of _Frankenstein_ and placed it on his desk. She hadn't even realized she had been staring at him until he caught her eye and smiled, as if she were an old friend.

"Beth," Kiel breathed, as Mr. Tompkins turned back to his desk.

She thought that she might've misheard him, so she stared down at her book and pretended to be very interested in reading it. It was hard to be interested though, because she'd already read that chapter. And the words weren't as captivating as _Pick The Plot_.

"Hey," he said. "Bethany?"

She looked up. Kiel was staring at her expectantly, leaning slightly forward over his desk. His eyes were filled with a hopeful, almost pleading look.

"What?" she asked. "Wait, how do you know my name already?"

"Bethany," he repeated. "I — I just got here. I'm here to fix everything. You do remember me, right? I hope you do."

"What are you talking about?" she whispered, furrowing her brows. "I just met you right now."

He sat back in his chair, his face falling. Disappointment was etched all over his face. He glanced back at her. "Sorry. There was this girl back in Germany. You look a lot like her."

Bethany nodded, turning back to her book. There was something strangely familiar about him, but she didn't know what. The rest of the class went by incredibly slowly, and by the time the bell rang everyone jumped out of the seats, and instantly Bethany was almost knocked over by a crowd that surrounded Kiel's desk.

"What's your favorite thing about America?"

"Do you know a lot of English?"

"Can you say something in German?"

"Is the weather cold at home?"

"Are you having jet-lag?"

Kiel looked happy to answer everyone's questions, but slowly grew annoyed at the relentless group. He stood up from his chair, sliding his bag across his shoulder and edging out of the crowd. "I need to go to class. Nice meeting you all!"

He nearly ran out of the classroom, quickly catching up with Bethany, who had begun walking to her next class.

"Hey, Bethany." His eyes kept darting from the crowd of students to her. She pretended not to notice.

"And he's back," Bethany muttered under her breath, a surge of annoyance running through her.

"What is your next class?"

She didn't look at him. "Chemistry."

"Chemistry." He nodded, smiling. "Chemistry is . . . very . . . scientific. I prefer a subject that's easier to understand. I never liked science. I only use it if I absolutely need to —"

"I have to go," Bethany said quickly, then speed-walked in the opposite direction. She felt a twinge of guilt but didn't look back. He probably was paid to try becoming her friend. She was a loner and all she did was read and study. She wasn't popular, nor was she the most gorgeous girl in school. Why would Kiel have any interest in talking to her? Also, he seemed arrogant. She didn't care to talk to him.

She sat down in Chemistry class, milling over his words. _There was this girl back in Germany. You look a lot like her._ She wondered if the reminder had been her red hair, which didn't fully make sense. Although she had never been to Germany, she assumed there weren't many redheaded girls there.

"Did you hear about that new German boy?" Ruby asked. She was one of the most popular girls in school, so Bethany wasn't surprised that she already knew about Kiel.

"Oh. My. God," another girl gushed. "Isn't he cute?"

"He is!" Ruby giggled. "I haven't even seen him but I already know he is. Everyone's been talking about him since first period."

"I call dibs on him first," a different girl said.

Bethany couldn't help but roll her eyes, tuning herself out of the conversation. Every time a cute boy came to their school, the most popular girls immediately called "dibs" on them and eventually started dating them. She wished everything were simpler like the way they were back in middle school. Then, she could stop worrying about the pressure of romance. She wasn't really the romantic type. She knew that she was nothing like these girls, because if (or when) she ever found love, she wanted something more meaningful than a relationship with someone just because they were "cute." As nonexistent as her love life was, she knew that love just wasn't that. It was supposed to be special, wasn't it?

"Quiet down!" her Chemistry teacher said, clapping her hands. "Everyone, get out your pencils. I'll be handing out packets."

The girls threw annoyed looks at the teacher but quieted down anyway, walking over to their assigned seats. Mrs. Stacy walked around the room, handed out a thick packet to each student.

"You have the rest of class to work on these packets. If you don't have them done, you can finish them tonight. They'll be due tomorrow. No exceptions." Mrs. Stacy flounced back to her desk, taking out a pair of reading glasses and a textbook. She glanced up at the class with an annoyed look. "Begin!"

Bethany frowned down at her's, and wondered how long this would take. She turned to the first page and began to write, filling out the information on the packet. She had never been good at chemistry, or science in general. English had always been her forte, no matter what book they were reading. She always scored an A in that class, because her connection to books was so strong.

Briefly, she found herself wondering how Kiel Bauer, the new German exchange student, was holding up with his work. After all, wasn't English his second language? She dismissed the thought. She probably would never talk to him after today, anyway.

* * *

Kiel had never been so disappointed. Not when the Magister had turned evil, not when he and Charm stopped going on quests, and not even when he lost his magic. The fact that Bethany had looked at him as if he were a complete stranger was more hurtful than those things. When he saw her, his heart almost stopped, and he had felt immense relief at her presence. This not only confirmed that her nonfictional self was alive and well, but it meant that Kiel's hopes had come true.

Once they made eye contact, he had expected her to smile, or at least recognize him. But she didn't. She was looking at him the same way a stranger would. He had high hopes that she would remember him, but he guessed he should've assumed she wouldn't. This was her nonfictional half. Why would she remember anything about the fictional world?

"H-Hi. You're from Germany, right?" a girl's voice said, breaking him out of his thoughts. He turned to see a short girl with wavy blonde hair and many freckles on her face. _She's pretty_ , he thought, then instantly felt a little guilty for thinking that, although he wasn't sure why.

Kiel cleared his throat and smiled. "Yes. I'm—"

"I was just in your English class."

". . . Oh! I'm Kiel. What's your name?"

The girl was staring at him intently. "I'm Elizabeth. But everyone calls me Liz."

He nodded and looked away, back down the hallway where Bethany had bolted. He didn't understand why she ran off like that. It was like she was purposely trying to get away from him. He felt a little hurt by it, but didn't let it get to him. As long as he befriended her, everything would work out. The first time they had become friends had been a little tricky, since Bethany tended to be very skeptical about things, but she had warmed up to him quickly.

"So . . . what class do you have next?" Liz asked. "I have history with Mrs. Popplewell. She can be kind of boring, because she gives us so many lectures. You probably have her, too."

Kiel lifted his hand-written schedule to his face, rereading the contents. "Next I have . . . history."

Liz smiled. "Oh! You'll love that class."

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said history was horrible."

"Less horrible, now," she said. He noticed that her face was several shades redder than it was ten seconds ago.

On instinct, he winked. For some reason, a group of girls walking to the left of them were staring, almost murderously, at Liz. He had no idea why. Maybe it was because he was pretending to be German?

She giggled, apparently not noticing the girls. "Come on. Mrs. Popplewell doesn't like her students to be late."

Kiel nodded and walked with her to the classroom. The walk was a few minutes but it was only a little awkward, because Liz kept asking him questions about Germany. Luckily, he was prepared. He spent all day yesterday at the library, watching videos about German accents, reading facts about the country, and learning phrases. Since the accent was the most important part, he practiced tirelessly until he was confident he got it right. And judging by the convincing looks on his classmates faces', he knew it sounded accurate.

He only wished that Bethany was the one walking with him instead. He felt lost here. Like he didn't quite fit in. But having her with him gave him a feeling of security, which he hadn't realized was there until he saw her that morning at the beginning of English class.

The moment he walked inside history class, he was greeted with a different kind of room, which had a large map on the wall and one long table instead of individual desks. Mrs. Popplewell, the history teacher, stood from her chair and smiled at Kiel. "It appears we have a new student!"

Inwardly, Kiel winced. Eight more hours of this?

* * *

When the bell rang and all students of ages fourteen through eighteen burst out of the classrooms, Kiel's first thought was: _school is over already?_ He hadn't remembered school being this short. His hopeful thought quickly vanished as he realized none of the students were headed to the entrance of the school. They were going to the cafeteria instead.

"I wonder how different the food in Germany is compared to here," said a chubby, brown-haired boy named Charlie, who was in his math class. The two had sat next to each other and had quickly become friends . . . as far as friends could go while pretending to be someone you're not.

"It's very different," Kiel said, recalling his written necessary steps. "So far I've only had some American food, but it isn't good."

"The food here is great," Charlie stated as if it were obvious.

"The cafeteria food isn't," a black-haired, olive-skinned girl said to the left of him.

"I'm trying to encourage my new German friend, Diana." Charlie sighed, then looked pointedly at Kiel. "Even the cafeteria food is great."

"He only says that because he'll eat anything," Diana said dryly. "Ugh. Boys are such pigs."

Kiel smiled. "I'll eat anything, too." His statement was true enough, because he hadn't eaten a thing since last night. After eating only a loaf of broad on Saturday, he had managed to find a pizza restaurant the next day that was in walkable distance, and had even managed to steal two whole pizzas. He used an invisibility spell so that there would be no conflict with the police. He hadn't wanted to steal, but he didn't have money, so he knew it was necessary. The restaurant owners hadn't caught him, either, because he was an expert thief from his early days.

They entered the cafeteria, and the roaring of conversation filled his ears. Kids were sitting at long, white benches. A line of students were formed, which led to a buffet. Kiel began scanning the room for a certain redheaded girl, but Charlie's voice broke his concentration.

"Hey, Kiel! The line is over there. Aren't you hungry?" He was rudely waving a large hand in front of Kiel's face. Kiel stepped back to avoid getting accidentally slapped.

He nodded and looked back at Charlie. "Yeah. I'm just looking for somewhere to sit."

"Don't worry. You can sit with me and my friends."

"But —" Kiel started to say, but Charlie grabbed his arm and led him to the line of students, as if he couldn't walk there himself.

"Actually, I want to sit with this girl from my English class," he said. "I met her this morning. She's nice."

"Who?" Charlie asked, turning to face him. "Is she pretty?"

Kiel envisioned Bethany's wide, bright eyes, her confident grin that appeared when she was having fun, and her vibrant red hair. He unconsciously smiled. "Yeah, I'd say she is."

"What's her name?"

"Bethany."

"Huh," Charlie said, scratching his head. "I don't know any Bethany's. It makes sense, though. This school is big." The line moved a few feet, and they took a few steps before coming to a stop again. "These lines always take forever. No wonder I'm always hungry."

Diana joined them in line, looking bored. "The lunch better be good. If it's not, then all I'm drinking is coffee."

Kiel gave her a confused look. There were so many things he didn't understand in this world that it was almost embarrassing. "What's coffee?"

They both stared at him as if he was crazy. "What do you mean 'what's coffee'?" Charlie asked. "Germany can't be that different than America. Coffee is everywhere."

"Yeah," Diana added in a disgusted tone. "Why wouldn't you know what coffee is? It's my necessary drink. I have to have it every day, or else I can't function."

Kiel flushed. "My family doesn't . . . drink it. I've never heard of it. Is it good?"

"Is it _good_?" Diana repeated, raising her eyebrows. "Of course it is. If you're tired, it gives you an energy boost. There are so many different flavors. It's addicting."

"I heard that coffee causes brain cancer," Charlie said, receiving a hard glare from the girl.

"Don't ever listen to Charlie," she said, her eyes narrowed.

"Got it," Kiel said with a light-hearted laugh. Diana reminded him of Charm, which made him feel more at home. His statement seemed to ease the tension, and the three started talking about other things.

Kiel was the first to reach the buffet table. He grabbed a tray and observed the various types of food. Out of the selection there were burgers, chicken, vegetables, fruit, rice, chicken pot pie, and macaroni. He hesitated before dishing a burger onto his plate. He'd eaten one before when he was twelve, so he was glad to know he wouldn't need to suffer from any more harassment.

He glanced at his classmates, who were busy grabbing food. He took the opportunity to lose them in the crowd and walked around the sea of tables. There were so many kids everywhere that he was afraid he'd never find her. But then, he spotted her red hair gleaming under the bright lights. She was sitting at a table with a few other girls and boys, with many empty seats.

It appeared that she was sitting alone and had no one to talk to, which gave him the perfect opportunity to swoop in and talk to her. As he hurried across the cafeteria, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. It was unnerving, but Kiel forced a confident smile on his face as he strode over to her table.

"Is anyone sitting here?" he asked loudly. Bethany looked up from her meal, and her eyes widened. She looked slightly nervous for a moment before shaking her head. Unlike most of the students, she had a bagged lunch with her. He slid into the seat across from her. As he did, everyone from the table looked up.

"Why do you want to sit here?" Bethany asked, pursing her lips.

"Is this reserved for someone?" Kiel asked with a grin. "You _could_ try kicking me out. That would be very rude, though, since I'm an exchange student and all."

"I'm just . . . surprised you even want to sit here," she said. "There are many better places to sit. But I guess I can't stop you, can I?"

"You definitely can't, because I have something called a free will," he said, placing his tray in front of him. "And I chose to sit here instead of those other places. Looks very inviting."

"Are you Kiel?" a boy asked. "I heard you were from Germany. Hey — your name is like that character Kiel Gnomenfoot's!"

"It is! Isn't that ironic?" he said. "I _am_ from Germany. The food is better there, I have to say."

"You haven't even eaten your burger yet," the boy pointed out.

"No, but I've had other food here besides a burger," Kiel shot back.

"You might surprise yourself. That burger might taste good," the boy replied.

Kiel was tempted to cast a spell on him, just for fun, but he restrained himself because he didn't want to blow his cover.

He returned his attention to Bethany, who had a sandwich wrapped in tin foil, although she didn't seem to be eating it. Gone was her Twilight Girl outfit, which consisted of a long purple cape, long purple gloves, and a red and purple body suit with a Twilight star at the center of her chest. Here in the non-fictional world, she wore a patterned gray sweater and jeans, and she had a light blue backpack.

She met his stare for a brief moment before looking away. He tried to think of something to say, but for once no words came out. Instead, he busied himself by taking a bite of his burger, which surprisingly didn't taste horrible. He didn't know why Germans apparently hated the food here.

"Not hungry?" he managed to ask, noticing that her sandwich wasn't being consumed.

"Not really," Bethany said, taking a piece of crust off her bread and chewing on it. "I had cereal this morning. That's probably why I'm not hungry."

Kiel nodded. "I've never had cereal."

She looked genuinely surprised. "You haven't? How come?"

He quickly tried thinking of a believable excuse. "Where I live, we don't have the traditional breakfast food that you do. I usually eat fruit."

The lie was practically not a lie at all, because Magisteria really didn't have the same food as the nonfictional world. He hadn't eaten cereal before either, so the fib rolled easily off his tongue.

"That makes sense," Bethany said. She twisted a strand of her hair with her fingers and glanced at the kids around them. "I'm . . . sorry if I was rude earlier. After English class, I mean."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. You weren't rude."

"No, I probably was. It was only because you're kind of —"

"Awesome?" Kiel cut her off before she could finish her sentence. She deadpanned. "Either way, you weren't rude," he continued. Actually, she was, but he didn't hold it against her. "You had to get to chemistry class. That's obviously more important than talking to a wonderful person like me."

Just as she was about to respond, a blonde girl slammed her tray on the seat next to Bethany and sat down in a heap. Kiel's hands automatically went to his wand knives, which he'd forgotten were back at the house.

"What's wrong?" Bethany asked.

Kiel recognized her as Liz, the girl from his history class. All friendliness was gone as she only focused on Bethany. Although she talked quietly, he could hear every word she was saying. Something about a boy named Austin ignoring her.

"I'm done talking to him!" Liz continued, making wide gestures with her hands. " _So_ done. He can't just text me one day and ignore me the next! Who does that?"

Bethany was nodding repeatedly. "I'm sorry. He seemed a bit reserved, so I think this is a good thing!"

"A good thing?" her friend shrieked. "How on earth is this a _good_ _thing_?!"

The conversation went on for several minutes before a sniffling Liz turned away and began eating her apple. The surrounding kids at their table had lost interest in the conversation and were back to eating their food. It was only then that Liz looked up and met his eyes, and her face turned red.

"Kiel!" she gasped. "Were you sitting here this whole time?"

He winked. "As much as any of us were."

This only caused her to blush harder. Ah, she must be a fan. That could be the only explanation, except he was partly confused how she saw through his disguise. At least she wasn't calling him "Kiel Gnomenfoot" and asking for his autograph.

"You guys have met?" Bethany asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I walked him to history class," Liz said, still looking flustered. "I was helping him out. He seemed lost."

"It's his first day here. You think he _wouldn't_ be lost? Our school is big."

Kiel lifted his burger and took another bite of it, feeling a strange wash of relief. Hopefully soon, they'd become friends and Kiel could convince her to reunite with her fictional self. He assumed that doing so would retrieve her missing memories. It was weird to interact with Bethany as if nothing had happened between them. As if they weren't best friends. As if Kiel hadn't spent the last three years trying to find a way back to her from the fictional world. He had to pretend she was a stranger, which served to be very difficult.

So far, he was treading lightly, because although he knew Bethany well, he knew it would take some time before she accepted him as a friend. Or maybe not. Her fictional and nonfictional selves seemed to have dramatically different personalities.

All of the sudden, someone slid into the seat next to him. It was a girl, who had the same strange, admiring look as Liz. "Hi Kell! Want to come sit with me and my friends? We want to hear about your life in Germany!"

Kiel exchanged a look with Bethany, who looked offended and slightly disgusted. He glanced at the girl's table, which consisted of a large group of giggling girls.

"No thanks," he said quickly. "I'm trying to make some friends. Also, my name is Kiel."

"Oops . . . well, that's _such_ a shame." The girl pouted. "Are you sure? There's loads of friends to make at my table. Better friends than here." She looking around the table in disgust before looking back at Kiel. "And you have a very nice accent."

He didn't know how to respond to that, so he just winked. When she didn't move, he sighed and pulled out a ripped sheet of paper and a pencil from his bag. "I always have time for my fans. Do you want my autograph? Here."

In one swift move, he signed his fake name on the paper and handed it to the girl. Everyone around them giggled. She stared, her mouth opening and closing, then stood up and crumbled the paper in her hand, stuffing it in her pocket as she flounced away. This caused everyone to laugh harder, and a boy sitting a few seats away from Kiel leaned over to slap him on the back.

"That was the best thing I've ever seen!" a girl guffawed. He noticed that everyone at the table was laughing, including Bethany, which made him grin. It'd been so long since he had the chance to enjoy himself around other kids.

"I can't believe you gave her your autograph," a boy said with a laugh. "I bet her friends will get it framed. She's the most popular girl in our school — and she's not used to being denied."

Kiel grinned. "Normally, I wouldn't deny anyone the chance to sit with me! But she doesn't seem very smart.” 

The bell rang, and the students all rose from their chairs and deposited their food into trash cans. Kiel was disappointed that lunch had flown by so fast, because he didn't know how much longer he'd get to eat free food. And he hadn't eaten anything today besides this burger. He wondered how much longer he'd need to keep up this facade. At least a few weeks, he hoped. He wished Owen or Elijah, or even Charm was with him. Things would be easier if they were.

"I can't believe you did that," Bethany said, appearing at his side. "Seriously, I feel like I've met you before."

"Maybe you have," Kiel said with a wink. "You never know."

In front of them, a boy nudged open the door, and Kiel caught it with his hand before it could close, holding it open for Bethany. She muttered a "thank you" and followed him out of the cafeteria.

"I have this friend named Owen Conners," Kiel began slowly, glancing at her to see if she recognized the name. Clearly, she did. "He came to my town when he was twelve and we became good friends. I heard he lives around here. Do you know him?"

Bethany tilted her head as they walked. "I think he was my classmate in sixth grade, but I don't remember him too well. We were in the same math class. I didn't talk to him much."

His heart sank. He had expected her to remember Owen, and maybe have an idea about where he'd gone, but it seemed like she lost all her memories that involved her former half-fictional life. Owen was a huge part of that, so Kiel guessed that it made sense she forgot about him, too. He felt an unexpected pang of sadness for her. She had lost and forgotten all of her true friends.

"I know his mom," Bethany was saying when he tuned back into the conversation. "She works as a librarian at this library a few blocks from the school. You can go talk to her. Owen ran away a few years ago. I guess you didn't hear."

Kiel swallowed hard. "No, I didn't." He took a deep breath, then started to say something, but she cut him off.

"I'm going to get to class."

Without saying a goodbye, Bethany rushed across the hallway and turned the corner. He tried to hide the growing uneasiness and longing and fear that resided in his stomach as he went to his next class. He didn't like these feelings one bit. They represented the opposite of confidence, which he realized was the feeling he needed most right now.

Normally, he was never lacking in self-confidence. This whole day's events had been a mishmash of good and bad, and he wasn't sure if Bethany liked him yet. He'd try again tomorrow, of course. He had come here to save her, and he planned to do nothing less than that.

* * *

Back in the fictional world, things were going according to plan. Everything was progressing perfectly, except for one tiny problem called Kiel Gnomenfoot, who had grown far too clever for Nobody's liking. The boy had a plan up his sleeve, but Nobody wasn't worried. Even if he did successfully reunite the girl's two halves, they'd play right into his hands and he could easily get rid of them.

What he needed was a backup plan to make sure none of this ever happened. The boy magician may have made it to the nonfictional world, but Nobody had a brilliant idea that would get rid of this Kiel Gnomenfoot problem once and for all. Since he didn't have a way of getting to the nonfictional world himself, he would need to hire someone else to do his dirty work. All it took was a little planning ahead.

With the wave of his hand, he pulled fictional reality apart, then stepped into a story. The alleyway was dark except for the light that shone from the moon. Nobody silently walked out of the alleyway and recreated his appearance, giving himself a full head of hair, facial features, and clothes. He was in a crime-ridden city with the most intelligent and malevolent individuals.

He put his hands in his pockets as he calmly walked past a stabbing that was taking place in another alleyway. He made it to a tall hotel building with only one light on; it was the home of the individual who would play a key role in his plan to get rid of Kiel Gnomenfoot and put a stop to his antics.

He unlocked the door and pushed it open. The lobby of the apartment building was dimly-lit, with many expensive-looking couches and bookcases. A man who was working at the desk had fallen asleep, unknowingly allowing Nobody to sneak past. He pressed a button on the elevator and the compartment shot upward until it reached the very top floor.

Checking his watch, Nobody slowly walked out into the hallway and stopped in front of a room. He heard classical music playing from inside. He outstretched a long hand and patiently knocked on the door. A moment later, the music disappeared, and the door opened, revealing a teenage boy.

"What is this?" the boy asked with an amused look, straightening his round thin-framed glasses. "Did my dad send someone to try murdering me again?"

"Quite the opposite," Nobody said pleasantly, interlocking his hands behind his back. "I've heard of you, and I'm interested in hiring you to do some important work for me, Oliver Bines. I have a pesky problem that I need getting rid of."

Oliver smiled. "You've come to the right person, then. What can I do for you, Mr . . . ?"

"Call me Nobody."

"Nobody." The boy nodded, then gestured for him to come inside.

"I suggest you sit down," Nobody told him, looking around the room. It was incredibly fancy. He knew that Oliver Bines would not want money. He was a highly intelligent, world class tracker and murderer. He was perfect for the job, because he never got caught, he was a skilled actor, and he had enough money to hide behind. "There is much to discuss. What I'm about to tell you may be surprising, but you must not let it get to your head. The most important part of this involves a boy named Kiel Gnomenfoot, and a girl named Bethany Sanderson. I need you to get rid of the boy for me — do it with threats, an accidental injury — I really don't care how you do it. As long as you separate the two as much as you can. Kiel cannot go through with his plan. You must keep him away from the girl at all costs. Even getting rid of him completely will do the job."

Oliver took a seat, leaning back against a large chair. "Your story sounds intriguing. I have all night to listen. It won't be anything different from what I've heard before."

The faceless man smiled without emotion. "Good to hear. And once we're done discussing, I'll need you to steal a magic spell for me. It was created by Kiel Gnomenfoot, and it remains hidden in his study. If you recite it, it will take you to where you must go."

"I'm listening," Oliver responded, training his eyes on Nobody as he began reciting the story, and his very important plan.

As they talked, Nobody couldn't help but feel optimistic. He already had Oliver hooked. This was going much better than he had hoped, and soon his plan would be in action. He had already cast Owen aside into that Pick The Plot book, so the only problem left was Kiel. And once Kiel was disposed of, there would be no one left to reunite Bethany's fictional and nonfictional halves, since she had lost all memories of her half-fictional life. The fictional world would soon be taken over by the pure possibility, and the entire world would be at his control to recreate. Perfect.

* * *

_"It's only been a moment, only been a lifetime. But tonight you’re a stranger, some silhouette . . ."_


	8. Building Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen and Kara unwillingly join dinosaur hunting class for the first time. Kiel tries getting closer to Bethany, but the process of gaining her friendship is a lot harder than he expected.

**_Chocolate (by The 1975)_ **

_"No we're never gonna' quit it, no we're never gonna' quit it no. Yeah we're dressed in black from head to toe, we've got guns hidden under our petticoats . . ."_

* * *

Assisted by two guards, Owen was involuntarily led to his doom. He had struggled against the guards but their grips were like iron, which gave him no choice but to walk with them. Once he was finished with his simulation test, he was hardly given a chance to relax before two guards escorted him to his job. He really deserved a break.

After everything he'd gone through, between having his heart removed in the seventh _Kiel Gnomenfoot_ book, his evil fictional self trying to drown his best friend and steal his identity, getting separated from his friends who were in a comic book, and now being trapped in a _Pick The Plot_ book — he deserved at least a couple of days to sit around and do nothing. It was only fair.

The only good part about all of this was: they were going outside! An escape route seemed more plausible that way. The bad part? _Dinosaurs_. Owen didn't know what he'd signed up for until he caught a glimpse of one in the window, and while part of him wanted to jump for joy, the other part wanted to crawl into a hole. If asked several months ago how he would feel if he saw a real life dinosaur, he probably would've cried of happiness. Almost being eaten by one had definitely changed his perspective. The guards silently led him down several hallways for a while until they came to their destination: the dinosaur hunting squad.

A small group of prisoners were standing in front of an airlock, all holding weapons and talking. When he was finally released by the guards and was shoved forward, he tripped and fell to the floor, shouting loudly. The group roared with laughter as Owen lay there, questioning his very existence. _At least this isn't the real world,_ Owen thought. _If I did this at school, I'd be much more embarrassed._

"Ow," Owen grumbled. A hand extended outward towards him, and he took it, allowing the person to pull him up. Once he got to his feet, he realized it was a certain pink-haired girl. A smile immediately broke out onto his face, despite his embarrassment. "You're in dinosaur hunting, too?"

Kara nodded, releasing his hand. "This is my first day, actually. I used to just be in charge of cleaning the dinosaur cages when they were empty, but since I never got to see a dinosaur, I insisted I become a dinosaur hunter. That's where more of the action takes place, anyway. There are tons of different groups besides this one that are positioned all over the Time Security Agency. I'm surprised we're in the same one! Makes things less boring with you here."

He blushed but quickly dismissed the feeling. "Less boring is _one_ word for it. I'll be happy as long as I don't get eaten," Owen said with a shudder, remembering his near-death experience with the T-Rex. It was the most terrifying thing he'd ever been through.

"But hey," he added. "At least you could _watch_ me get eaten, and then you'd rescue me and we'd laugh about it later."

Kara laughed and shook her head. "Don't worry," she said in a reassuring tone. "The group is big enough that you don't need to get near the dinosaurs if you don't want to. You just need to hunt them, at least from a distance. That's what I've been told. Plus, I'm excited to see a dinosaur up close!"

That made Owen feel a little better, but he still had anxious thoughts about this whole thing. His first two days here hasn't exactly been welcoming. The very first thing that happened within ten seconds of him getting thrown into the book was a gigantic T-Rex chasing him down. If that wasn't enough, just this morning he had unwillingly engaged in a fist fight. He still had painful bruises on his face and body to prove it. Stupid Nobody. When he got out of this book, he was going to _seriously_ push that guy off a cliff. Even if it didn't kill him, it would still be satisfying after all the stress Nobody put him through.

A buff man with large, bulging muscles entered the room, carrying some kind of long vibrating stick and a large machine gun. A taser, along with a rope was hooked to his belt. At his entrance, the group stopped talking and straightened up in an authoritative manner. It took Owen a moment to recognize him as Tobias, the instructor who had rudely awoken him with a bucket of water yesterday. Kara had warned Owen about him, and he could tell why. The instructors here obviously weren't to be messed with.

"Into a line!" Tobias barked, and the group quickly scrambled into a line, all of them looking equally nervous. He paced back and forth in front of the group, arms swinging back and forth his back as he effortlessly managed not to loose his grip on the stick or the machine gun. "You know the drill. Each of us has a weapon. These weapons are for the purpose of capturing the dinos, not for any other reasons. We ain't tryin' to kill them dinos, but we'll do what we must if the situation calls for it. If I see you attemptin' to fight each other, I'll personally taser you myself. That clear?"

"Yes, sir!" the group chorused automatically.

"We go to the westward side of the jungle and only the westward side. Got it? The other groups can handle the other sides. Let's head out!"

Tobias turned the door of the air lock and pulled it open, a loud suction-like noise occurring as he did so. The instructor led the group inside, but quickly had to stop everyone.

"One by one!" Tobias said, shoving back two men who tried exiting at the same time. "The airlock ain't big enough for the two of you. Stay in a line formation until you're outside."

The prisoners obeyed and each filed out individually, all conversing quietly with each other. Once they were inside the hallway, Tobias pressed a red button, and the air lock was sealed shut again. As soon as the door closed behind them, red lights began flashing and a loud siren rang out in short bursts. Owen winced and covered his ears, as well as many of the other prisoners. The lights and alarm soon turned off, however, and the large double doors on the opposite side of the hallway swung open, sending a wave of humid air crashing over the group. Without saying a word, Tobias motioned for the prisoners to follow him and led the group outside.

Then, Owen remembered how he'd missed breakfast, and his stomach growled. He wished that the fight had never happened, because now he had to pay for it. He still didn't understand why his body seemed like it was out of his control. He had felt like a puppet, because even though he screamed at his body to turn around, he couldn't control it until the fight was over.

"See, I told you to eat," Kara said, bumping him with her shoulder. "Look at you, your stomach is practically yelling. Never miss breakfast, Owen. Most important meal of the day, I hear." He only smiled in response, following her through the door.

Once he stepped outside, Owen was greeted with an odd assortment of odors, the most prominent one being the smell of rotten meat. He gulped. He suddenly became very glad he had missed breakfast. The smell of rotten meat was enough to make him loose his appetite.

"This smells terrible," he whispered to Kara, who nodded in agreement and crinkled her nose.

"Get your guns ready," Tobias said in a low voice, flexing his joints. "If we're lucky, none of you will screw up and get eaten. _Again_."

"But me and Kara don't have any guns," Owen spoke up.

"Neither of you are to be trusted with a gun. Not at your age," the instructor said. "Especially Kara Dox."

He glanced at Kara. "What are we going to defend ourselves with, then? What about a taser? Or that stick you're holding?"

Tobias shrugged and spit at the ground, motioning for the group to start walking towards the jungle. Owen bit his lip to keep from complaining. He didn't want to get on the instructor's bad side, but he didn't want to get eaten either.

"I hope he gets eaten," Kara whispered. At his shocked look, she added, "Okay, not really. Well, maybe a little. But it would be ironic, because he didn't even give us a weapon to defend ourselves with! I don't know why he thinks two twelve year-olds are more untrustworthy than the adults."

"Tell me about it," Owen said. "For all I know, this gives us an even higher chance of being eaten. Did I tell you that my friend Kiel has been eaten forty-three times?"

"Forty- _three_?" Kara asked, her eyebrows raised. "By what?"

"Dragons."

"Huh. That's gotta be a nightmare to forget. Good thing we have your time powers to help us out, then." It took him a moment to realize what she was talking about. How did she know about his powers? Had he shown her that in the past, too?

Bright sunlight shone through the cracks in the leaves, blinding Owen and causing him to shield his eyes with his hand. A hot breeze blew across Owen's forehead, ruffling through his waves of light brown hair. Crickets and other various jungle insects chirped loudly, drowning out any other dinosaur noises for now. Since they were walking to the westward side of the jungle, all they needed to do was get past the tall electric fence that surrounded the Time Security Agency. Owen had never seen it before, but then again he hadn't been outside in two days; he had crossed a ravine then, but he assumed that was on the other side of the agency, since the place proved to be massive.

As they neared the electric fence, Owen could hear the faint buzzing that signified the fence was turned on. Tobias retrieved a key from his pocket and unlocked the chain that held the door in place. The fence swung open, and everyone slowly crossed to the other side. A couple roars were heard in the distance, causing everyone's heads to turn at the noise. The only one who wasn't effected was Tobias, who remained silent and unemotional as ever. He shut the gate behind them, and Owen felt a shiver of fear go through his body.

The group started walking into the jungle. Owen made an attempt to back away, but was quickly pushed into the dense bushes by another prisoner. He rubbed his arm and gave the woman who pushed him a sour look. He pushed an oversized leaf out of his face and nervously looked around, hoping he wouldn't have to encounter any dinosaurs for the second time.

"How long will we be out here?" a man asked.

"Until lunch," Tobias said. "We take a break, then we go back out until dinner. If you're too scared, you can climb back over the electric fence. There's nothing like a nice electric shock to wake you up."

No one made a move to turn back.

Owen glanced at Kara, who appeared unafraid and a little excited as her eyes wandered around the jungle. Despite the situation, he smiled. She probably hadn't been outside in a long time. They continued trudging through the jungle, pushing tall bushes and leaves out of the way. There wasn't a path; there was only the dirt and the dense shrubbery that rose from the ground.

Suddenly, a man who was a few feet ahead of the group screamed. The rest of the prisoners scrambled over, but all stopped dead in their tracks once they realized what the man was looking at.

Tobias scoffed, putting his gun back at his side. "That's a Styracosaurus. Harmless enough; it's only a herbivore. Nothing to scream about," he said, calmly observing the large beast. It was much bigger than Owen, and was eating some plants. It lazily looked up at them before losing interest and turning back to it's meal.

"Are we going to capture it?" a woman asked.

"We only capture the meat-eaters," the instructor said, turning back to the prisoners. Owen let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. They started walking again, looking around more warily for any predators that could be lurking nearby.

A low, deep roar echoed across the jungle, sounding not too far away. The ground began to shake all around them. Everyone held their breath and tried not to loose their balance, looking around fearfully.

"Weapons out!" Tobias shouted, attaching his gun to a holster on his belt and raising his stick. The prisoners all readied their own weapons, clearly used to this. Owen backed into the middle of the group, searching for a good hiding place since he really didn't feel like being eaten today.

The ground shook again, and Owen heard loud, heavy breathing. The prisoners all raised their weapons, looking around widely.

"No movement," Tobias whispered, just as a T-Rex poked it's head out of the leafy trees, huge drops of saliva dripping from it's mouth. It slowly inhaled, then turned and fixed it's beady eyes on the group. It took a step closer and roared, opening it's mouth and unexpectedly diving for the group.

The prisoners screamed. Some fired their guns immediately while others scrambled away. A few bullets hit the dinosaurs scaly body, but it only seemed to make it angrier. It roared again and opened it's jaws, leaning forward to catch the remaining prisoners who fired bullets at it. A scream build itself in Owen's throat, but he had no time to react. Kara yanked him down and they hit the dirt hard, narrowly missing becoming the dinosaur's next meal.

"Regroup!" someone shouted, and Owen grabbed Kara's hand, pulling her underneath the T-Rex and into the trees. Some people were hiding in the bushes, and others were still firing at the beast. It snarled and grabbed the closest person, swallowing them with one bite. The prisoners backed away.

"Hold the beast steady!" Tobias's voice rang out, sounding far away. Owen squinted his eyes against the sun and looked up. Somehow with all the chaos going on, the instructor had climbed a tree and was inching closer to the T-Rex until he was nearly over it's head.

Some of the prisoners emerged from their hiding places and fired guns at the dinosaur from behind. It roared and whipped around, it's tail bashing into a man's body and causing him to fly into a nearby tree. The prisoners scattered around the beast, trying their best to dodge it's attack's.

"That's it! Bring it a little closer!" Tobias shouted. The group kept attacking it from all sides, but the bullets continued to deflect off of it's scaly skin. Owen could only stare in horror as the T-Rex reached out and grabbed ahold of another unfortunate person, who screamed continuously while still in it's jaws.

"This one's a tough bugger," Tobias grunted while everyone else screamed.

The instructor stood from his perch on the tree and leaped onto the dinosaur's back, causing it to roar and drop the prisoner. The prisoner screamed again and pushed herself off the ground, limping over to safety. Tobias dug his feet into the sides of the T-Rex and plunged his vibrating stick into it's neck. The dinosaur let out a low growl and thrashed around, slamming headfirst into a tree.

Someone took out a rope and quickly tied it around the dinosaur's mouth while it was distracted. Tobias slid off it's back and took out his taser, hitting it against the T-Rex. The T-Rex roared and twitched, trying to break it's mouth free of the rope. Tobias tasered it again, and it thrashed around, trying to move. It's energy soon gave out and it closed it's mouth, keeping it's body still.

Everyone grouped together, all staring at the T-Rex. "That was crazy! I can't believe that just happened," Kara said, all her excitement from earlier gone as she stared with wide eyes.

"Me neither," Owen whispered, swallowing hard. He was still shaking.

"Get used to it," a man said. "This is the first day in a long time that we've successfully caught a T-Rex."

"What are we gonna do with it now?" a woman asked, cautiously stepping forward.

"Finish tying it up with that rope," Tobias ordered, pointing to the extra ropes on the ground. A prisoner grabbed the rope and began loosening it from it's knot. When he was done, the other prisoners each grabbed hold of it and began expertly stringing it around the unresponsive dinosaur. The prisoners then began pulling the T-Rex across the ground, back in the direction of the Time Security Agency. Owen was standing behind Kara, a chunk of the rope in his hand as he pulled with all his might. He figured that he didn't contribute much to the task; he was naturally weak and had never been a very good participant in gym class.

Just then, Owen noticed that the insects, which had been noisily buzzing, had fallen completely silent. He heard a chirping noise, and he froze, banging straight into the prisoner behind him.

"Hey!" the man yelled. "Keep walking!"

"Stop!" Kara shouted, dropping her rope. She pointed into the trees. "Look."

Owen turned to find six pairs of lizard-like eyes staring at them from between the leaves. He heard another chirp, then saw three more dinosaurs to his left. _Velociraptors_. They were surrounded.

"This is the worst!" one of the prisoners shouted. "What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? Are we gonna die? What are we gonn—"

Someone punched him, and the prisoner collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The group went silent.

"That's better," Tobias said. "They shouldn't come any closer with this beast we're lugging along. Keep walking. And someone will need to carry that guy. I can't be held accountable for another accidental death."

A man groaned, then leaned down to pick up the unconscious man on the ground. He staggered a little from the weight, but proved to have little difficulty holding him. The rest of the group grabbed ahold of the rope again, slowly tugging the T-Rex along. Sure enough, the velociraptors backed away at the sight of the beast, disappearing into the trees.

Owen could breathe again, and he contributed to pulling the heavy T-Rex until they finally made it to the Time Security Agency, which seemed like hours later. Upon their arrival, two men driving in a truck pulled up and connected a rope to the dinosaur. They pulled it away, around the side of the building where Owen assumed all of the other captured dinosaurs were.

" _Really_?" Owen said with a frown. "They couldn't have driven into the jungle and saved us a lot of time and energy?"

Kara sighed tiredly, visibly sweating. "That would've been nice."

"Alright, prisoners," Tobias shouted, clapping his hands. "You get an hour and a half lunch break. Meet back at the westward airlock on schedule, or else I'm tasering you all and dragging you here."

"That's comforting of him to say," Owen whispered to Kara, who laughed and walked with him into the airlock.

* * *

The faded noise of students whispering to each other was what a half-asleep Bethany heard that morning. At first, she figured it must just be a dream, and she moved to sink deeper into her bed. After all, she had plenty of dreams about school. But why did her bed feel so . . . hard? Then a boy's voice spoke her name, and she stirred.

"Bethany," the voice said again. Then louder, "Bethany!"

Her eyes slowly opened, and Bethany was once again in the same situation she'd been in last week. Mr. Tompkins was staring at her, with a whiteboard marker in his hand and not a trace of amusement on his face. He was standing next to the whiteboard, and a bunch of notes were written on it. Her classmates were all staring at her and whispering to each other, most of them barely able to conceal their laughter. Her face burned. She glanced to the left, and she realized Kiel had been calling her name; he looked worried.

After staying up until three, Bethany concluded that this was the worst decision she had ever made. She had spent the night diving into her book, and now was paying the price for it. This was a serious case, since she was running on only four hours of sleep today. She had even fallen asleep on the bus, and had almost missed school until someone tapped her awake.

"This is the fifth time you've fallen asleep in my class, Bethany," Mr. Tompkins said distastefully. "I'm sorry, but I'll need to set up a meeting with your mother today."

Bethany didn't say anything. She couldn't. She was so embarrassed and furious at herself that she could hardly speak.

"Hey, Bethany, maybe you should start sleeping in a bed instead of a desk!" Ross Clarke, a popular boy said, laughing with his friends. "Maybe consider doing that. I'd rather not watch you drool on your desk for the fifth time!"

Bethany opened her mouth to yell at him, but the only thing that came out was: "I . . ."

"Maybe you should drop dead," Kiel suggested, winking at the boy.

" _Excuse_ me?"

"Mr. Bauer!" the English teacher cried. "We don't tolerable bullying at our school."

"I see," Kiel said, waving his hand around at the class. "You _obviously_ don't tolerate bullying. You know what you guys need to be taught at school? It's called respect. That's the only important thing you need to learn here."

"Can I marry you?" a girl asked, and some of the girls laughed while everyone else looked shocked. Mr. Tompkins looked furious, but he sat down at his desk. "Everyone, read chapters ten to thirteen for the rest of class."

Bethany's face was still hot. She had to stop falling asleep somehow. But when else was she going to read Pick The Plot? The rest of the class passed by quickly, and as soon as the bell rang, she scooped up her backpack and pulled the straps over her shoulders. She started to walk over to Liz, but a guilty feeling stopped her, and she hung back to wait for Kiel. He was adjusting the strap of a brown shoulder bag over his chest.

He started walking in her direction, and she fell into pace beside him. "You didn't need to say that."

He looked up, seeming a little surprised. "What I said to the class after that boy was being mean to you? Of course I did!" He sounded defensive, almost angry. "I can't let anyone talk to you like that. That was rude."

How was she supposed to tell Kiel that he had made everything worse? Now, people were going to think he liked her or something. That would be even more humiliating, because all the girls in her class would probably want to murder her. This was what she got for studying hard and keeping school as her main priority.

Bethany nodded. "Yeah . . . it was. But seriously, you didn't need to call out Ross like that. He's one of the most popular boys in our school, and I bet you guys would easily be friends."

"Friends with _him_?" Kiel scoffed. "I'm good. I'd rather be friends with people who are awesome." He smiled at her, and she felt heat rising to her cheeks for an entirely different reason. Then he added, "You know, like I am." and her irritation for him was back.

"Bethany!" Bethany looked down the hallway to see Liz walking over to them. Liz glanced at Kiel, and her expression changed to one of a lost puppy. It was obvious that her crush on him wasn't fading anytime soon. "Oh, h-hello Kiel. How are you?"

"I'm great!"

Bethany gritted her teeth. "Okay, I'm going to Chemistry class. See you at lunch, Liz."

"You'll see me at lunch, too," Kiel said, sending her a wink. She resisted the urge to strangle him. Why did he have to wink so much? It was getting on her nerves.

"Yeah, maybe," she responded, and started to walk away. Liz's eyes widened, as if she had just remembered something, and she grabbed Bethany's arm, pulling her a few feet away.

"What?" Bethany asked.

"First of all: reading late at night? Again? Though I have to say, seeing you fall asleep in class just gets funnier every time."

She smiled guiltily. "I can't help it. It's a really addicting book."

Liz sighed. "I love books too, but I always read on the weekends or in the afternoon. Second of all, you can't listen to stupid Ross Clarke. He isn't attractive, and he isn't even worth listening to."

Bethany nodded. "I already know not to listen to him. And also, you're way too obsessed with boys for your own good."

"Only the good-looking ones," Liz responded with a smile. "And third of all, didn't Kiel get like, ten times more attractive when he stood up for you?" Liz sighed dreamily. "Like that girl from our class said, I seriously would like to marry him."

Bethany rolled her eyes. "I agree that it was nice of him to say that, but he's standing right here. Couldn't you wait to tell me that until lunch or at the book club meeting?"

"I can never wait to talk to you about the important stuff!" Liz said. "This is important, and you're my best friend! And now that Austin is completely out of the picture because he was being incredibly rude to me yesterday, I can say whatever I want about Kiel."

Bethany snorted, then started to walk in the opposite direction. "I have to go to Chemistry class. See you."

"Bye! Try not to fall asleep again."

"I won't!" she replied, then made her way to her next class.

She glanced over her shoulder and was surprised to see Kiel watching her. She tried shaking off the weirdness of it all. It was strange enough that Kiel, a boy she had just met yesterday, had stood up for her in front of the entire class. On top of that, he seemed to act like they were good friends even though they weren't. But even if he was annoying, he still seemed like a good person and maybe even a good friend for the future.

Right before third period, Bethany's mother left her a voicemail on her phone. Her mother had said that she received a call from Mr. Tompkins to come down to the school, so she would be having a talk with him about Bethany's misbehavior. Her mother had sounded angry on the phone, so Bethany couldn't imagine how angry she'd be once she got here. She felt incredibly nervous at the thought of her mother and English teacher having this meeting. She never got in trouble, and she never broke any rules. This was the first time she'd ever done anything remotely bad at school, and she hated the feeling of shame that came with it.

The moment she exited History class, which was right before lunch, her phone buzzed in her pocket. There was a text from her mother, which said, "I'm here. I'll be outside Mr. Tompkins classroom to talk with him. Afterwards, I'll need to have a long talk with you, Bethany. I'm very disappointed."

Looking down at the phone in her palm, Bethany read the text with a feeling of dread. She felt even worse about this, somehow. She knew that she needed to go spy on their conversation, just to hear everything they were saying. She was certain that her English teacher disliked her, and she wanted to confirm her suspicions.

Checking to make sure the rest of the school was heading to the cafeteria, Bethany slipped out of the crowd of students and walked back to Mr. Tompkins' classroom, which was a few hallways down. When she finally made it, she was relieved to see that no one else was around to catch her. She was about to turn the corner into the next hallway, but stopped as she heard two voices deep in conversation. She peeked over the side of the wall and sure enough, her mom and English teacher were talking. They were standing in front of the English classroom, and her mother was holding a purse in her hands.

"I just don't understand what could cause Bethany to be so sleep deprived," her mother was saying, shaking her head. "I mean, I'm not around most of the time, and I work late hours, but she always seems to be asleep when I get home."

"You see, 'seems to be' is just the problem," Mr. Tompkins said. "She's sleeping in my class instead of at her home! She isn't focusing at all when I'm talking. She's fallen asleep five times in my class, and it'll be more times if she doesn't learn."

"I understand. I'm sorry about her behavior. She cares a lot about school. She really does. I didn't even know she was staying up so late. It appalls me!"

"It appalls me, too. I really—" Bethany didn't hear the rest of their conversation after that, because someone tapped her on the shoulder. She abruptly screamed, then clamped a hand over her mouth, quickly ducking behind the safety of the hallway before whirling around.

"Whoa. Why are you screaming, Beth? I should call you the easily-scared girl," Kiel told her, winking. She rolled her eyes when she saw who it was.

"It doesn't matter," Bethany said, failing to notice he had strangely called her by her nickname. She crossed her arms. "What are you doing?"

"Spying on you, obviously. I think the real question is what are _you_ doing?"

"Does it matter?" she asked. "It isn't like I'm doing anything bad. I would never do anything to break the rules."

"Hmm," Kiel said, sounding amused. He peered over the side of the wall, but she quickly pulled him back. "Don't."

"What?" He laughed at her serious expression. "Why?"

"It's my mom. She's having a meeting with my English teacher in the hallway." Bethany hadn't wanted to tell him this. After all, he was an arrogant exchange student who she wasn't even friends with.

"Oh." Kiel gave her a smile. "Don't stress about that. There are more important things than the opinions of your mom and your teachers. School isn't worth worrying over anyway."

"School isn't worth _worrying_ over?"

Bethany was shocked, to say the least. Hadn't he come all the way from Germany to get an education? Education was the most important thing to her! There were rules enforced at school, and she felt safe when she was given boundaries to stick by.

He shrugged. "Not really. I think school would be much more exciting if we could, you know, do dangerous stuff for fun. Or if there was a fight club." His face lit up as he said that. "But memorizing and studying? That's boring. Unless there's actually an important reason to do it. Recently, I was studying a spe—" His eyes widened as if he'd almost said something he should've have, but he quickly regained himself. "I mean, uh, I was studying this project for a long time and it was the hardest thing I've tried learning. I finished it, though. Obviously." He grinned.

"You are a weird boy, Kiel Bauer," Bethany said finally, after a silently staring at him for a few seconds. She turned away and pressed her body against the side of the wall, listening for the conversation between her mother and Mr. Tompkins. When she didn't hear anything, she gritted her teeth in frustration and peeked her head around the wall, only to see her mother and English teacher staring at her. She'd been caught.

She slowly walked out of her hiding spot, followed by Kiel. Her mother looked angry. "Bethany! This is a private meeting about your performance in class. I thought you'd be more mature than to try spying on our conversation. I would've told you the details later, anyway."

"Yes, this was the immaturity I was talking about," Mr. Tompkins said disdainfully. "I'm not going to give you any form of punishment, but if I see you falling asleep again in my class then I will have to ask you to drop your advanced English reading class."

Bethany's mouth dropped open. "What? But I've never done anything but get A's and B's on your quizzes and tests. And my advanced English reading teacher is Ms. Jones."

"You're right, but to get the best grades for your report card you must have the best performance. This means in class you can't be falling asleep. If focusing is this big of an issue, Bethany, I'm afraid the right decision is to pull you from your advanced English reading class. If you improve your performance, however, I'll reconsider."

Feeling frustrated, she held her tongue to keep herself from yelling at him for acting unfair. But she knew he wasn't. This was strike three. There was no way she could be pulled from her advanced English reading class. It was much better than regular English, which was the class with Mr. Tompkins. In her advanced class, they had interesting discussions, and the teacher was much nicer. They got to read more advanced books of their choosing and write long essays about them.

"That's very reasonable," her mother was saying, nodding her head. "I'll get her focused, Mr. Tompkins. No need to worry about dropping her advanced English reading class."

"I'd hope not," Mr. Tompkins said stiffly, then gave them a forced smile. He glanced at Kiel, who had been silent throughout the whole conversation. "Mr. Bauer? What are you doing here? This conversation isn't one you're apart of."

"Oh, I'm aware," Kiel said, giving him a wink that seemed to make the English teacher furious. Without another word, Mr. Tompkins strode to his classroom, muttering to himself. Bethany almost laughed but quickly regained her serious attitude, since her mother was standing right there.

"I hope you'll be completely focused from now on, Bethany. I'm not just hearing about this from your English teacher. Your Chemistry and Math teachers have also reached out to me about this focusing issue. I took off work for two hours just to talk to your teacher. You need to start going to bed at a reasonable time and stop reading so late."

"I know," Bethany said. "I'll try to stop falling asleep."

"Good," her mother said, then went even further lengths to embarrass her and pulled her into a hug.

" _Mom_ ," Bethany growled, her face heating up. She squeezed her for a few more seconds, then pulled out of her grasp.

"Well, how else are you going to say goodbye to me?"

She sighed. "Can you not hug me at school? At least not in the middle of a hallway with another student standing right there."

"What do you mean? We're the only ones here."

Bethany turned to where Kiel had been standing, and was surprised to see he had left. Huh. She looked back at her mother. "Uh, never mind. I'll see you later. Have a nice day at work!"

"You too, Beth," her mother said, reaching out and squeezing her hand. She adjusted her purse over her arm. "Are you and that boy friends?"

"What, Kiel?" she asked, then she laughed. "No. He's weird. And he's from Germany."

"Germany? Wow, that's a great country. I've been meaning to take you out of the U.S sometime. Maybe we'll go there."

"That would be cool," Bethany agreed. "But is it safe?"

Her mother laughed. "Safe? Of course. Much safer than some other places." She started walking back to the entrance of the school. "Honey, have a great day. Call me if you want anything from the grocery store. I'm gonna pick up some stuff after work. Love you!"

". . . Love you too."

Bethany turned around and walked back to the cafeteria, pushing open the double doors and making her way over to her seat. Just like yesterday, Kiel was sitting at her table, and was talking with Liz. Seriously? Why couldn't he sit somewhere else?

Bethany sat down and opened her bagged lunch, taking out a grilled cheese sandwich. The conversation between the two stopped as soon as she sat down, and she felt two pairs of eyes on her.

"What did your mom say?" Kiel asked.

She looked up at him, and a burst of anger suddenly seized her. "Why would I tell _you_ that? I just met you yesterday."

He knitted his eyebrows in confusion. " _What_?"

"He was just asking a question!" Liz said. "Why are you so angry all of the sudden? Are you okay?"

Bethany glared at the table. "I'm fine. Just splendid."

"If you were fine, you wouldn't be yelling at everyone right now."

She sighed. "If I don't stop falling asleep in class, I'm going to get kicked out of my advanced English reading course."

"Advanced? That's impressive," Kiel commented.

Bethany gave him a look but didn't say anything. Where had all of that anger come from? She assumed it was pent-up from this morning. She felt bad about unleashing it onto Kiel, especially considering he had defended her this morning. But when she was worried or scared, anything irritating was enough to set her emotions off.

Liz patted her on the shoulder. "All you need to do is go to bed at a reasonable time. And stop reading so late. It'll work out."

"You like reading?" Kiel asked, an excited glint suddenly appearing in his eyes. "I didn't know that."

Bethany nodded, feeling some of her anger dissipating. "I love it. It's my favorite thing to do, actually. I love going into different worlds and seeing new places and meeting new people—while still in the safety of my house, of course."

He smiled. "That's ironic."

"What? Why?"

He blinked. "Uh, never mind. I mean, I like reading books too."

"You do?" Bethany asked, her irritation for him completely dwindling. "I've always wished I could go into a fictional world. You know, to see the characters and the amazing worlds. I've had countless dreams about it, but it's sad to know that I will never be able to travel into a book."

"Wouldn't that be amazing?" Liz said, clasping her hands together. "I'd go into my favorite romance novel, and —" She looked at Kiel, and stopped talking, her face turning red. "Never mind. I'd go into any book. Preferably Harry Potter. Not a romance one!"

Bethany laughed.

"You shouldn't give up on your dreams," Kiel told Bethany, seemingly oblivious to Liz's comment. "If you want to go into a book, you should! It isn't impossible. Actually —"

Then the bell rang, and it drowned out whatever Kiel was about to say.

"Do you think the book club will be going on today?" Bethany asked, standing up and throwing her remaining food into the trash can.

Liz shrugged. "It depends if Mrs. Ugliano still wants to work. She might be having a panic attack still from Saturday. You know how old people get."

"What happened on Saturday?" Kiel asked, walking beside Bethany. He had been talking with some other kids from their table when he was throwing out his own food, but immediately drew his attention back to Bethany when she spoke.

"It was all over the News," Bethany said. "Me and Liz go to this book club at school, and it was supposed to be held here on Saturday, like it always is. But the lady who hosts our meetings wasn't there. It turned out that a boy had appeared out of nowhere on her front lawn, and he fainted. When she ran over to help him, he suddenly stood up and knocked her over. He had weapons, too. And she's an old woman, so she was freaking out. She called the police and they set up an investigation to find the boy."

Kiel turned pale. "Did they find him yet?"

"I don't know. I hope they did, since that was three days ago."

"Me too," Liz said. "Whoever that was must be crazy."

"Yeah," Kiel said, looking nervous. He scanned the room, as if looking for someone. "Do you know if they stopped doing the investigation?"

Bethany shrugged. "I guess we'll find out." She peered closer at him, and realized he had the same expression that had been on her face all day. He looked worried. "What's wrong, Kiel?"

"Oh, it's nothing." He smiled, but she couldn't tell if it was forced or not. She didn't want to push it, especially if it was his own personal problem, so she didn't mention the topic after that.

"So, what book would you like to go into? If you could go into one, of course." Kiel placed his bag over his shoulder, apparently changing the subject. "A Kiel Gnomenfoot book, perhaps?"

"I'd jump into my favorite book: _The Little Prince_ ," Bethany said, then added: "And you're only saying that because your first name is Kiel."

"That's not true," Kiel said. "I happen to love the Kiel Gnomenfoot books. They're great!” 

"I've never read them." She shrugged. "But I know they made them into a movie."

"A movie — wait. You've never read them? _Still_?"

"Nope. And what do you mean 'still'?"

For some reason Kiel looked a little hurt. "But why haven't you?"

"The main character seems kind of obnoxious, from what I've heard. I love adventure books. . . but I don't know. I never got into that series."

"Those _Kiel Gnomenfoot_ books?" Kiel said, pushing open the cafeteria door. "They're great. Amazing, in fact. And I think the main character is charming."

She rolled her eyes in response.

"It's true," he insisted. "They're great! Also, what was that about a movie?"

"Oh, well they made the first _Kiel Gnomenfoot_ book into a movie."

" _Kiel Gnomenfoot: Magic Thief_. That has a nice ring to it! Where can I watch it? I've never seen a movie. I don't actually know how they work."

Bethany turned to stare at him, stopping in her tracks. "Wait, what? You've never seen a movie? Are you kidding?"

Kiel smiled, a little sheepishly. "I haven't."

"Why not?"

"It doesn't matter. I just haven't watched a movie before. So, where can I watch it? I've been meaning to, since I love the —"

"The Kiel Gnomenfoot books. Right," Bethany interrupted. "Do you have a TV?"

"A _what_?"

She gestured with her hands. "You know. A TV."

Kiel winked. "Right. _Now_ I know. Very helpful of you to explain."

"So you've never watched a movie . . . and you don't have a TV. That doesn't make any sense. Germany has the same technology as they do in the U.S, don't they?"

"Yes, but my family doesn't have. . . tech-no-gee. Whatever that is. Anyway. Where can I watch it?"

Bethany sighed. "They wouldn't have it in the theatres anymore. And. . ." No way. How could she consider this? Kiel was still kind of annoying. But wouldn't it be nice to make a new friend? Even if he was weird, maybe it would. She gave into her internal fight and smiled at Kiel. "I have a TV at my house. You can watch it there."

"Really?" Kiel grinned.

"Sure. Um, I should give you my phone number. And my address." She dug inside her pocket for her phone, but he held a hand up.

"Don't worry about it. Just tell me your address. I'll remember."

Bethany looked at him doubtfully, but recited her address anyway. Kiel gave her a smile. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to see this movie. I can't imagine whatever phony they cast as Kiel. I auditioned for the role but I didn't get the part, even though everyone says I look like him! I have his hair color, his charming facial features, and my favorite color is black."

Girls had crushes on _this_ idiot? She rolled her eyes again, just as the bell rang, and she realized they were the only ones in the hallway. She hadn't even noticed how long they'd been talking! For some reason, talking to him had been so easy. Not that Kiel wasn't annoying. He was very much, in fact.

"I gotta get to class," Bethany said quickly. "You can come over sometime this week. Though, not on a school night. Come over on Friday or Saturday night."

Kiel nodded. "Okay. See you later, Beth."

Bethany turned around and started walking to her next class of the day. By the time she had turned the corner, a strange thought occurred to her. It was one that didn't make sense.

Had he just. . . called her _Beth_?

* * *

That afternoon, Bethany departed from the school bus, her foot landing in a thick pile of snow. Shivering from the freezing temperature, she walked through her neighborhood, her hands buried in her pockets in an effort to keep them warm. After a long bus ride, she was ready to finally be home and relax. She wanted this day to be over; it had been pretty horrible. She got to her house and was relieved to see that her mom's car wasn't in the driveway. She didn't want to face any more confrontation today.

Bethany removed her hands from her pockets and took out a house key, fitting it into the lock and turning it. The door clicked open, and she walked inside, wiping her snow-covered shoes on the mat outside before she entered the house. She removed her snow boots, gloves, and coat and put them in their rightful places before wandering back into the kitchen for something to eat.

Her mother was never home early because she worked late into the night, so it wasn't a surprise to find the fridge filled with takeout food and leftovers. Usually, those were the only things she ate. They hardly had meals together, except for on the weekends and holidays.

Yawning, Bethany started warming up some food in the microwave. Seconds later, the microwave beeped, and she took out the contents. She sat down at the table and began eating, her mind wandering aimlessly to other things. Just as she and Liz had suspected, Mrs. Ugliano didn't appear at the book club meeting. Bethany had no clue when she would return, but she hoped she would soon.

Everything that happened this morning had gone downhill so fast, and at least going to the book club would've risen her spirits. But when she and Kiel has that conversation—it was comforting to talk to someone new and refreshing. She realized that he wasn't as annoying as she thought, and she was starting to enjoy his company.

Once Bethany was finished eating, she discarded her leftovers into the trash and went upstairs. She lingered in a hallway for a few seconds, her head turning to her mother's room. Building up her courage, walked into the room and flicked on the light. As long as she could remember, the room had always looked like this. Everything untouched. The same pictures hung on the walls, and her mother refused to sleep on her father's side of the bed.

Bethany didn't know why her mother did it. She had to face the truth that her father was dead, and he always would be. She didn't think it was very sensible to wallow in the sadness of it all. There was nothing she could do. Her mother seemed to act quite differently. Although they never talked about Bethany's father, Bethany knew when her mother was thinking about him.

Bethany didn't know if it was the color of her hair, which was the same bronze color as her father, but something always set her off into a mood. Her mother would come home early from work, sit in front of a fire, and take out an old hand mirror which was a gift from Bethany's father. She would stare sadly at it for a while before putting out the fire and hiding the hand mirror away, never to be seen again until the next time she thought of Christian Sanderson.

Now, Bethany was the one thinking of her father, and she felt sadder than she wanted to admit. He had died when she was very young — maybe five years old — and she didn't remember much of their time together. She missed him, and sometimes she wondered what life would've been like if he was here. There would always be a _what if?_ , but the "what if's" would never become true. Even still, it didn't hurt to dream about it. Her life would be a lot fuller if he were here.

Bethany walked over to her mother's vanity and opened one of the drawers. She dug through it for a minute before finally reaching a photo album. Wiping the dust off of it, she took it out. She slowly opened it, and suddenly she couldn't breathe, because here was _her father_.

He was smiling at the camera, holding a two-year old Bethany in his arms. His hair was as red as her's, and his eyes were green. She stared at his face for a while, tracing the outline with her finger. When she looked at him, her heart felt like it was going to _burst_ because he wasn't here and he never would be.

She turned to the next page, and was surprised to see a wedding picture of her mother and father. She had never seen it before. Her parents looked so joyful, and they were both laughing and hugging each other. Her mother was dressed in a beautiful white dress with puffed sleeves, and her dad was in a black tuxedo. After looking at it for a long time, she turned the page. There was a five year old Bethany surrounded by a group of kids, standing underneath a sign that read "Happy 5th Birthday, Bethany!"

Bethany turned to the next page. It was another photo from her birthday party, except this time it was a picture of her and her parents, who sat on either side of her as she blew out the candles of a cake. She swallowed hard, feeling a painful lump in her throat. This was the night. The night that her father had a heart attack. The night that she stayed behind at the party while her mother drove her father to the hospital, and when her mother came back . . . her father wasn't with her.

Bethany shut the book and put it back into the drawer, shutting it closed. She couldn't keep looking at these pictures. She couldn't keep dwelling on the "what if's" every time she thought of her father. It only brought her pain.

* * *

On Friday night, Kiel stepped onto Bethany's porch, breathing in the cold air. Adjusting his hat, he knocked on the door. About a minute later, Bethany opened it, looking surprised. Her hair was in a ponytail, and she was fully dressed in pajamas, complete with fuzzy blue socks. "Kiel? I didn't think you were coming."

He scrunched his brows. "What do you mean? You said to come on either Friday or Saturday, so here I am!"

Bethany shrugged, then stepped back and waved Kiel through. He was glad and confident that they were becoming friends so quickly. At this rate he'd tell her the truth in a few days and she'd rejoin with her fictional self! He walked into the house, taking off his snow-filled sneakers and placing them next to a pile of other shoes. He took off his coat and hat and put them on a bench as well. Kiel entered the living room, which was where Bethany was sitting. He took a moment to look around her house, just to see if anything had changed. Nothing had.

"Are we watching this movie now or do you want to look around my house some more?" Bethany asked impatiently.

He walked over and sat on the other side of the couch, sinking against a pillow. "Be patient. We're watching this."

She picked up a rectangular black box and pressed a button. Immediately, the box in front of that lit up, and people appeared on the screen. Kiel stared. He had never seen anything like this!

Bethany clicked another button and typed in _Kiel Gnomenfoot: Magic Thief_ onto the screen. A picture appeared, and she clicked a few more buttons until the movie started to play. At first, Kiel was horrified. What was this? It looked nothing like Magisteria or Quanterium! But the movie soon got better as he appeared, though it would've been much better if Kiel himself were playing the role.

"This doesn't seem very accurate," Kiel said, at one point when the Magister appeared on screen. "I mean, Magisteria and Quanterium don't look like that. Neither does the Magister. This version of the Magister is kind of . . . creepy. And I'm much better looking than that boy who plays Kiel."

Bethany shoved a bag of popcorn into his hands. "Shh. Just watch the movie."

"I am," he said, taking a handful of popcorn and stuffing it into his mouth.

Not once did he tear his eyes away from the movie. He couldn't have done it even if he tried. This was his movie, and it was the first one he'd ever watched! He felt immense joy that his fans could not only read the books, but could also watch this movie in his honor. During the whole movie, he commented different things about it, but Bethany didn't seem to mind, which he was happy about. He had a lot to say about this movie, and there was no way he could keep this bottled up inside his head.

"How'd you like it?" Bethany asked once the credits were rolling. She had a second bag of popcorn in her hands, and she was popping pieces into her mouth.

"I loved it. Pretty sure it could've been better, though," Kiel said. "I was told this movie was supposed to be a tear-jerker. Apparently, Jonathan Porterhouse was crying the whole time he was signing the contracts."

Bethany laughed a little. "Yeah, it _was_ good. If I had read the books, I probably would've thought the same thing. A movie usually ruins the effect of the book. They change a lot of the plot."

"And they did," Kiel said, shaking his head. After all of this was over, he'd need to have a few select words with Jonathan Porterhouse.

Bethany stood up and stretched her legs, then grabbed the empty bag of popcorn from his hands and walked into the kitchen, throwing it into the trash. "This has been fun, but my mom will be home soon. So do you want to head home? Sorry, but I'd like to _not_ get in trouble. She doesn't . . . really know that you're here."

Kiel was about to protest, but then he remembered that Bethany wasn't the same half-fictional girl who remembered him as Kiel Gnomenfoot. He nodded and stood up, making his way over to the door and shrugging on his sneakers and coat.

"See you at school," he said, opening the door. He hadn't even closed it before Bethany pulled the door back open. "Wait! You forgot your hat."

"Oh," he said, then smiled and took the hat from her, their fingers brushing against each other. He felt his body heating up, despite the cold. His heart rate increased, but he ignored it and stepped back.

"Have a nice weekend," Bethany said with a smile. "I hope that _Kiel Gnomenfoot_ movie was life-altering for you. Or else I'll regret having invited you over."

Kiel laughed. "Yep. It has certainly changed my life. Both in good and bad ways. Mainly good." He played with the edges of his hat. "Um, thank you for inviting me. It was fun."

"Sure," she said, waving him off. "See you on Monday."

He smiled. "Yeah. Monday."

Kiel caught a glimpse of her smile one last time before she shut the door, leaving him outside. He shivered and walked down the steps, back in the direction of his house. He had walked here. He didn't want to use much magic because it drained him quickly in the nonfictional world. And also, he liked doing things without magic. He felt more rewarded when he accomplished something on his own without the use of magic.

Reciting a warmth spell, Kiel felt himself quickly warming up from his head to his toes. He ignored the tiredness that came with it and started walking back to his house, which proved to be a long walk, although it wasn't impossible. Kiel had been walking to school too, because he didn't know any safe places he could teleport to without being seen.

Also, magic tired him out easily when in the nonfictional world, and he knew he could only use it for emergencies. And it wasn't like he had any form of transportation. Although it was cold to walk from place to place, he didn't mind. He liked the refreshing stillness of the cold air that rushed to his face and body, especially in the morning because it woke him up.

When he got home, he changed into a spare outfit and took out his spell book. He started to flip through the pages, then paused. Something was wrong. Frowning, he flipped through the entire book. He realized what was missing. His spell that he had created, which linked the fictional world to the nonfictional world . . . it was _gone_.

* * *

Kiel had searched thoroughly for his written spell, but he couldn't find it anywhere. He thought he had put it into his spell book, but maybe not. This didn't make any sense. After a while of looking for it, he concluded it was probably back in his tower and there was no point in worrying about it. It was most likely in his study, and since he had cast that spell on Nobody he wasn't very worried.

After the weekend had passed, Kiel confirmed that he didn't like school very much. There was so much work! He didn't even care about that, though, since he figured he wouldn't be staying here very long. After attempting to solve some math problems, Kiel gave up and used magic to get the job done.

Although he felt more rewarded when he worked hard and accomplished something, he knew he would never accomplish this without magic. Especially Chemistry. That was his hardest class by far. He pretended to enjoy it as much as he could, but every time he went into that class he felt dirty. It only stirred up memories of Dr. Verity performing crazy experiments. Plus, he hated science. Charm was the only person he knew who liked it.

Luckily, he had to say that school was getting slightly easier. He became popular wherever he went without much effort. He appreciated it, but the only person he wanted to like him was Bethany. After all, he had come here to reunite her with her fictional self, and she was the only one he cared about.

Early on Monday morning, Kiel was sitting at his desk, writing notes while Mr. Tompkins did a lecture. Personally, he didn't like this class. A few days ago, everyone had laughed while Bethany was asleep, and the teacher didn't defend her! He had called her mom and scheduled a meeting with her instead.

Kiel didn't understand how anyone could treat Bethany that way. She was his best friend, and she didn't deserve to be laughed at, so he did what was right and defended her. He didn't know why she seemed opposed to that afterward, but he didn't care. He would've done the same for any of his friends.

"Write this down, everyone," Mr. Tompkins said, messily writing some bullet-pointed notes on the whiteboard. "The first event that happened in this chapter is —"

Suddenly, the door opened and a man dressed in Magisterian clothes burst into the room, clutching his arm. "Sorry to interrupt." He quickly scanned the room of kids and spotted a very surprised Kiel. "Uh, Kiel?"

Kiel abruptly stood from his chair and rushed over to the man, putting an arm around him. " _Elijah_? What are you — _how_ did you —?"

"Who is this man?" Mr. Tompkins demanded, looking shocked. "Who are you and why are you here? You're disrupting our class."

"He's from my . . . my . . . foreign exchange family," Kiel said, barely able to think straight. "I need to talk to him. Can I . . . ?"

"Sure, but be quick. If this is an emergency, I suggest you go home, Kiel."

Kiel locked eyes with a confused Bethany before looking back at the teacher and nodding. "Okay."

Using both hands to support Elijah's weight, the two hobbled out into the hallway. Kiel shut the door behind them, then led Elijah over to a bench. His friend slowly sat down, grunting with pain. He looked like he'd been through a war. His clothes were ripped in some places, and his skin was cold to the touch. He looked exhausted and weary.

"What _happened_ to you?" Kiel asked, removing his hands from Elijah's side.

"He stole it, Kiel. I followed him here but he was too fast for me. He beat me up, and I was too weak and slow. I couldn't find him again. He's somewhere in this world, and he's going to hunt you down —"

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down. What are you talking about?"

"A boy broke into your tower last night," Elijah said, breathing heavily. "I tried to fight him, but he knocked me out cold. He had superhuman strength like no other. When I woke up, he was reciting your spell! He took your spell, Kiel. The one that leads to your Bethany's world. He said he was going to find you. I went through the portal and tried stopping him again, but he put a knife through my arm. Thank god it wasn't that deep, or else I wouldn't have been able to bandage it up and survive. I don't know where he went after that, so I spent the whole day looking for you."

Kiel clenched his fists, feeling an unusual burst of anger. He only tended to get angry when one of his friends was hurt or in danger. "Who did this? I can't believe he had the nerve to steal my spell and almost kill you! How did he know about my spell? And why would he be looking for me?"

Elijah shook his head. "I don't know, Kiel, but I came here to warn you. I was afraid that by the time I reached you it would be too late, but I'm glad I got to you first. This boy had a weapon, and he wasn't afraid to use it. You need to be very, very careful."

The boy magician nodded and brushed him off, not fully taking it seriously. "I can handle myself with magic. What's more important is that I get my spell back, which I can easily do. Here, I think this might help."

Kiel reached into his bag and retrieved the jar of magical ointment that Abdo had given him. He opened the lid and pulled Elijah's sleeve up, where the wound was. It wasn't deep, just like he said, but the piece of cloth tightly wrapped around it was soaked in blood. Kiel shivered at the sight. He wasn't used to the sight of blood. He scooped some of the ointment onto his fingers and slowly removed the wrapped cloth. He touched the ointment to Elijah's arm and began rubbing it gently into the wound. Miraculously, the wound seemed to close in on itself, and a new layer of skin formed on top of it.

"That could come in handy," Elijah commented, staring in awe at his fully healed arm.

Kiel grinned, then put the ointment back into his bag. "What can I say? My touch heals everything."

His friend laughed, despite the dark situation. "Does it? Maybe you should be a doctor instead of a magician then, eh?"

Kiel shrugged, the smile fading from his face as he helped Elijah back to his feet. "We should get going. You're still exhausted and you need to rest."

"But what about school? You can't just leave, can you?"

"This is more important than school. I'm only pretending to be a student, anyway. Let's go." Kiel put an arm around Elijah to steady him again as they walked. They retreated to an empty hallway before Kiel pushed a button, then grinned in triumph as a small light began buzzing around their midsections. The school disappeared around them, replaced by the inside of Kiel's non-fictional house.

He helped Elijah over to the couch, where he laid down and looked around at his new surroundings. "This is your house?"

Kiel nodded. "It's the one I made with magic. Nice, huh? See, I even hung a poster of myself above my bed."

Elijah snorted, then closed his eyes. "Any luck with Bethany yet? Have you rejoined her two halves? That concept is still very confusing for me to understand. How could someone be split in half? It doesn't make sense."

"It makes perfect sense," Kiel said. "One half is in this world, and the other is in my world. She's still the same person, but her personalities are slightly different from each other. The other version of her loves adventure and thrill, but takes too many risks without thinking." He smiled a little at that. That was the side of her he loved the most, because it came through when she wasn't worried, when she was having the most fun. Almost like the sun shining through the clouds after a day of rain. "The version here is a little different. She doesn't like dangerous things. She's worried half the time, and she even has some trust issues because of that. She really likes rules."

"Uh huh," Elijah murmured, his eyes still closed. "Did you talk to her about being, you know, half-fiction?"

"Half- _fictional_ ," Kiel corrected. "And no. I'm still trying to get her to warm up to me."

"Shouldn't be that hard."

"No, it shouldn't," he agreed. "Either way, I'm trying my best. Once I feel like she trusts me, I'll tell her."

Elijah nodded, then opened his eyes. "Well I think if I were you, I would tell her right off the bat. Doesn't matter about trust. I wouldn't keep a secret like that from anyone — especially from the people I love. You shouldn't either. If I had a girl that I loved I would do what's best for her and cut to the chase."

"That's a little extreme," Kiel said. His face reddened, not matter how much he tried to hide it. "It's not like that with Beth. She's my . . . she's my _friend_."

Elijah smirked. "Only you would try to dissuade yourself from your true feelings. And you even have a nickname for her! It's clearly obvious to me what you feel when you talk about her with that silly smile on your face."

" _What's_ obvious? The only obvious thing is how obviously untruthful you're being," Kiel said, then shook his head with a laugh. "The only reason that I smile when I talk about Bethany is because she's my friend, and I enjoy being around her!"

Elijah's smile grew, but he blissfully didn't say anything else about it. "What about your other friend . . . what was his name? Owen?"

Kiel frowned. "Owen . . . he's gone. I have no idea where he is, but I have to find him. I just don't know where to look. He could be anywhere in the nonfictional world. But to think that he could be hurt, or in danger . . ." He shook his head. "I don't want to think about it. Once I rejoin Bethany's two halves, I know she'll have answers."

"She will. She's only lost her memories because of her being split in half, right?"

Kiel nodded in response, then took off his bag and set it on the floor. "I need to find this boy who stole my spell. Where do you think he went?"

"I don't know, but I could guess that he'll be at your school since he said he's looking for you. You should carry your magic wand with you. To defend yourself."

"Not magic wand. _Wand-knives_. And magic works differently here. I get tired easily when I use it. I'm even a little tired now after teleporting. I don't want to use it unless it's for emergencies."

"Well, this _is_ an emergency," Elijah said. "You need your magic for this. He could easily hurt you."

"I'm not sure about that, but I'll watch out for him," Kiel assured him. "But what about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean . . . what will you do now that you're stuck here? I would bring you back to your world, but I don't have my spell anymore."

"Don't worry about that part." Elijah shook his head. "I'll stay here for a while until we get that spell back."

Kiel nodded. He started to say something, but stopped. His mind drifted back to Bethany, then back to the boy who had stolen his spell. Who was this boy? Was the boy linked to his plan to reunite Bethany, somehow? If he was, Kiel would definitely be more than ready for a fight. Whoever he was, he was dangerous and meant to possibly hurt him. And if this boy knew about Bethany and intended to hurt her too, then he had to stop him.

* * *

_"Well I think we better go, seriously better go. Said it's better than hanging on . . ."_


	9. The Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> there’s a suspicious new boy in school, Owen and Kara team up to search for time bracelets, and Kiel dies
> 
> haha just kidding!! Or am I?

**_Every Breath You Take (by The Police)_ **

_"Every smile you fake, every step you take, I'll be watching you . . ."_

* * *

Kiel was in gym class when he first saw the boy. The class was doing several laps around the gym before the gym teacher blew a whistle and signaled for everyone to come over. Panting and sweaty, the kids fell into a walk and made their way over to their teacher.

"Alright," the gym teacher said, putting her hands on her hips. "Today we're going to switch things up. We're going to play a friendly game of dodgeball. That means no aggressiveness, no injuring each other and no hitting each other in the head. This could cause a concussion, which is something that nobody wants."

Half of the class looked excited, while the other half just looked tired. Kiel observed everyone's reactions with curiosity. He had no idea what dodgeball was, but he hoped it was dangerous. Everything at school was structured, with a set schedule for each day. Classes were long, and Kiel didn't learn anything that proved to be helpful. It would at least make things more fun.

"I'm going to pick team captains," the gym teacher said. "Nate and John, you're the team captains for today."

Two boys weaved out of the class and stood in front of the large group.

"John, you pick your team members first," the gym teacher instructed. John nodded, his eyes scanning across the group. They landed on Kiel for a few seconds, as if sizing him up. "I'll take the German boy."

Completely forgetting about his facade, Kiel didn't move. Then, someone lightly pushed him and he regained his senses, walking over to John and standing next to him.

"Yo, Kiel, who do you think we should add next?" John asked, then snickered. "We can leave the weak and skinny ones to the other team."

Kiel frowned. He didn't like the idea of judging someone based on looks. He prided himself on his looks, but he didn't judge others for theirs just because they looked a certain way. "Why shouldn't we take the weak and skinny ones? I'm just as skinny as any of them."

John looked annoyed that he was even disagreeing with him. "You're different from them. We need you on our team, not them."

But as they went through the process of picking teammates, Kiel noticed that John only picked a specific type of person. The loud ones, he realized. The muscular ones. The good-looking ones. He noticed that the other team captain, Nate, did this as well, until there were only a handful of kids left. The kids that were left were obviously not in the same social group as the others. They were slowly picked one by one until there was only one boy left. The boy was skinny, with round, thin-framed glasses and curls of strawberry-blonde hair.

"Wait, what's this boy's name?" John asked, turning to the gym teacher.

"His name is Oliver Bines," she replied. "He's a new student."

"Okay, Oliver. We'll take you."

Without even a smile, Oliver slowly walked over to their group. His eyes, which were a piercing blue, drifted from person to person, then landed on Kiel. His expression changed, and his eyes narrowed. The gym teacher started explaining the rules of how to play dodgeball, so Kiel turned his attention to that, since he had no idea how to play. He was too preoccupied in the rules of dodgeball to properly notice the look on Oliver Bines' face. Maybe if he had, he'd be able to prevent all the awful events that were about to unfold within the many weeks that he'd spend in the nonfictional world.

"Dodgeball time!" the gym teacher exclaimed loudly, causing a rush of excitement to run through Kiel.

The two groups split and walked to separate sides of the gym. Dozens of balls were spread out around the room, and each person grabbed one, trying their best to throw it at another person. Within the first thirty seconds, many people had been tagged out, and were standing off to the side, watching intently and cheering for their team.

Kiel dove forward and picked up a ball, throwing it at a girl who wasn't paying attention.

"Ugh!" the girl cried, making a rude gesture and walking to the sidelines. He only grinned in response, then picked up another ball, throwing it at a boy. The ball hit him in the leg, and the boy rushed to the side as well.

"Nice job, Kiel!" John shouted from his right, throwing a ball at a girl.

"Thanks!" Kiel shouted back, turning to him.

He barely had time to turn back to the opposing team before a ball slammed into the side of his leg. As he walked to the sidelines to watch the rest of the game, he felt a little disappointed that it hadn't been more dangerous. Danger was the only thing that could really get his blood pumping. But he guessed it didn't matter, because nothing at school seemed to be much fun. He couldn't wait to get back to his regular routine of fighting dragons and saving worlds and going on adventures with a half-fictional girl and fully nonfictional boy. He missed those things more than he wanted to admit. He missed it a lot, actually.

After a competitive game of dodgeball, Kiel was in the locker room, ditching his sweaty (and questionable?) gym attire and changing back into his usual clothes. Upon arriving to the school, he was given a set of clothes to borrow specifically for the class. He didn't know why the non-fictional world took these classes so seriously. Everything, including even the gym class, was too structured for Kiel's taste. Plus, he was stuck in a building for eight hours each day. He hoped he could make it through the next week without going completely and irrevocably stir-crazy.

"Do they have dodgeball in Germany?" a boy next to him asked, shrugging on his shoes.

Kiel blinked, picking up his bag. He didn't think as he said, "Maybe they do have it in Germany. I really don't know. I've never played until now. You should look that up on the Int-ee-net. Or that Goo . . . gil thing. Whatever."

As he hurried out of the mostly-empty locker room, he didn't acknowledge or care enough to notice the sprouting of a wry smile on Oliver's face, almost as if to say "Got you".

* * *

Oliver Bines was not only in Kiel's gym class. He was also in his English class, his Math class, his History class, and his Chemistry class. He noticed that Oliver was in all of his classes, but he didn't think much of it. The only thing the boy did was sit and stare. Not at the board or the teacher, but at Kiel. It was unnerving. He'd stare at Kiel for the entirety of class, no matter where he was sitting in the room.

When class would end, Kiel would shoot dirty looks at Oliver, and only then would the boy pretend not to notice. The boy was absolutely silent. He never said a single word since his first day of school. It had been four days of putting up with this, and Kiel was about ready to punch him in the face, because he hated the feeling of being constantly watched. It was almost as if Oliver was studying him, watching his every move.

After walking through a light snowfall, Kiel sat down for his first class of the day, brushing snowflakes out of his hair, which easily stood out given the fact that his hair was black. Fortunately, the other students never seemed to notice the fact that he was usually always covered in snow by the time he made it to school. But Oliver did.

Oliver, who was sitting a few desks to the right, turned around to look at Kiel. "You shouldn't keep walking to school, Kiel _Bauer_. It's easy to become sick that way."

The students who were listening all turned to look at Oliver, then back at Kiel. Kiel was shocked. This was the first time Oliver had spoken while at this school. Kiel knew that Oliver had been staring at him for the past four days, and probably had some strange obsession with him, but how did he know Kiel was walking to school? Was he stalking him?

"I'm not walking to school," he lied, pretending to be confused.

"Yeah," a girl said with a laugh. "Everyone here takes the bus."

"Kiel doesn't," Oliver said, his eyes boring into his.

"You wouldn't know that," Kiel shot back, feeling more uncomfortable by the second. What was this kid's problem?

Just as the bell rang, a tired-looking Bethany slipped through the door and hurried over to her desk. The English teacher's back was turned, so he completely missed the fact that she was late. Kiel sighed in relief, then watched as Bethany set her bag on the floor and took out her book, propping her elbows on the desk and putting her head in her hands. He hoped she wasn't going to fall asleep again.

Mr. Tompkins turned to the class, crossing his arms. "We're going to have a class discussion today about what happened in the chapter I assigned last night. Can anyone tell me how Victor Frankenstein reacted when he realized the monster he created had killed his wife?"

Oliver raised his hand. "He turned insane. He wanted to hunt down the monster until the world was safe from it. He didn't want his entire family to be killed at the expense of this horrid creature that he had created."

Some of the students laughed at his response. Mr. Tompkins ignored them, and smiled at the boy. "Very good, Oliver! I believe this is the first time you've spoken in class."

The boy didn't respond. He tilted his head in Kiel's direction, then began silently observing him again. Kiel clenched his jaw and turned to his book, trying to ignore him. Normally, he would've confronted Oliver right away and put an end to this. But he couldn't, since he was in school. He'd have to do it when they were alone. There was something very strange going on, and Kiel didn't like the feeling at all.

Near the end of class, Mr. Tompkins took out a stack of papers and began tossing one of each person's desk. "Pop quiz on the last five chapters! I hope you've all been reading."

The class groaned, except for Oliver, who remained silent. Kiel glanced at Bethany, who was warily taking out a pencil. "Did you read the last five chapters?"

"Of course!" she responded, looking slightly offended that he'd even ask that. "Didn't you?"

Kiel only nodded in response. He hadn't actually read any of the book. He was given it on his first day of class, but was more preoccupied with other things and didn't find the willpower or time to read _Frankenstein_.

His friends were well aware that he didn't have much patience when it came to reading. But it wasn't as if he was the only one in their group who wasn't a reader! Surprisingly, Bethany didn't read books all the time either, since she preferred jumping into books over reading them. Except that was _before_ she was separated. Now she seemed to have a love for reading, which made Kiel happy to see. Of all the things to change about her, at least her love for books stayed the same.

As for Kiel, he was never a big reader. He usually only read about magic. Maybe some adventure books, if he felt like reading one. He had once told Owen that he usually read the last page of a book first, if any books at all. After he said that, Owen was so horrified that he didn't speak to him for the rest of the day. Talk about being overdramatic.

Mr. Tompkins finally made it to the back of the classroom after a minute of walking around the room. He handed out the last two quizzes to Kiel and Bethany. "Kiel, if you have trouble with your vocabulary or spelling, don't be afraid to ask for help."

Kiel smiled. "I won't need help. It can't be that hard, right?" Then he looked down at this quiz, and immediately regretted saying anything. It really _was_ that hard.

After reading the first question and not having a clue what the answer was, he decided to use his German disguise to his advantage. He wrote short answers on each one, making sure to misspell every word until it was nearly impossible to read. When he was done, he put the finished quiz on the English teacher's desk.

"Sorry," he said with a shrug. "I'm not very good at writing English, as you can see."

Mr. Tompkins gave him a pitying smile, then looked down at Kiel's quiz, and his expression changed to one of horror. "This is not good. You must improve on this straight away. How would your family feel if they knew how bad your writing is? Writing is crucial!"

Kiel couldn't help but glare at him. It was hard not to react badly when he was technically an orphan. Well, only technically. He didn't have parents or a family, and his only father figure was the Magister, who he didn't want to associate himself with anymore. He still cared for his old master, but he didn't fully trust him as much as he used to. Dr. Verity was also related to him in a way, since Kiel was a clone of the man, but he'd rather not associate with Dr. Verity at all. It was simpler to identify himself as an orphan.

"My family? My family does —" Kiel cut himself off before he could say "doesn't exist." He took a deep breath. "You can't expect me to do perfectly, when clearly I'm great at everything else."

"Oh? I expect you to, all right," Mr. Tompkins snapped. "If you can't write in English, you can't get anywhere in life. I except you to already know the basics of writing. Time is money, Mr. Bauer."

"If 'time is money', then can I have a tutor?" Kiel asked, trying to change the subject because he was getting more irritated by the second. Even though he'd backed himself into a corner, the idea of having a tutor was suddenly a brilliant one. He thought that Bethany would be the perfect option for that. Plus, he'd get to spend more time with her.

"Fine. But I'm choosing them for you. I can't have you falling behind." The teacher went back to grading quizzes, and Kiel walked back to his seat, feeling disappointed.

"How'd you do on your quiz?" Bethany asked quietly. She had already finished her quiz.

"Not great," Kiel admitted. "I need to get a tutor. To help with my writing skills."

She nodded, then shrugged. "If you didn't do well, I don't blame you. You're from Germany. It's not your fault you don't take an advanced English reading class like I do."

He grinned, shaking his head. "Fair enough. Though I have a valid reason for doing badly, I'll catch up soon."

Bethany smiled a real, genuine smile. Kiel couldn't help but stare. The last time he'd seen her smile like this was three years ago, and it made him feel warm inside to know that he was making progress with their relationship. Then the bell rang, and everyone nearly jumped out of their skin. Kiel grabbed his things and put them into his bag, strapping it over his shoulder. He was about to turn back to Bethany, but a few kids started talking to him and he had no choice but to walk with them instead.

Once in the hallway, he glanced over his shoulder and saw Bethany walking with none other than Oliver. Why was she walking with him? Kiel shook his head, ignoring the creepy feeling he got when he saw the new boy and continued talking with his classmates. They were probably talking about schoolwork.

* * *

Bethany felt relief when English class ended. There had been a pop quiz today, which was always a form of torture. Although she genuinely enjoyed schoolwork and getting good grades, she was growing less fond of it as it got harder. Luckily, she was completely caught up with all of her work, so taking the quiz today had even a piece of cake. It was always satisfying to know all of the answers when doing a quiz or test. Especially when the quiz was about a book.

After the bell rang, Bethany hung back and took some time to put her books into her backpack. Most of the students had already fled the classroom, leaving only a few behind who were still packing up their bags. She noticed that Oliver Bines, the new boy, was silently packing his bag.

For some reason, his name sounded familiar, but she didn't recall where she had heard it from. She didn't know much about him, except for the fact that he was well-known as one of the smartest kids in school. Apparently, he had won a math competition on his first day of school, and he had also aced every homework assignment and test he received, despite being a new student.

After glancing at him, Bethany threw her backpack over her shoulder and walked out of the classroom. Oliver followed close behind and cleared his throat. "Hello, Bethany."

She looked over in surprise. "Oh. Hi."

"I see you've been hanging around that boy, Kiel Bauer. Just so you know, he isn't where he says he's from. I'm just . . . looking out for you. You should stop hanging around a criminal."

Bethany's eyes widened, and she glanced over at Kiel, who was walking a good distance away with a group of people. "Wait, what?"

"It's true." He nodded, a sad look in his eyes. "He was that wretched boy on the News who almost killed poor Mrs. Ugliano. Now she's traumatized to go back to her house. She confided in me about it."

"But . . . the police said they never found him. I don't understand. Why do you think Kiel would do something like that? I can't imagine him hurting anyone . . ."

Oliver shrugged. "For one thing, he's a terrible actor. You hear that accent? Not real. He's not from Germany, either. He's a criminal who wants to hurt people. Next he might hurt you." His eyebrows scrunched, and he held his hands up. "You know what? Maybe I'm wrong. But I think you should confront him about it, at least. If he confirms it, you should get him kicked out of the school. It wouldn't be safe to have someone like him here."

"I think it's better if we leave ourselves out of it, if he really is dangerous," Bethany said firmly. "We'll let the adults handle that stuff."

"No, you don't get it. Adults won't suspect it's him unless someone gives them evidence."

"Sorry Oliver, but I don't want to accuse Kiel of something if he didn't do it. So why don't you do it?"

Oliver looked caught off guard. "Why would I confront Kiel about it?"

". . . Because you're the one who suspects he's a criminal?"

"I don't just suspect it. I know it. I know that he isn't who he says he is. And I think you should talk to him . . . well, because if _I_ talked to him about it he would never tell me the truth." Oliver then sighed. "Well, I need to get to history class."

"Isn't that in the opposite direction?" Bethany asked, frowning. She was getting more confused and bothered by each second.

"Yes. But I needed to tell you this first. Just for your own safety, since I've noticed he is always hanging around you. Goodbye, Bethany." He gave her a single nod, then turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

Bethany glanced over her shoulder at Kiel again. He was laughing and talking with a couple of students. He didn't seem or look like a criminal at all. But if Oliver, one of the smartest kids in the class had said it, then maybe it was true. After all, Mrs. Ugliano had said that a boy around her age with black hair and black clothes had attacked her. Bethany just hoped that Oliver was telling the truth, because if he wasn't, she would be accusing her newest friend of something he never did. She didn't want to loose Kiel unless he actually _was_ a criminal.

A few hours later, Bethany sat down at lunch, accompanied by a couple of other students. None of the other students, she conceded to herself, she knew too well. Most of them were friends of Liz, or friends of those friends. She had just begun eating when she saw Kiel coming over to her table, dressed exactly as he always was, with his gray wool coat matched with a hat. She quickly looked away, and pretended to be very interested in her food.

"Hi," Kiel said, setting his tray on the table with a soft thud. Unlike all of last week, he sat next to her instead of across from her. He pulled off his hat and set it next to his tray, revealing waves of messy black hair underneath. There was a chorus of greetings from their table, all from kids who Kiel seemed to be friends with.

"Bethany?" he asked, after she had been staring at her food for a few seconds. She felt uneasy around him now. She looked at him, trying to read his thoughts, but she couldn't tell if he really was a criminal or not. Was Oliver telling the truth? Was Kiel lying? Was Kiel going to hurt her like he hurt Mrs. Ugliano? A dozen suspicious thoughts went through her head, but she couldn't confirm them. Not until she confronted Kiel, which she definitely wasn't looking forward to.

She continued eating, only speaking to Kiel if he spoke directly to her. She felt bad about ignoring him, but what else was she supposed to think? It could all just be a rumor, but Oliver seemed to believe it wholeheartedly. Wouldn't what he said be the truth, then? Was Kiel really not the same cheerful, adventurous German boy who he said he was?

"Are you okay?" Kiel asked her, once lunch was over and they were walking out of the cafeteria. Bethany looked over at him, then looked away. Every time she looked at him or heard his voice, she tried to imagine him as a criminal, and she couldn't. The faking being German part, though? That was slightly more believable, but she still found herself doubting it as much as she believed it. She didn't know what to think.

"I'm fine," Bethany said quickly, speeding up and leaving him behind. She desperately wished Liz was here, so she could talk to someone about this. Liz was sick with the flu, and most likely wouldn't be at school for a few days. She kept her eyes downcast as she walked through the halls to her next class. Once there, she sat down and listened to her teacher's lecture, trying very hard not to wonder about other things.

* * *

During his last class of the day, which was Chemistry, Kiel couldn't focus on a single thing. The only thing that he could think about was the way Bethany had treated him at lunch. What changed? Had he said something wrong? He had been so careful to remain in a good mood around her. He didn't recall saying a thing that could've hurt her feelings. So why wasn't she speaking to him?

"Get into groups of two," Ms. Stacy, the Chemistry teacher said. "We'll do a short lab today."

Kiel tore himself from his thoughts, looking around. But he didn't have to look far, because a girl with shoulder-length brown hair nearly ran over to his desk, pushing a boy out of her way. "Want to be partners?"

He shrugged. Seriously, everyone at this school seemed to flock to him like magnets. Not that he minded, since he enjoyed the attention. "Sure, why not?"

Kiel stood up, and he and the girl walked over to the lab tables. They each sat down at a chair, and he picked up the instructions, reading through it carefully since he didn't understand a single thing about science. Out of nowhere, the girl started talking. At first, it sounded like a bunch of gibberish, and then Kiel realized, with growing horror, that she was speaking _German. Fluent German._

He forced a smile, but she continued to talk, staring at him expectantly. He quickly wracked his brain for the correct phrases, but he didn't remember many. He glanced over at the rest of the class. Everyone was staring at him, waiting for a response. He turned back to the girl, who had her eyebrows raised.

"Ich sehe, dass du Deutsch sprichst?" Kiel asked slowly, once he finally thought of what to say.

The girl nodded, a grin spreading to her face. "Ich bin in einem fortgeschrittenen Sprachkurs. Das ist toll! Ich habe mich nie mit einem echten Deutschen unterhalten."

Kiel blinked. What was going on here? He only recognized about four of the words she had said.

"Ich haben auf verlassen," he told her, then stood up and ran out of the room.

He ran down the hallway, not even thinking about where he was going. He spotted the bathroom to his left and opened the door, walking over to the mirror. He was panting. He didn't know what would've happened if he had tried to keep a conversation going with the girl. He could hardly remember most of the words, much less have a fluent conversation.

The door swung open, and Kiel quickly moved to the sink, pretending to wash his hands. He glanced over at the door, and was surprised to see Oliver Bines standing there.

"Hey," Kiel said, standing cautiously a few feet away. He felt slightly uneasy, but kept a confident demeanor on. "How's it going, Oliver?"

The pale boy smiled, but the emotion didn't reach his eyes. "Wonderfully. Perfectly, in fact, now that I've caught you alone."

Kiel felt a chill run through him. _What a creep_. "That's cool . . . I get that from a lot from people who obsess over me. You know, with me being from Germany and all." He winked, then went back to what he was doing, staring hard at his hands as he ran them under the faucet.

When Kiel was done, he looked up. Oliver was silently staring at him; he hadn't moved. He steeled himself for a fight. This boy was suspicious and there was obviously something off about him. "Do you want something?"

"I do, _Kiel Gnomenfoot._ " He smirked at Kiel's expression, which he assumed was one of shock. "That's right. I know exactly who you are. In fact, I know your every move. I know what you're going to say before you say it."

Kiel's eyes widened. "Kind of unhealthy to be that obsessed with a person, _creep_. I don't know how you know who I am, but if you'd stop stalking me, I'd appreciate it. Why don't you drop your obsession and focus on something else, like a social life?"

Then Oliver took out a knife and darted forward faster than Kiel could see, kicking the back of his legs and causing him to fall to his knees. Kiel moved to elbow him in the throat, but Oliver wrapped an arm around him, holding him in a headlock and placing the tip of his knife a centimeter away from Kiel's temple. Kiel stopped struggling and went silent, knowing that one wrong move could end his life.

"Now that I can see you're taking me seriously, let's _talk_ ," Oliver said in a tone that meant business.

At this point, Kiel would cast a spell, then would enjoy himself further by saying a joke or winking. Even when he was scared or uncertain, he made sure to push that sort of thing, just to assure everyone that he had a plan. He had his magic, but he couldn't bring it to school. Especially after hearing that story about Bethany's book club, he knew that he had to be more careful about things. He couldn't bring his wand-knives or spell book to school. Where would he put them? A teacher would probably find them and mistake them for trash, which was the last thing Kiel wanted to happen.

But now, well, there was a knife against his temple, and he was regretting his decision to not bring his spell book or wand-knives with him to school. Things weren't looking good. Kiel swallowed hard, unable to move without being wounded. Suddenly, he realized exactly who this boy must be.

"It was _you_. You're the one who stole my spell!" Kiel struggled, trying to tear Oliver's arm away. "Give it back, or else you'll regret it."

"Sure, I'll give it back," Oliver said icily. "But only if you listen to what I have to say."

"And now you're here to, what?" Kiel asked. "Gloat at your success? I have things to do, and I really could care less about your achievements. Unless you're planning to give me back my spell. So what do you want from me?"

Oliver glared at him, tightening his hold on Kiel. "He wasn't wrong when he said you'd be annoying."

"Who —" Kiel started to ask, but Oliver pressed the blade against Kiel's skin, almost poking into it. "You must listen carefully, for I'll only say this once. I want you to stay away from Bethany Sanderson. Or else?" Oliver pressed the tip of the blade harder into Kiel. He tried not to whimper as pain spread through his head. Oliver slowly pulled the knife away, and Kiel saw a small amount of blood on the tip.

"You're crazy! If you hurt her, I _swear_ you're going to pay for it," Kiel told him in a dangerously low voice, trying to ignore the pain. "I may not have my magic with me right now, but I won't hesitate to punch you senseless if you hurt anyone I care about. If I had brought my magic, though, this conversation would be going very differently." Despite his fear, he winked.

"Oh, Kiel." Oliver scoffed without emotion. "Have you not figured it out yet? Bethany won't be the one getting hurt. But if you go near her, if you talk to her, if you even look at her, then _you_ will be the one getting hurt. Not her. I'd advise you to stay far away from her, or else you might find yourself in a . . . situation. And even if you don't stay away from her at first, I've already planted a seed in her head. She already is beginning to suspect that you're that criminal from the News, and I also told her that your little facade of being a German exchange student is all a fake. Don't try to rejoin her two halves, or else you will pay a price. You've already seen what I can do. I beat your friend with ease. I can and I will do the same to you."

For a beat, Kiel didn't breathe. He couldn't. He only felt fear and shock resonating through his body. Who was this Oliver boy, and how did he know so much? Why was he doing this? First, he had stolen Kiel's spell, and now he was going to completely destroy his relationship with Bethany so that Kiel wouldn't be able to join her two halves! So _that_ was why Bethany wasn't talking to him at lunch. Oliver had her convinced that Kiel was a criminal! The part about him pushing Mrs. Ugliano was true, of course, but he never intended to hurt her.

Now, though, he definitely intended to hurt Oliver. He would _not_ get away with this.

"If you do not do as I say, I will have no trouble making your death look like an accident," Oliver continued, repositioning the knife under Kiel's chin. "And in the meantime, if you want to be spared, you'll know to stay far away from Bethany. It's the smart thing to do, you know?" Then the sinister boy smiled and removed his grip around Kiel's neck, placing his knife into his bag. He opened the bathroom door and walked out, humming softly to himself.

The second Oliver left, Kiel gasped, lifting his hands to his neck. It was slightly sore, but the pain would wear off soon. He was more worried about Bethany. He had to stop Oliver, but he knew that he had a horrible disadvantage. Once again, he should've listened to Elijah about bringing his wand-knives to school. Why hadn't he listened?

With quivering legs, he slowly stood up and used a paper towel to wipe the blood off of his temple. He couldn't let this get to him. He had to continue befriending Bethany, no matter what. The fictional world depended on him, Owen depended on him, and so did Bethany. Next time he saw Oliver alone, he'd be ready. He'd cast a forget spell, and then the boy wouldn't be able to remember a thing. He assured himself with that plan, but for some reason he still felt incredibly uneasy. Why was he still shaking? He'd faced plenty of villains before.

_Not ones that know my every move and weakness_ , a voice in the back of his head reminded him. And now . . . the villain had the upper hand. Oliver had gone as far as to try convincing Bethany that Kiel was a dangerous criminal. Kiel could only hope that Bethany wouldn't believe him. If she did, things were about to get a whole lot harder.

About an hour later, after taking a cold and tiresome walk, Kiel made it to his house. He was still shaken up from the encounter with Oliver, but he tried to not let it get to him. He had to be bluffing. He had to be. It was hard to convince himself of that, though, when Oliver had physically poked a knife into Kiel's temple.

Sighing, he opening the door of his house and stepped into the warm air. He wiped the snow from his shoes and threw them casually on the floor, also taking off his bag and coat. "Elijah? Are you here?"

"In the kitchen!" Elijah shouted from the other room.

Kiel walked over, then stopped and stared with a wide eyes. "What did you do to my _house_?"

There were cut-out designs everywhere. There were designs hanging from the windows, taped to the fridge, and scattered all over the wall. Elijah was sitting at the kitchen counter, sipping a mug of tea. "This is what happens when you go to school and leave me here all day with no one to talk to."

"Where did you get the paper?" Kiel asked, walking over to the wall and observing a cut-out design of a cloud. "And the tape?"

Elijah shrugged. "I found it around here somewhere."

Kiel shot him a look, feeling more irritated than normal due to the events of that day. "I decorate my own house! What if I invite Bethany over one day and she sees this all over the walls?"

"She'll think you have good taste. Everything looks fine to me. Except for that poster of yourself that hangs above your bed."

"Hey!"

Elijah laughed, then peered at Kiel. "Hey, what happened to the side of your head? Did you fall? That would've been great to watch." He laughed again, and Kiel grinned half-heartedly.

Kiel thought about lying, but he knew this was too important to ignore. "Not exactly. I was attacked."

The smile disappeared from his friend's face, replaced by a worried expression. "Are you alright? Was it that boy who stole your spell?"

Kiel nodded slowly, lifting a hand to his injured head. Although the wound was small, it had taken a while to stop bleeding. "His name is Oliver, and I think he works for Nobody. He said that I need to stay away from Bethany, or else he's going to hurt me." He forced a smile, though it wasn't easy to smile at a time like this. "But I have it handled. I'll keep my magic with me."

Elijah sighed. "This might be bad news, but the good thing is we know what it also means: Nobody must be very afraid, or else he wouldn't have sent someone to separate Bethany from you. If you rejoin Bethany's two halves — that'll be that. Nobody won't have the ability to take over our world. I say we pay a visit to this Oliver boy's house and lock him up somewhere."

Kiel pulled out a chair from under the table and sat down. "I would, but I don't know where he lives. He's stalking me. He knows that I walk to school, he knows my real identity, he's in all of my classes, and he even convinced Bethany that I'm a criminal! I mean — he has everything figured out."

Elijah grimaced. "Whatever he threatened you about, I don't think you should avoid Bethany. That's what Nobody wants. It's what Oliver wants."

"I know that," Kiel said. "I'm not going to avoid her. Oliver's only going to fill her mind with lies about me, and that's the last thing I want."

"Well, then, why don't you go to that library she's always at?"

Kiel shook his head. "I don't think she'll be there."

Elijah shrugged. "You'll only know if you go. Worst case scenario is that she's not there. Also, we need to get food. The only thing in here is three triangular pieces of . . . bread with sauce on it."

Kiel snorted. "It's called pizza. The only reason we have that is because I stole it."

"Ah. That's always one way to get food. Don't you have a way to pay for it?"

He shook his head. "The currency here is different. Everyone uses this green paper called 'money', and I haven't figured out how to get my hands on it."

"You better figure it out soon, boy, 'cause I'm hungry."

"Just eat the pizza!" Kiel said, gesturing to the fridge. "I'll get the money later."

Elijah grumbled but obeyed, opening the fridge and taking out the remaining pieces of pizza. Kiel smiled in triumph, then walked out of the kitchen, mentally going over the things he'd say to Bethany when he visited the library tonight. He went to his room, pushing the door slightly ajar and stepping through. It was small compared to the rest of his house.

He hadn't wanted to build a large or elaborate house, judging from his past experiences of using magic in the nonfictional world and getting exhausted. He glanced at the window, which had a view of snow-covered farmlands. In his closet were the few clothes he owned; he had been meaning to get more but he had never found the time. Next to the window was a small desk, which was mostly strewn with magical supplies, his spell book, and his schoolwork.

Doing a quick glance-over to check if he needed anything, Kiel grabbed some papers and put it into his bag, preparing himself for his trip to the library. If Bethany was going to be there, he needed a good purpose for being there too, even if it meant forcing himself to do some homework.

He teleported to the library, then opened the door. As always, there were quite a few people in the library. Especially since it was late afternoon. Kiel's eyes automatically went to the checkout counter, where Owen normally was. But he wasn't there. He felt a rush of disappointment, but dismissed it. He would get Owen back soon.

He walked past some bookshelves, looking around at the rows of tables. In the back of the library, he caught a glimpse of bronze hair. He grinned, then quickly changed his expression to a neutral one and sauntered over to Bethany. She was doing homework, and didn't even notice his arrival until he cleared his throat.

"Doing anything fun?"

She looked up. "Kiel? What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, giving her a grin. "I'm doing my homework. What a coincidence that you're here, too! Can I sit with you?"

Bethany frowned. "Sorry, no. These seats are, um . . . reserved."

" _All_ of these seats?" Kiel questioned, waving his hand at the other various seats around the table.

She shot him a look. "Yeah. All of them."

"Did I say something to upset you?" he asked.

"No," she said a little too quickly, looking away. After a moment, she looked back at him. "I'm doing my homework. I have a lot . . . so I can't talk right now. I'll see you at school."

Kiel found it very hard not to yell in frustration. He had been so close to becoming her friend and rejoining her two halves . . . and now Oliver had clearly convinced her — or tried to convince her — that Kiel was an evil criminal. But did she actually _believe_ that?

He licked his lips, which had suddenly become very dry. "I heard that Jonathan Porterhouse still has that set for the me — the _Kiel Gnomenfoot_ movies at his house. Do you want to visit it?"

Bethany shook her head. "I've already seen it."

"Okay . . . do you want to watch a movie again?"

"No thanks."

Kiel ignored her tone and sat across from her, taking out his schoolwork. "Are you any good at Chemistry? I've been trying to work through these problems, but they seem to be getting out of hand." He looked up at her and smiled, and he thought he saw the flicker of a smile back.

Bethany sighed, leaning over the counter to look at his papers. "I'm not that good at Chemistry either. I'm only good at English."

"I figured you'd say that."

She gave him an annoyed look. He only winked. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. You're smart. You're definitely better in school than I am."

She leaned back into her chair and didn't respond, so he started to work on his homework, an uneasy feeling growing within him. Around an hour later, after both of them quietly did their homework, Bethany abruptly stood up and grabbed her books. "I have to go home."

"What do you want?" He laughed. "My permission?"

Bethany rolled her eyes, then started walking away. "See you later."

"Wait!" Kiel quickly stood up, scraping his chair over the carpet.

"What?" she asked, looking slightly irritated. "Kiel, you can't wait until the last minute to speak. I have to leave."

"Look, I just want you to know that you can't trust Oliver Bines. He can't trust a single word that comes out of his mouth. Whatever he told you . . ."

"How do you know if he told me anything?" Bethany asked.

"I saw you two talking."

"Wait, so you're stalking me now?" She took a step back. "And you're listening to my conversations. That's _totally_ not creepy."

"No, it isn't like that," Kiel protested. "I don't trust Oliver. You shouldn't believe everything he tells you. You just can't trust him. You can't."

"Why not?"

"Just — don't," Kiel said, feeling frustrated now.

"It's not like me and Oliver are friends, or anything, but he knows what he's talking about," Bethany said. "He doesn't seem like the type of person to be dishonest. So who I talk to or become friends with is none of your business."

"Yes, it is. He's spreading rumors about me."

"Are you sure they're only rumors?" She was looking at him expectantly, now, almost as if she already believed it; Kiel realized that she probably suspected they were true.

"They're rumors," Kiel said, giving her a solemn, almost pleading look. "I swear that I'm not a criminal. I swear."

Bethany gave him a confused look. "Um . . . I need to go." She turned around and hurried away, her long ponytail swinging behind her.

Kiel wondered how everything had gone so wrong. Why did it have to be like this? He wanted them to be friends. He wanted Bethany to trust him. He had to keep trying, though. He couldn't bear the thought of his plan not working, no matter what Oliver threatened him with.

He stayed at the library for a few minutes longer, taking time to pack up his bag. The library was slowly growing emptier, and the light outside was darkening. He wanted to get home with enough time to eat dinner. He walked through the sliding doors and made his way to the back of the library, which was a safe space where he could teleport to and from without being seen. But before he could pull the teleportation button out of his pocket, he heard a familiar voice, and it sent a cold chill down his spine.

"I thought I told you to stay away from Bethany."

Kiel looked up from what he was doing, only to see Oliver standing a few yards away. His blood froze. Tension that hadn't been there a second ago hung in the air like thick fog. Kiel put a hand on his bag; he had stuffed his wand-knives inside his bag in case of emergency.

"Bethany's not stupid," Kiel said. "She won't ever believe you."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that? Your feelings are obviously clouding your judgement, but she believes me. And she'll continue to keep believing me, because you know why? I gave her evidence."

Kiel scoffed. " _Clouding my judgement_? I don't believe that. I don't think your 'evidence' will be very effective, either."

"How come?" The boy took a few, slow steps toward him, almost like a predator hunting it's prey. "The rumors are true, aren't they? You aren't a boy from Germany, and you are the one who attacked that old woman."

Despite the cold, Kiel was beginning to sweat. "That's — that's not the point. I might be pretending, but so are you. Except you're doing it for the worst reasons. I'm doing it for the right ones."

Oliver glared at him, still walking closer. "I warned you about what would happen if you talked to Bethany."

Kiel raised his eyebrows, forcing a grin. "Oh, yeah? What are you gonna do? I have my magic with me now. You can't threaten me with a knife."

He moved to take his wand-knives out of his bag, but before he could retrieve them he felt himself being knocked backwards against the outer wall of the library. He gasped; his vision was filled with stars. He kicked his foot blindly, but Oliver pushed him down hard to the ground, punching him in the stomach. Kiel grunted and swung a fist at him, hitting him in the face. Oliver didn't even seem to react. With almost a superhuman speed, he quickly pinned both of Kiel's arms down. Kiel struggled against him, using his legs to kick wildly.

Oliver punched him in the stomach again, and he exclaimed as the air was knocked from his lungs. Kiel continued to fight back, using all his power to kick and punch the boy. Oliver punched him in the face several times, and he gasped as he felt his head banging against the hard, icy concrete. Oliver pushed Kiel forcibly down again, wrapping his hands around Kiel's throat.

Kiel struggled, almost managing to break free a few times but the other boy's strength was nearly impossible to beat. He kept fighting back, but he was quickly becoming exhausted. Kiel extended a hand, trying to reach for his wand-knives, but Oliver pinned his arms down as well. Kiel sent a hard kick into Oliver's leg and he grunted, loosening his grip on Kiel's throat. Kiel gasped for air, then kicked several times again and even managed to direct a punch into Oliver's throat. Oliver made a frustrated noise and brought his knee onto Kiel's chest, holding him down further.

He tightened his grip around Kiel's throat, and Kiel choked, his mind racing as he writhed against him. He tried kicking him again, but Oliver held him tighter. It was becoming hard to breathe. He could feel his heart beating in a panicked frenzy, and he tried desperately to break free. Kiel fought as hard as he could, blindly trying to punch the boy. It was no use. He had never experienced anything like this. Usually, he always won his fights.

Those were his last thoughts as his head became impossibly dizzy, and he was too exhausted and weak to fight back. He coughed and choked and gasped for air, but nothing helped. His throat felt like it had closed up. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the tight grip on his throat slackened, and he was too tired to breathe.

"If you continue trying to get Bethany back on your side, you'll face worse pain than this. Nobody will be thankful that you're finally obeying his wishes," Kiel heard Oliver say. Kiel could not respond. He felt the pressure being lifted from his body, and he slowly, blissfully, blacked out.

* * *

The entire day had been confusing for Bethany. Her thoughts were mangled, and she didn't know what to believe. Everything in her life used to seem so predictable, and she felt confident when she knew the outcome of what would happen. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to make sense of everything.

Clearly, Kiel was stalking her. Why else would he come to the library? He seemed very intent on spending more time with her, but every time Bethany looked at him, the only thing she could think of was what Oliver told her. She had avoided Kiel a lot today. Not because she thought he was dangerous (she doubted he could hurt a fly), but because she didn't know how to confront him.

When Bethany saw him at the library today, all of those confusing emotions had bubbled back to the surface, and she didn't know how to speak to him. It was hard to not be suspicious; she already suspected that he wasn't from Germany, but she didn't know if that was true. She wanted Kiel to admit it. Why couldn't he? He was her friend. Well, kind of. Bethany decided that she'd confront him about it when she saw him at school, which gave her an entire weekend to sort out this confusing mess in her head.

Bethany shook her head at the idea of him pretending to be someone he wasn't. Why would he make up something like this? To lie about something like that made her loose all respect for him. Did he fake his identity to make friends? Was he that desperate to be liked, or was he actually a dangerous criminal, like Oliver had said?

After gulping down dinner, Bethany went up to her room and threw a hand under her pillow, searching for the book that distracted her from her problems. She felt something hard beneath her hand and curled her fingers around it, pulling it out from underneath it's hiding spot. Bethany had to be more careful when she read books; she didn't want her mom to discover she was still reading late at night, or else her mom would probably have a fit and would forbid her from reading.

The books helped. Though it didn't make much sense, books held as much necessity as the air she breathed. They were comparable to her organs and her cells; without them she probably would go crazy. She couldn't live without them. Unlike her former friends, they never lied, cheated, or rejected. They would permanently be there for her, no matter how much she pushed others away. Books were her safe space, and they never disappointed. They were there just to tell their stories, without expecting anything in return.

Opening _Pick The Plot_ to it's bookmarked page, Bethany sat on her bed and fixed her gaze on the first words of the chapter. Maybe if she was lucky, this confusing mess with Kiel would be solved by the time she was done reading. Hopefully.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon had been arguably boring compared to the events of that morning. After lunch, the dinosaur hunting team had gone back into the jungle in search of more dinosaurs. Much to Tobias's disappointment and Owen's glee, there were only a few more close-calls with dinosaurs, although they weren't life-threatening.

Owen only felt relief when the prisoners were led back to their cells to get washed and ready for dinner. He was exhausted after today, and the only thing he wanted was sleep. That, and a long shower. Though he wasn't sure where the showers were, or if this book even had them.

The long line of time prisoners were led on either side by guards, who directed where each person would go. As they walked through the hallways, Kara beside him, Owen let his mind wander. Although every hallway looked similar, he had begun to notice which ones looked familiar and which didn't. That was definitely a warning sign that he'd already been here too long. He needed to plan an escape, and _fast_.

"I have a plan for tonight," Kara said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"We're gonna look for the time watches. But we can't get caught. We need to somehow get around the guards. They're always patrolling everywhere at night."

"They don't go to sleep?" Owen asked, feeling shocked.

Kara shook her head, her short hair moving with her. "I don't think so."

Ugh, really? Of _course_ the bad guys never slept. This was the way it always worked in books. Except Owen didn't have an invisibility cloak or one of Kiel's spells to help him out. He only had himself, a boy who messed everything up, and Kara, his friend who was world-famous time traveler.

Once inside their cells, Owen prepared himself for the night, trying not to get too excited as his hopes crawled up. What if he actually . . . _escaped_ tonight? That would be incredible. He already had it all mapped out in his head. They would look for the time watches, find them with no problem, and then Kara would transport him to a different time.

Kara was the main character, and that meant she was going to escape the time prison no matter what. If the main character didn't escape . . . well, that wouldn't be much of a book. It wasn't an 'if' about how they'd escape, but _when_. This flooded Owen with newfound hope, because he knew in the end he would get out of this book. And if he didn't figure out a way, Kara would, because she was the main character.

Maybe once they were out of here, Kara could turn back time to when Nobody was out of the picture and Bethany was safe! Owen would head back to the _Doc Twilight_ comic books, find her, then they'd bring along her father and they would head home. He'd say something to make Bethany laugh, and Bethany's father would thank him over and over for his heroic deeds. Mission accomplished. He would be a hero!

WHAT PATH WOULD YOU LIKE FOR OWEN?

He needs to go to bed! The search for the time watches can happen later, and he needs rest!

He should stay awake and keep visualizing himself as a hero.

_Go to bed for a few hours_ , a calming thought floated through his mind. _You shouldn't worry about staying awake to find those time watches_.

Owen nodded to himself in agreement, then laid down on his bed, purposely not paying attention to how scratchy the blanket was. A sudden drowsy feeling overcame him, and his eyelids dropped. He fought to keep himself awake, opening his eyes again and training them on the slowly-darkening ceiling. He counted down the hours until their quest to find the time watches would begin.

He and Kara would have to wait until about midnight to look for the time watches. They agreed that this was the best time, because all of the other prisoners would be asleep and they'd be less likely to get caught in the pitch-blackness.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging noise, and Owen jumped up, flinging the covers off of him. It was completely dark, except for the moonlight that shone through the bars on the window. He turned in time to see that his jail cell door was now open. He quickly stood up in a daze, feeling confused. He strode over and slowly pushed his head out of the cell door, hoping he wasn't going to get eaten.

Instead of a dinosaur, though, he found himself staring into a pair of blue eyes. Kara was standing next to his cell, wiping her hands. Judging from her body language, she seemed annoyed.

Owen smiled guilty, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Ready to get those time watches?"

"How long have you been asleep?" she demanded in a hushed voice. "I was calling you."

"I wasn't asleep!" Owen defended. He edged out of the doorway, glancing back at the open door. "You gotta teach me how to open that. That's awesome."

Despite herself, Kara grinned. "I know. Let's get going. I've waited almost forty minutes for you!"

Owen's eyes widened. "You have? Oh, god. Kara, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep and it's all my fau—"

She laughed, startling him into silence. "I love how gullible you are. It just brings me joy."

"Ha-ha," he said, rolling his eyes.

He started down the empty hallway, trying to walk as quietly as possible. Kara sidled up beside him, and they continued walking down the long hallway, glancing at each jail cell they passed. As Owen had hoped, all of the prisoners they spotted were asleep and snoring (some, rather loudly) in their beds. They made it to the end of the hall, where an air lock door was. Owen tried the door, and was surprised to find it was unlocked. Together, he and Kara turned it to the right, then swung it open. It was heavy, and by the time they was done, they were both breathless.

Kara motioned for him to keep quiet, then stepped out into the next hallway, moving slowly. Owen mimicked her movements, not bothering to close the door behind him. They walked into the dark hallway, spotting a three guards a few yards away. They were on patrol duty, and were walking up and down the halls, seemingly very awake. Owen nudged Kara and pointed. Her eyes widened, and she quickly ushered him into the next hallway, which was vacant. They turned to face each other.

"We should keep heading through the hallways to the right," Kara whispered. "I think more guards will be in the center of the building, and less will be everywhere else."

"Okay, but how are we going to get past those guys?" Owen asked in a hushed voice. "There's no way _all_ of them will be in the center of the building. There are practically millions of them."

"Yeah, but that's what we have you for."

Owen tilted his head in confusion. ". . . Not following."

"You know," Kara said, making a gesture. "Your time powers!"

She knew about his powers? Right, she did! He remembered her saying something about his powers earlier. But how did she know about them? Had he shown her in the past? If so, when, and what for? Would that technically be in Owen's future?

He shook himself from these confusing thoughts, derailing this train of thoughts. It was only going to give him a headache.

"Oh," he said. " _Ohhhh_. Can I use that to stop time? Wait a minute." Owen suddenly realized something from earlier. "That was what happened this morning. It had to be."

"What are you talking about?"

"After that fight I had with the man. Time froze for me, and I had no clue why. I was the only one unaffected, and then these agents showed up, and —"

"Agents?" Kara repeated, her eyes widening. "Those were time agents! Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

He shrugged. "Today was so busy. I forgot about it."

"How could you forgot about _that_? Wow, I can't imagine why they didn't detect you. I've never seen one, but I've heard horror stories about them taking time travelers into custody and never hearing from them again."

Owen shivered. If he hadn't froze himself at the right moment, that could've happened to him. And getting taken into custody twice in the past two days? He was glad that hadn't happened. It wouldn't seem very fair.

"Come on, let's keep searching for the time watches." Kara tapped his arm, bringing him out of his thoughts. She started walking again, peering into each airlock door they passed. He followed her, making sure to be extra careful not to trip on something or make a lot of noise.

As they walked to the end of the pitch black hallway, Owen noticed something. A small popping sound, similar to the one he'd heard this morning when time had stopped. It was faint, and it was nearby. Owen stopped what he was doing and rushed into a room, which was in the direction of where he assumed the noise was.

Kara walked in after him, looking around. "What are you doing?"

"I heard something," Owen said, peering into the darkened room. It was hard to see. He strained his ears for any other noises but heard none. "Do you think it could be the time bracelets?"

"What?"

"That noise. It was a popping sound. I heard the same thing earlier, only it was much louder."

Kara frowned. "That noise is what you hear when someone is time traveling. But no one can time travel here. Not inside the time prison."

"Oh," Owen said, feeling disappointed.

He thought that maybe if someone had time traveled here, they would be here to rescue him. But seeing as there was no indication or clue that a person time traveled here, it wouldn't happen. He scanned the room once more, then they set off out the door to resume their search. They walked down a few more hallways, stopping in each room to see if the time watches were in there. But they never were. Seriously, where did they keep the time watches? It was getting frustrating, and Owen didn't want to get any less than at least five hours of sleep.

"We'll find them," Kara said encouragingly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "The TSA just keeps them hidden somewhere secret."

Owen let out a breath. "I thought they'd be quicker to find. And easier! That's how it always is in books."

"You and your nonfictional things." She shook her head, smiling a little. "Nothing is meant to be _that_ easy. You have to work for the things you want."

He glanced over at her. The moonlight was cast on the side of her face, illuminating the tip of her nose and the line along her face. Her eyes drifted lazily over the place, looking at every label on each door.

"I know," he said. Kara turned to look at him, and he held her gaze for a moment before a blush crept onto his face, and he looked away.

"Hey, who's there?" a man's voice barked, and Owen immediately knew they'd been caught. His head darted to one end of the hallway, then the other. To the right, a flashlight beam was shone in their direction, and he heard footsteps.

WHAT PATH WOULD YOU LIKE FOR OWEN?

Owen gets caught.

Owen doesn't get caught.

"I'm sorr—" Owen started to say, but Kara elbowed him in the ribs and motioned for him to follow her.

"Get back here!" the voice shouted.

Apparently the guard had spotted them. Owen looked over his shoulder and saw that the soldier was running after them, already close to closing the distance between them. Owen grabbed Kara's hand, pulling her along into a sprint. They rushed down the hallway as quickly as they could, turning the corner into the next one and almost skidding across the floor, which was slightly slippery since it had just been washed.

"Hey!" the guard yelled again, his flashlight bobbing in his hand. He followed them into the next hallway, then yelled to a few other guards. Seconds later, three more guards joined him in the chase. Owen was panting heavily, and there was a stitch forming in his side. The guards only seemed to be gaining speed, while him and Kara seemed to be slowing down. To add to this, they were much shorter than the guards, and Owen wasn't exactly on the track team. But he couldn't give up.

They continued sprinting, stumbling down another hallway and almost colliding with two more guards. The guards shouted in surprise, attempting to grab them, but they ducked under their arms and continued running. Owen heard heavy footsteps behind him, and shouts filled his ears. They turned another corner, and Kara grunted, trying to simultaneously rub her leg.

Owen's heartbeat was prominently loud, and he found himself gripping Kara's hand so tightly that their interlocked fingers were turning white. But she was just as distracted, so she didn't seem to mind. They flew down a set of stairs, and turned into another hallway, still sprinting at a fast pace. Owen's legs flew across the room, possibly faster than he'd ever remembered running before.

All of the sudden, he felt a strange tingling sensation, and his heartbeat seemed to amplify. First, his legs started vibrating, and the buzzing spread throughout his entire body, then from his arm into Kara's hand. He put a hand on his chest, feeling his abnormally fast heartbeat. Panic set in. What was happening to him? Behind them, the deep shouts of the guards turned into slower calls.

"Geeeeet baaaaackkkk hereeeee!" a woman yelled. Owen looked over his shoulder, bewildered. They seemed to be moving much faster than before, now, and the guards behind them were running in slow motion. He glanced over at Kara, who seemed to be seeing it too.

She was looking at him with a wide grin. "Your time powers! I never would have remembered that!"

"Huh?" Owen glanced back and forth from the slow-motion soldiers to her. They slowed down to a light jog. "So I slowed them down?"

Kara shook her head, clearly used to this. "You sped up our own time. You can either speed up or slow down yourself, and it worked with me too because we're touching." She held up their interlocked hands. "See?"

Owen nodded, a smile forming on his face. While the guards were still slowed down, he tugged on Kara's hand and quickly pulled him into an empty supply room. It was big enough that it wasn't too cramped, and the light from the moon shone through a nearby barred window, illuminating the room with a pale glow. They stumbled into the room, clutching their sides and breathing heavily. Kara leapt over to the door and closed it as quietly as she could, leaving it a centimeter open. A minute later, the guards ran past in slow motion, apparently not seeing them.

"That was close!" Owen said, looking at Kara with wide eyes. In their relief of not being caught, they both laughed.

"I know where the time watches are." Both of the kids jumped, turning around to see a woman had a shaved head. She wore a long dark outfit, and there was a strange energy about her.

"Um?" Owen said in response. He had tried to seem intelligent and reply with a witty comeback, but as usual, his words failed him. He stood up straighter, observing the mysterious woman. She didn't seem dangerous, but she definitely didn't seem trustworthy.

"You do?" Kara asked, looking surprised. She then seemed to realize something, and at the same time, Owen did too. "You sped up to our time. There's no way that could be possible. Not without a time watch. How did you —"

The woman suddenly leapt forward and punched Kara hard in the face. The girl let out a barely-audible gasp before she crumpled to the ground, her eyes closed shut.

"No!" Owen shouted, crouching down to see if Kara was okay. She lay on the floor, her hair covering the majority of her face. Besides the fact that she was unconscious and was no longer in Owen's time, she seemed fine. Her chest rose and fell at a very slow pace, but at least she was still breathing. He leapt back up, glaring at the woman. "Who do you think you are? You think you can just knock out my friends like that? You don't even look like a time prisoner. And you aren't wearing an orange jumpsuit, either. Who are you? How do you know where the time watches are? How did you catch us when I'm using my powers?"

The woman was straight-faced. "Those are a lot of questions."

Owen backed away until he was standing in front of Kara. He took a slightly protective stance, trying to seem brave. "They are. And I want you to answer them. Because that'd be super rude if you didn't! Most importantly, where are the time watches? If you're so smart, how do you know where they are? You don't even have one on you! That just proves that you're lying! Unless you're not, and you're just waiting for the right time to get the time watches." He scratched his head. "I guess that would make more sense."

She stayed silent for short time, but it was long enough to make Owen squirm and fidget. "You talk quite a bit when you're nervous, don't you?"

"My mom tells me it's charming," Owen said, trying to sound indignant. "But you didn't say where the time watches were."

"That's right, I didn't. And I won't."

"What? So you're just gonna knock my friend out and then not tell me anything?"

She nodded. "Yes. You shouldn't be roaming the halls so freely, little boy. Guards are everywhere. Watching everywhere."

Owen scoffed. "I don't see you having a problem with it."

The woman shrugged. "That's because I'm not from this time."

Wait, what? Owen cocked his head in confusion, meaning to say something but instead saying nothing. He watched as the woman rolled up her sleeve, revealing a time watch. It was flickered slightly, but besides that it seemed to be in good condition.

"You have one?" Owen gasped. "But how?"

"I must tell you this information. Listen closely." The woman reached over and grabbed his wrist, then pressed a button on her time watch. He could barely breathe as the world changed around him, and everything seemed to speed up. The sick feeling that entered his body subsided a second later, and the sound of insects chirping filled Owens's ears. He realized that he wasn't in the time prison anymore. He was back in the jungle. Was this a memory from earlier today?

As if reading his thoughts, the woman shook her head. "I'm showing you this because it's crucial for you to know. You aren't supposed to be in this world, Owen Conners. In a time that will feel short to you but will actually be very long, you will break out of this time prison, and there is a chance you will escape to where you are needed. But there is also a chance that you will not. I see many possibilities for you, and there is only one outcome if this does not work."

Owen shuddered, taking a step away from the woman. He fidgeted nervously, looking around at the jungle. He couldn't see anything except the green landscape around him. If this was the future, where was the time prison? "How . . . how do you know all of this?"

"I'm not qualified to answer that question. But what I can tell you is this: you will be outside in the jungle. You will be chased. Only then is when I see an escape route for you. If you look up at precisely the right moment, you will see your way out."

Owen stared at her, dumbfounded. "What do you mean? What does _that_ mean?"

"It means that you must make the decision. If you want to stop Nobody."

Then she grabbed his wrist again and pushed the button on the time watch, sending them reeling back into the present day. Owen blinked rapidly, feeling very confused as he slowly came back into focus. He widely looked around, but the woman was gone. He was in the time prison again, and Kara was still on the floor. He knelt down, tapping her lightly on the arm, and she stirred.

"Kara?" he asked, tapping her again.

Kara made another noise, then slowly moved her body. Her eyes flickered open, and she groaned. "What happened?"

"You got knocked out."

"I did? But —" Kara blinked, tilting her head upwards. "Wait, what happened to that woman?"

Owen shook his head. "I don't know. But she wasn't a time prisoner. I think she's like you."

"Like me? You mean immune to paradoxes?"

He shook his head again. "Not like that. She had a time bracelet, and for some reason she could time travel out of here. She told me stuff about my future. Something about . . . an opportunity to stop Nobody. I don't know. It's really frustrating to not know what it means."

"She was giving you a message," Kara said, her eyes widening. "There are lots of time travelers like that. They travel everywhere through time, giving warnings and messages to people. I always thought that might create a paradox."

"Will me knowing about my future create one?" Owen asked.

Kara shrugged, sitting up and brushing the hair out of her face. "I don't think so. When people tell you about your future, they'll normally tell you as little as possible to prevent you from jinxing yourself. But what she told you? That could mean anything."

Owen bit his lip, trying to think. No ideas immediately came to mind. What 'way out' could it be? How would he know when to look up at the right moment? And how could that help him stop Nobody?

"Come on," Kara said. She stood up, rubbing her face where she'd been punched. It was already starting to bruise. She seemed to shake it off, however, and looked over at him. "I think we should get back to the cells. We've been gone too long." She walked forward and swung open the door, only to step back with a gasp.

Standing in front of it was their dinosaur hunting instructor, Tobias, surrounded by the other guards who had chased them.

"See? I told you they ran in here," one of the woman said, gesturing to them. Owen took a step back, exchanging a worried look with Kara.

Tobias's mouth stretched into a grin, and he cracked his knuckles. He reached in and roughly grabbed both of them by the elbow.

"Hey, let go!" Owen cried, attempting to rip himself out of the bigger man's grasp. He held steadfast, and another guard appeared at his side, holding a taser that was inches away from Owen's arm. One wrong move and he'd be toast.

"Naughty kids," Tobias growled, in his ever-present deep, booming voice. "I hope you enjoy punishment, because tonight you'll get lots of it."

* * *

_"Since you've gone I been lost without a trace. I dream at night, I can only see your face. I look around but it's you I can't replace. I feel so cold and I long for your embrace . . ."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oliver really annoyed me and rereading this I’m not shocked that he was still very annoying!! he just barges in thinking he can choke Kiel like yeah ok dude that’s NOT cool


	10. Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen and Kara get into trouble. Kiel makes more attempts to gain Bethany’s trust. Bethany, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with him.

_**Feels Like We Only Go Backwards (By Tame Impala)**_

_"It feels like I only go backwards, baby. Every part of me says go ahead. I've got my hopes up again, oh no, not again. It feels like we only go backwards, darlin' . . ."_

* * *

Owen and Kara were dragged down various hallways, grunting and struggling to break free as they were held by the dinosaur hunting instructor and the group of Time Security Agency guards. Owen didn't know where they were going, and he didn't want to know. Wherever they were going, it definitely wasn't good.

"Bring them in here," Tobias said, coming to a halt and opening the door of a room, then gestured for the guards to bring Owen and Kara along.

Owen was half-pushed, half-dragged forcefully into the room, which was dimly-lit. It was about the size of a large closet, with two tables that sat next to a small circular table. Along the wall were a row of machines that Owen couldn't depict the use of. Before he could get a good look at anything, the guards pushed him onto the table.

"Hey! Get _off_ me!" he yelled, trying to fight against them and get off the table. The guards grabbed his flailing arms and legs, forcefully pulling them down and strapping him to the table with leather straps. Owen's eyes widened and he jerked around even more, attempting to break free of his bonds. He had to get out of here. He felt as trapped as a caged animal, and he desperately tried to free himself but each time he tried, he got more winded.

At the entrance of the room, Kara was pushed forward. Just like Owen, she made several attempts to fight back, punching and elbowing and kicking, but the guards appeared to have no issues holding onto her. They lifted her onto the second table and strapped her down. They ignored the many insults she gave them, instead backing away and standing in a line beside the wall.

Tobias slowly closed the door, then clicked a button on the electronic pad to the side. The door sealed shut, making a loud groaning noise. His gaze drifted from Kara to Owen, who remained stuck on the tables. "What were you doing out of your cells?"

"Let us go!" Kara yelled, flinging her head around and fighting against her bonds. "You can't keep us strapped down like this!"

He studied the kids a moment longer before a dark chuckle escaped him; Owen realized that laughter wasn't always a joyous thing. "Oh, Kara. As if I'd listen to a word out of your stupid mouth. I asked you a question. And I didn't hear an answer, did I?"

"We were taking a walk!" Owen offered, then cringed at his reply. He wasn't the best liar.

"Sometimes, you kids really need to learn things the hard way, don't you?" he said with disdain, his eyes narrowing. "I'll ask you one more time, or else both of you are getting tasered. What. Were. You. Doing. Out. Of. Your. Cells."

"W-We were looking for the time watches," Owen said, his mouth trembling.

" _Owen_ ," Kara hissed.

He gave her an apologetic look. "He was going to taser us! What _else_ was I supposed to say?"

"You —"

"No talking!" Tobias barked in a loud voice, causing the two kids to fall silent. "One more word out of your mouths, and you both get something worse than a taser in the side, you hear?"

Despite being on a table, Owen quickly nodded, beads of sweat pouring down the back of his neck. He glanced at Kara, who had stopped moving altogether. If looks could kill, the daggers that were evident in her glare would've had Tobias dead by now.

Owen watched with baited breath as Tobias stalked towards Kara, then crouched down and began talking to her in a quiet voice. Owen could only hear snippets of what he was saying, which wasn't enough to understand what Tobias was telling Kara. He could see Kara's facial expression change from furious to shocked. He fought his initial instinct, which was to yell at Tobias for talking to her. Instead, he focused his energy on tugging on his arms and legs, trying to make the leather straps come loose.

Just as Owen thought the strap might've loosened, Tobias straightened up, giving Kara one last look before turning around. "I hope that'll get you to stop messing up everything in the Time Security Agency."

"What did you tell her?" Owen asked, immediately ceasing with his fidgeting and simultaneously trying to seem tough.

"Nothing you need to be concerned about," Tobias harshly replied. "Just making sure you prisoners know your place. Maybe think about the consequences of your actions, hm?"

He leaned in close to Owen's ear, so close that he could feel Tobias's hot breaths hitting his cheek. Owen shuddered, trying to break out of his bonds. "You've been real annoying these past few days, and I'm getting pretty tired of it."

Owen tried leaning away, but it only resulted in Tobias shoving him back into the table. "Soon, and I mean _soon_ , I'm gonna make sure you pay for every stupid remark you've given me. You've gotten off lucky, so far. But prisoners should know their boundaries. If you try to look for, or if you try to break into the time watch facility again — or anywhere — I'm separating you from your friend."

He remained silent, but on the inside, he was panicking. They couldn't separate him from Kara! He would probably never see her again, and he would have a worse chance of escaping than before.

Tobias slowly backed away from Owen, a menacing glare on his face. The boy averted his gaze, his heart racing and his face flushed with embarrassment. He wished that he could break out of his bonds and escape, but he couldn't think of any ways to do that. He didn't even know if his time powers would be useful at a time like this.

"I think you'll learn your lesson if we do this the classic way," Tobias said, nodding in affirmation at the soldiers behind him. "Once I get these electric shocks started —"

A man in a lab coat entered the room, looking nervous. "Sorry to interrupt but . . ." He glanced behind Tobias at Owen, then at Kara, and then at the guards standing next to the doorway. "We need Tobias to use the sedatives to calm the dinosaurs down. We're having difficulty in the caging room. The dinosaurs are becoming more difficult to control. The T-Rex has woken up. They're restless."

Tobias hesitated, then glanced at Owen and stepped back. "Have any of them escaped?"

"No, sir." The man shook his head. "But we are concerned with the way they're acting, and at this rate they might —"

"Has anyone been attacked? Injured?"

"No. They have not."

"If they are caged, why do they need the sedatives?" Tobias asked in a low tone, turning to face the man.

"They need to calm down, sir."

Slowly, the dinosaur hunting instructor nodded. "Alright. Take these two back to their rooms."

Owen watched this exchange with curiosity. He knew that the dinosaurs were caged somewhere, but he didn't know why, or for what specific reason. He could tell that there was something deeper going on.

As Tobias and the man in the lab coat left the room, the guards walked briskly over to Owen and Kara, removing their bonds and pulling them off the table. Owen shakily got to his feet, feeling a little unsteady. He exchanged a look with Kara, who looked rattled. He wanted to comfort her, since she still seemed upset by what Tobias had told her, but he knew he'd have to wait until they were alone.

The two kids were escorted out of the room — less forcibly than they'd been when Tobias was with them. As they walked down the hallways that led back to the jail cells, Owen sneaked glances at Kara, growing increasingly worried at her behavior. She wasn't fighting back against the guards, and she was completely silent, staring at her shoes.

"Kara?" Owen whispered.

"No talking!" a guard said, prodding Owen in the back with a rod. He bit his lip and glared at the floor, anger rising in his chest. Sudden tears flooded his eyes, and he blinked them away, trying to focus on the present. He needed to help Kara, somehow. He couldn't be useless and emotional, like he normally was.

Owen wondered how him and Kara were ever going to get those time watches. He had to get them as soon as possible, or else he might never escape. If he got his hands on a time watch, he could save Bethany. And if him and Kara hadn't gotten caught, they probably would've found the time watches by now. How had the guards caught them so easily? This was both unfair and frustrating — in _so_ many ways.

By the time they got back to their cells, Owen was so tired that he was practically dragging his feet across the floor. The guards opened his and Kara's jail cell doors, ordering them to head inside. Not in the mood for protesting, Owen walked into his dark cell and jumped at the sound of his barred metal door behind him being closed with a _bang_.

After removing his shoes, Owen looked over at Kara's cell. It was dead silent, and he wondered how upset she really was. Slowly, he made his way over to the spot where they cells connected. "Kara? Are you okay?"

"Yes." Her voice was slightly muffled, and he assumed she was in her bed. It was too dark to tell.

"A-Are you sure? I just, I mean — you seem upset. Really upset. What did he say to you?"

Kara sighed in response. Owen placed a hand on one of the bars, gently curling his fingers around it. He swallowed, organizing his thoughts, then spoke after a few seconds of figuring out what to say. "I'm sorry. It was stupid of me to think we could find the time watches without getting caught." He looked at the ground, a familiar feeling of shame registering through him.

" _What_? Owen, it's not your fault," she said. "It's mine."

He shook his head, despite her not being able to see him. "Not in any way is it your fault. It's mine! It's always my fault. I wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible, and I didn't stop to think — I didn't, well, I . . ." He took a deep breath. "I don't know what Tobias told you, but whatever he said, it's not true."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah, I do."

"No, you _don't_ ," Kara said, anger laced into her tone. "He's right, trust me. I destroy the whole world, no matter what I do. Even when I try to save the world by being here, I still manage to mess up people's lives. I mess up everything, you know? No matter how hard I try to prevent myself from it, it _still_ happens."

At first, Owen didn't respond. He felt shocked, to say the least. He was surprised at what she said, not just because her words seemed so raw, but because he _understood_. He understood everything she was saying, on a much deeper level than he could interpret. Ever since his first adventure into _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source of Magic_ , he had messed everything up without even trying.

And that wasn't even the last time he'd messed things up. He had done it when he encouraged Bethany to seek out Doyle, which resulted in him and Kiel going on a wild goose chase to rescue Bethany. All because of his idea. There were countless other times that he'd missed everything up, too. He still blamed himself for it. But now that someone else felt the same way, somehow . . . he felt less alone.

"You aren't the only one. I mess up everything, too. I'm just . . . ordinary. Compared to, well, everyone I know," Owen said quietly, unsure why he was so comfortable speaking freely about his insecurities. He didn't even talk to Bethany, his best friend, about his deepest insecurities. He looked at Kara. "Hey, if we both mess up all the time, maybe we'll even each other out."

He heard a small chuckle escape her. "You think?"

He smiled. "Yeah."

"For the record, I don't think you're ordinary," Kara told him. "An ordinary person wouldn't be amazing. And you definitely wouldn't be here, in this prison."

Owen blushed at her words. Nobody, besides his mother, had ever told him that. "You think I'm amazing?"

"Of course I do. Don't make me explain myself!" Kara said with a laugh.

After a few minutes more of quietly talking, Owen retreated to his bed, giving in to the grogginess that consumed him. He'd definitely be tired tomorrow. As he laid in bed, he tried convincing himself that tonight had been worth it. Hadn't it? Even if they hadn't found the time watches, even if they had gotten caught, it was still worth it.

Owen looked up at the ceiling, right into the eyes of what he assumed were the readers. "Bethany? I might take a little longer than I thought. Just . . . please give me a sign if you're out there. I want to know if you're okay." He waited, watching for any sign that she was there. Clearly, she wasn't, because nothing happened.

He sighed. "Please stay safe. I'm going to get out of this book, I promise. Just . . . hold on a little longer, alright? I'll be there soon. I'm going to stop Nobody before he separates you."

_And I won't mess anything up ever again_ , he added silently. He couldn't let Bethany down again.

* * *

The first thought that popped into Kiel's mind was how pain could be comparable to a balloon. It creeped into his throat, squeezing tight like the tie on a balloon, forcibly squeezing off all the air. Kiel knew this, because he had seen balloons when he was twelve. Back then, they were bright yellow, illuminated by the glistening sun.

They blinded him, and he loved it. They had heads like aliens, and they were dancing all around in the wind, held down to the Earth only by a thin string. Unlike balloons, though, this pain would not pop, or change colors, or float away. It was always there, like a shadow. It clung to him, holding steadfast around his neck, daring him to test it's strength and take a gulp of air.

A hand laid on his shoulder, shaking him. Kiel heard a panicked voice, but it sounded so far away. This must be a dream. He sank into sleep again, hoping the pain would dissipate. But it didn't. The hand shook him again, and he groaned, slowly being pulled back into consciousness.

"Kiel?" The hand moved away from his shoulder, then was briefly pressed against his forehead. "Kiel, are you alright?"

It seemed like a long time before Kiel found the strength and willpower to open his eyes. The ever-present blackness was still there, but it was the slightly brighter. It took him a moment to recognize his surroundings. He squinted his eyes, shifted his gaze from the dark sky to the figure sitting next to him. Their arm was still on his shoulder, and the person— the woman — looked mortified. Waking up on the ground had become a habit of his, apparently.

Kiel slowly opened his mouth, and was surprised to find that the words would not come. He struggled to say something, but it came out as sounding more like a strained gasp for air. He tried clearing his throat, which only brought pain shooting up his entire throat. His voice was barely a whisper when he finally formed his lips to say the words. "Ms . . . Con . . . Conners?"

"Oh, thank god you're awake," Owen's mother said, sighing in relief. She was typing something onto her phone. "Lay still. I'm calling an ambulance."

_Ambulance_? Kiel's eyes widened. No way. He couldn't go there. Not another encounter with the News or the nonfictional police. They'd only send him to jail, and he wasn't even positive if he could escape, since this was the nonfictional world. That would only make things worse.

Despite the pain that shot through him, he managed to get his hands beneath him. He struggled to push himself off the ground, grunting as he did so. He blocked out the feeling and pulled himself the rest of the way into a sitting position, struggling to breathe. By the time he was upright, Ms. Conners was already on the phone, talking in a panicked voice.

"N . . . no," Kiel said, trying to speak as loudly as he could. His voice would only come out in a whisper. His hands curled into fists, squeezing tightly in frustration. He had never felt so weak and tired at the same time. He hated this feeling. He hated it more than anything else.

"Who did this to you?" Ms. Conners demanded once she was done talking on the phone. She stared him up and down, worry lines etched on her face. "I want to get the police in on this. You look terrible."

"No. Po . . . pol . . . lice —" Kiel started to rasp, but Ms. Conners patted his arm. "Don't worry, honey. Whoever hurt you, I'll make sure they're caught."

"No —" He tried to protest again, but Owen's mom shushed him. He sighed, hoping that his body language would express more than his words could. As they waited in silence for the ambulance to arrive, Kiel's mind started to race. It was the only thing in his body that was still in good working order.

Everything rushed back to him: Oliver threatening him once, then twice, and then choking him into unconsciousness. Kiel winced at his latest memories and reached up to feel his neck, just to make sure it wasn't all a dream. Tender bruises lined the area, and Kiel suspected they were already beginning to darken if they hadn't already. He gently pressed a finger into his neck, trying to feel where the most damage had occurred. A sharp, stabbing pain filled the area, and he quickly retracted his finger with a sharp intake of breath.

In the distance, there was the noise of a siren, which was growing increasingly louder by the second. Kiel didn't have much knowledge about the nonfictional world, but he knew what that meant. The ambulance had arrived. He moved his head, trying to see if there were any escape routes nearby. He was still at the back of the library, so there wasn't much here except for a few dumpsters and an empty parking lot. And judging by his physical state, Kiel assumed he wouldn't get very far if he tried to make a run for it.

Apparently not seeing his discomfort, Ms. Conners wrapped her arms around his body, hooking them until his armpits and lifting him off of the ground. Kiel stumbled forward but managed to catch himself before he could fall. Ms. Conners's hand went to Kiel's back, steadying him. "Do you need any help with walking? It's the least I could do."

Kiel shook his head multiple times, because talking only brought him pain. He was a little unsteady on his feet, but he shrugged off Ms. Conners's offer of help. He didn't want to rely on anyone else when he could clearly help himself. He especially didn't want to admit that he was too weak.

"Okay," she replied, watching him warily. She was walking slowly beside him, her arms outstretched as if to catch him. "Let's get you over to the ambulance. You've been bleeding, and it's hard to say where your injuries are. I was worried for a minute there. I've never seen anyone look so beat up."

Kiel looked down at himself in surprise, and felt a small dose of relief when he saw that his body wasn't covered in blood. It was most likely his face she was talking about. It hurt almost everywhere, specifically his stomach, neck, and head. Kiel had gotten into small fist fights before, but they never had been this serious, and this was his first time getting choked. He wondered if there was any serious damage to his throat. Being choked was a traumatizing experience, and he was tempted to use a forget spell on himself, just so he wouldn't have to relive the memory every time he attempted to speak.

It had been way too long since he had a fair fight, and he was worried that he wasn't as impressive as he used to be. The only reason he lost, he reminded himself, was because he was out of practice. That was the only reason. On a better-prepared day, especially using magic, Kiel could've taken Oliver down.

Kiel's brain still felt foggy, so it was hard to piece the events together. He wasn't even sure how long he'd been unconscious. From the looks of it, he could guess that he'd been lying on the ground since early this afternoon. Now it was completely dark out, with a full moon and not a single trace of light in the sky. He didn't remember going home after the fight, and he hoped Elijah wouldn't be too worried about him.

They came around the side of the building, walking at a slow pace. The ambulance was pulling up to the entrance of the library in a hurry, and medics were already opening the doors. Two people in purple scrubs came over to him, and Kiel was ushered into the back of the van. He mustered a glare, trying to get the message across that he _clearly didn't need anyone's help_ , but the people didn't notice. They were too busy taking out medical supplies, talking to each other, and observing his neck.

What felt like only a few minutes later, the ambulance came to a screeching halt in front of a new building. The group tumbled out of the van, and despite his protests, Kiel was carried and plopped onto a wheelchair (was that really necessary?). A nurse was behind him, pushing him inside the sliding glass doors. He squinted his eyes at the sudden bright light that came from everywhere. The hospital was filled with action; the loud noises of machines, phone calls being answered, and doctors walking in and out of each room. Kiel was pushed down the hallway, the nurses walking a bit slower than they had been a few minutes ago.

He was brought into a small room with a bed that had various machines surrounding it. Various people helped him out of his chair and onto the bed, which was covered with a thin white sheet. He leaned his head against the pillow, taking note of how weirdly stiff it felt. As the nurses grabbed equipment from some of the drawers, Kiel sniffed the air. It smelled strange, almost like a mixture of sickness and soap.

A nurse walked over to him, holding a white disinfectant cloth. She gently brushed it against his cheeks, forehead, and nose. Kiel's face was still stinging with pain, but he tried not to appear weak as she wiped the cloth across his face. When the nurse pulled her hand away, the cloth was completely red. She tossed it into the trash can. "That's some fight you were in. Your face was bleeding in various places, but luckily for you, the bleeding has stopped. That means that your nose wasn't broken. If it were, you'd need to get surgery."

Kiel soaked the words in. He was slowly becoming aware of the seriousness of this situation. He felt relieved to know that he wasn't gravely injured, despite the issue with his voice and throat.

She walked back over to Kiel, ordering for him to sit up. He did so, then jumped back as the nurse grabbed the ends of his shirt, attempting to take it off of him. The nurse frowned. "I can't see any wounds if your shirt is covering your body."

He made a face. Fair enough, he thought. He allowed the nurse to peel off his shirt, revealing a bruised stomach and chest. The nurse moved her fingers along Kiel's stomach and ribs, pressing gently into them. Kiel inhaled sharply as the pain intensified, and the nurse quickly retracted her hand.

"You have bruised ribs," the nurse stated. "They'll take a while to heal. You'll need plenty of rest, and you'll need to drink lots of water. Got it?"

Kiel's eyes widened. " _Bruised . . ._?" He instantly winced, unable to say another word.

The nurse pulled his shirt over his head, sliding it back over his body. "There's another thing you need to do. Rest your voice. Don't talk unless it's absolutely necessary. Your vocal cords are very damaged, and it may take a long time for them to heal. I'd recommend a few weeks without talking."

"A . . . few . . . _weeks_?" Kiel rasped, choking over his words. He lifted a hand to his neck, making a half-attempt to massage it.

The nurse nodded, stepping back and grabbing a roll of cloth from the counter. She unrolled it until it almost reached the floor, then cut it with scissors. She walked back over to him and lifted the gauze, slowly wrapping it around his forehead. Once she was done, she placed a similar bandage on his nose. "You're very lucky that nothing was broken. I never understood why boys your age feel the need to punch each other. One or the other always ends up with a broken nose. Can't you just solve problems rationally?"

Kiel lifted his eyebrows. "Well . . . I . . . was . . . winning . . . the . . . fight. That's . . . rational . . ."

"I doubt you were the one who was winning, with the shape you're in. Also, what did I say about the talking?"

"Trust . . . me . . ." he croaked. "I . . . won."

The nurse gave him a disbelieving stare, then forced a smile. "We're going to do some x-rays, okay? Just to make sure that your body is in good shape."

Good shape? He almost scoffed. In general, he considered himself charmingly attractive and athletic, but right now he doubted he was anywhere close to being in "good shape". His ribs, neck, and vocal cords were all bruised, after all.

A short while later, a swift knock was heard at the door, and a doctor came in. "Hello, Kiel. My name is Dr. Cho. I see you're all checked out and bandaged up. You ready for a nice, fun x-ray?"

Kiel shuddered. Nice and fun were not adjectives for whatever an "x-ray" was. The only thing he could compare this with was Charm's ray guns, which were deadly. This whole place reminded him of Dr. Verity and Quanterium, and although he knew these people were genuine, he couldn't help being untrusting. Anything related to science made him feel a little sick.

Despite his feeling of unwillingness, Kiel slowly nodded. There wasn't much else he could do besides allow the people to help him. If he refused the help, he might never recover. That wouldn't be helpful at all. He needed to hit Oliver back, and hard. He didn't care what the cost might be. He only cared about Bethany's safety, and he couldn't protect her if he was too weak to do so. He wouldn't be able to defend even himself if this crippling injury remained.

He slid off the bed and followed the doctor into another room, which had a large, buzzing machine that hovered over a table. Kiel stopped in his tracks. He was expecting Dr. Verity to appear out of nowhere and shout, "Ha! You should've escaped when you had the chance!"

Sensing his discomfort, Dr. Cho smiled at him. "You'll need to lay on top of here. We're just getting a simple x-ray of your body. Would you like to know the details?"

Kiel shrugged in response.

"Okay. X-rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation. This specific x-day will create pictures of the inside of your body. The images show the parts of your body in different shades of black or white. This is because different tissues absorb different amounts of radiation. Calcium in bones absorbs x-rays the most, so bones look white. Fat and other soft tissues absorb less, and look gray. Air absorbs the least, so lungs will look black. With this, we'll be able to see if anything is broken or out of place."

"I can . . . see . . . why . . . your . . . parents . . . named . . . you 'Doctor'," Kiel observed, taking in all of this new information. He hadn't payed too much attention to what the doctor said. It all sounded like a bunch of scientific words jumbled together.

". . . They didn't. It's my occupation title."

He half-grinned. "Occupation . . . title? I've . . . got . . . some . . . titles . . . of . . . my . . . own." Titles that he was quite proud of, specifically _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the End of Everything_ ; it had the most appropriate level of importance.

Dr. Cho just stared at him, clearly at a loss for words, then patted the spot on the table. "I promise this procedure will be quick. And afterward, I'll even let you watch some TV while you wait for your folks to arrive."

An excuse to watch more TV? Kiel instantly felt more encouraged to go through with this, despite every cell in his brain screaming at him that this could be a trap. Deep down, he knew that it wasn't a trap. The people here were friendly, and unlike his past experiences with Quanteriums, they had no malicious intent. He slowly walked over to the glowing bed and cautiously laid down on it. He was far from trusting anything that was science-related, but for the sake of his health, he forced himself to stay put.

Dr. Cho pressed a few buttons onto the machine, and a loud beeping noise was heard. "Lay still. If you move around, we'll need to redo the x-ray."

Kiel didn't respond. He was too busy staring, transfixed at the machine that moved above his head. It made loud noises as it passed over his head, looking like a dark, looming shadow. When nothing bad happened, he relaxed, allowing the machine to finish it's work. When the x-ray was done, Kiel rose from the table, wanting nothing more than to leave.

The doctor motioned for him to follow, and Kiel was once again walking through the brightly-lit hallway of the hospital, his wide-eyed stare trailing from the bustling people to the machines and equipment they pushed around. They walked down a few more hallways, Kiel struggling to keep up as he still felt very weak. He collapsed into a stiff, plastic chair. Just as the doctor had promised, a TV sat across from him.

It was smaller than Bethany's, and it hung on the wall. The volume was muted and the captions were on, but Kiel didn't care too much about that. He was grateful for the distraction. He didn't want to focus on how much his body was hurting. Not only that, but he didn't want to admit that him, Kiel Gnomenfoot, famous boy magician and savior of all Magisteria, had no clue how to fix this mess.

But there was no time to waste feeling sorry for himself. Oliver was still out there, probably cooking up another of his evil plans. Bethany could be in danger right now, and what was he doing besides sitting around and feeling physically exhausted?

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, simply watching and waiting. Exhaustion kicked in, but he was too stubborn to close his eyes. He had to keep them open. He couldn't give in to the temptation, to the weakness. He had to remain in control of something. At one point, after his eyes had glazed over from being locked on the bright TV, the door opened. It was Owen's mother.

Her eyes were downcast when she first walked in. Then she threw a glance around the room. Her eyes landed on Kiel, and she smiled. "Hi. Are you feeling better?"

Kiel nodded, deciding to lie so she wouldn't have to worry. "Yes. Why . . . are you . . ." He coughed, which normally wouldn't have been painful, but now it was. "Here?"

"I wanted to check in on you, just to make sure you're alright. Are you parents here?"

He shook his head.

Ms. Conners took a seat beside him, eyes trailing from his now-bandaged face to the dark bruises on his neck. She looked slightly horrified at the sight. "Kiel . . . I understand that this just happened, and it must've been horrible, but I want to know who did this to you. You didn't deserve to go through that, especially at your age."

He stared blankly at her. "I . . . I don't . . . remember."

She sighed. "Can you at least try to remember? Whoever did this to you should be at the police station."

Kiel thought about telling her, then went against it. This was his problem, and he'd fix it on his own. Turning Oliver over to the police would be a very bad idea. He couldn't put anyone else in danger. He had to get rid of Oliver by himself, before any more damage was done. There was a chance that Oliver would hurt more people, which might include Owen's mom if Kiel told her about Oliver. Kiel couldn't have that happen. This time, he wouldn't hesitate when he faced Oliver again. Kiel would cast a spell on him, and that sickening boy would be no match for his amazing spell casting.

He shook his head, feeling internally sick. "Sorry . . . I can't."

At that moment, the nurse walked over to him. "Young man? We have your paperwork for the x-ray."

She handed a thick packet to Kiel. He stared blankly at it, turning it over in his hands. It had a bunch of pictures all over it, but he was too tired to decipher what they meant. "What . . . does it . . . mean?"

"It means that you don't have any broken ribs," the nurse supplied. "You're all good to go. Just remember to take care of your body. Lots of rest, water, and healthy foods. Keep the talking at a minimum."

Kiel winked. "I . . . will . . . do the . . . opposite . . . of what . . . you . . . said."

The nurse seemed to take his words seriously. "You are in a critical condition. Regarding your vocal cords, they will take a long time to heal. If you don't follow our instructions, your symptoms won't improve."

"Ready to go?" Ms. Conners said to Kiel, glancing between the woman to him. He nodded quickly, standing up and stuffing the paperwork into his bag. The nurse didn't try to stop them as they made their way out the door.

The drive back to Owen's house was swathed in heavy silence. Kiel stared out the window, his head leaned against the seat as he watched the houses and trees zip past. Bands of trees, thin and skeletal-looking, lined the winding road that they drove across. It was completely dark, aside from the narrow path the car's headlights illuminated, along with the streetlights that stood along the edges of the road.

"A few years ago, we went to Six Flags for the first time," Ms. Conners said, breaking their silence and startling Kiel from his trance. "He wanted to go on all the roller coasters."

Kiel blinked, turning his head to look at her. It was the first thing she had said since they were at the hospital. "Who?"

Owen's mother glanced at him, then back at the road. "Owen. He begged me to take him, so I took him for his tenth birthday. He didn't always have many friends, not until you and Bethany. And since his dad is . . . well, not around anymore, I was the only person available to take him. I was never a fan of amusement parks. I always prefer reading books over anything else."

Kiel smiled at that. Owen and his mother were more alike than he realized.

"We went on Kingda Ka. You know that one?" He didn't, but he didn't question it. He wasn't entirely sure what an amusement park or "Kingda Ka" even was. Luckily, she wasn't looking at him.

"You can imagine how scared I was. Owen was scared too, but at least he seemed to be having fun." Ms. Conners wistful smile faded into a frown. She lifted one hand from the wheel to wipe at her eyes. She sniffled loudly. "Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable. I . . . I just haven't had the chance to talk to anyone about this since he left. Every time I try remembering him, I start crying."

"It's . . . okay, Ms. . . . Conners," Kiel said, his weakened voice barely audible.

Owen's mother glanced at him, and he could see her lips pursed into a tight smile, her eyes shimmering with unfallen tears. She released a long sigh, turning back to the road.

He wanted to say something reassuring, but the numerous words that he'd usually say just wouldn't come. He wasn't great at comforting others, and he tended to get uncomfortable when people — specifically his friends — cried in front of him. He tried to think of the right words to say. He was used to talking constantly, and now that his voice was hardly working, it was difficult to cope with the sudden disability. The only thing he wanted to do was talk, and now that he couldn't without hurting himself, he felt weaker.

"He's . . . not . . . dead," he reassured her, mostly just reassuring himself. He had a hunch that Owen wasn't dead, but Ms. Conners probably didn't have that same hunch. Owen was most likely just missing, but . . . what if he _was_ dead? Kiel felt an unpleasant shiver run through him at the idea. He shoved it away — the thought of losing his best friend for good — and returned back to the present moment.

Her head snapped in his direction, her white-knuckled hands curling tighter around the wheel. "Thank you for saying that, Kiel. All this time . . . I haven't — I haven't known if he's alive o-or —" She wiped her eyes again, sniffling. "Or if he's . . . you know. H-He hasn't contacted me, so I really don't know. It's been three years of not knowing where he is, a-and I wouldn't be surprised if he's . . ."

"If . . . he's . . . dead?" Kiel supplied softly, finishing her sentence.

Slowly, she nodded. "I don't want to believe that. I really don't. That's the last thing a mother wants, you know? But I don't know what to think. I've tried calling him, I had the police look for him — I tried everything."

"Don't worry . . . he's . . . alive," Kiel rasped, trying to sound encouraging. "One day . . . he'll . . . come . . . home."

Ms. Conners reached across the divider and squeezed him lightly on the shoulder. "You're very nice for saying that. I . . . I really hope that one day he will. It's been so long since I've seen him. Too long."

Kiel nodded in understanding, not knowing what to say. He knew exactly how she felt. It had been forever since he'd talked to his best friends, his _real_ best friends. He talked to Bethany often, but it wasn't the real her. She was a different person without her real memories. Then there was Owen, who he felt lost without. He wondered where he had gone, and why he had left. This mystery was confusing for Kiel to wrap his head around.

A few minutes later, they pulled up into the driveway of Owen's house. In too much pain to speak anymore, Kiel wordlessly opened the car door and stepped out into the cold night air. Grabbing his bag from inside, he stepped back from the car and slammed the door shut.

Ms. Conners stepped out after him, shutting the door on the driver's side. She looked over at Kiel. "You sure you're alright to walk home? I could drop you off, if you want."

Kiel waved off the offer. "No. Thanks."

"Are you really fine with walking home on your own?" Ms. Conners asked dubiously.

He nodded.

"Alright. Well, just make sure that you don't get into any more fights. And remember what the doctors said: you need lots of rest, and plenty of water, too. You probably shouldn't go to school until you're sure that you're better."

"No?"

Owen's mother laughed. "I wouldn't, if I were you. Be safe, alright, Kiel? If you need anything, I'll be working at the library all week."

Kiel winked. "Got . . . it."

She took a few steps forward, then slipped something into the palm of his hand. He looked down at it, and was surprised to see twenty dollars in his hand. His head darted back upwards, feeling hopeful as he searched her face for answers. How did she know he needed it?

Before he could thank her, she began peppering him with a few questions. After a minute of this, she reluctantly allowed him to walk home on his own. Ms. Conners wished him good-night, then went up to the porch, opening the door and walking inside.

Kiel let out a tired sigh, fog drifting from his mouth. Rubbing his freezing hands over his body, he walked behind the car until he was completely hidden from anyone's view. Satisfied that no one was watching, Kiel took out his teleportation button and pressed it, watching as the dark outside world vanished, replaced by the inside of a house.

It was dark, although not as dark as it was outside. He was beyond exhausted, both from the fight and from the long turn of events in the hospital. Falling silent, Kiel could hear the loud snores coming from the other room — unmistakably Elijah's. He heaved a sigh of relief; he didn't want to be confronted about what happened with Oliver. Not right now.

Removing his belongings and dropping them carelessly to the floor, Kiel trudged into his room, too tired to even think or worry about anything. At this point, his mind refused to work. Before he knew it, he was already laying in bed, his body aching painfully with every breath he took. He barely remembered his sleep-deprived ascent to his room, nor did he remember much of the day's events. Within the first few minutes of him laying in bed, he fell into a fitful sleep. And for once, he didn't dream about anything.

* * *

The next morning was the start of the weekend, and the snow that had been pouring down from the heavens had finally subsided. It was slightly warmer today, maybe because it'd finally stopped snowing. The clouds parted, revealing a sapphire sky and a bright, far-away sun that penetrated itself into Bethany's eyes.

She hopped out of her mother's car, waving goodbye as her mother drove back home. She walked up to the front doors of the school, placing a gloved hand on the frozen knob and turning it. This was the first day that the book club would be opening again, and she was glad that at least something would be returning to normal.

Bethany walked through the empty school hallway, going in the direction of the library. She only came here for the book club meetings; she preferred to go to her usual library which was only ten minutes away from her house.

As she pushed open the double doors, the chatter of high-pitched voices filled her ears. All of the girls — five in total — were there, sitting around a circle of beanbag chairs and each holding a book. To her disappointment, Liz was not there; she was probably still stuck in bed with the flu.

"Bethany! Nice of you to join us." To her surprise, Mrs. Ugliano, the elderly woman who hosted the book club, was sitting among the girls. The rest of the girls fell silent and turned at her arrival.

A smile surfaced on Bethany's face, mostly hiding the shock that she felt. "You're back?"

The old woman nodded. "As you might imagine, I was a bit reluctant to come back after the . . ." Mrs. Ugliano averted her eyes and picked up a book. "Have you girls read anything new?"

The others shook their heads.

"No. The last time we were assigned a book to read was basically three weeks ago," Julia, a popular girl who only wanted extra credit for joining an extra curricular after-school activity, said.

"Oh, okay. Have any of you read the book I assigned you three weeks ago?"

Two of the girls nodded, Bethany included. The rest of the group shook their heads.

"I didn't think you'd be coming back after the —" a girl started to say, but her friend, Abby, nudged her in the side. "Mary, shut up!"

"Alright, then. I'm going to assign you a new book," the old woman said, shakily getting to her feet and slowly walking over to a long, wooden table. She grabbed a pile of books, the proceeded to hand one to each of the girls. "It's a classic novel. I read it a long time ago, when I was a young girl. Maybe not that much older than you are now."

"If she's making us read some old 1800s book, I'll probably fall asleep from boredom while reading it," Julia told Abby with a laugh. Bethany had to restrain herself from yelling at the girl. At least Mrs. Ugliano's taste in books was refreshing! She loved the chance to read new, invigorating books.

Bethany watched as Mrs. Ugliano passed around each book, then received one of her own. It was _Anne of Green Gables_ , which shouldn't have surprised her, but somehow it did. The book was thin, paperback, and had some scrapes; obviously it was a reused copy from someone else. She looked down at the cover, observing the smiling red-headed girl who stood in front of a small house and a green landscape.

Unlike most of the other classics, this was one that Bethany had never read before. She knew her mother was into these kinds of books when she was younger, like _Little House On The Prairie_ and _Gone With The Wind_. She had watched the movies, of course, but she tended to stay away from books that her mother found entertaining. However, she did have an undying love for _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_ and _Island of The Blue Dolphins_ , as well as _Alice's Adventures In Wonderland_ and _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_. She had grown up with those books, and they'd always hold a special place in her heart, no matter how old she got.

They spent the rest of the book club discussing what they knew about _Anne of Green Gables_ , and what they thought the book was about. Strangely enough, most of the girls knew bits and pieces based on what they'd heard. Bethany already knew some things about it, like how Anne was an orphan and that she ended up marrying a boy named Gilbert. She also knew that the story took place on Prince Edward Island, which was located near Canada.

Over the span of an hour, time seemed to fly by. The girls hadn't even finished discussing the book before the book club meeting ended, and it was time for them to leave. Bethany rose to her feet, her new book in the crook of her arm. She glanced back at Mrs. Ugliano, who was slowly packing her purse. She opened her mouth, meaning to say something about the attack, but she realized that she didn't know how to say anything comforting. That was probably the reason she didn't have many friends: she wasn't the best at comforting.

Instead, what came out of Bethany's mouth was entirely different. "I've been wanting to show you this new book I got." Okay, so maybe she had wanted to say that. She hadn't told a single person about seeing her own name in a book; it was too weird to say to anyone. She was planning to say it to Liz, but lately her friend seemed pretty distracted. But Mrs. Ugliano shared her love of books, and she was elderly, so Bethany didn't think she'd be laughed at.

"Oh?" The old woman turned, a relaxed smile on her face. Bethany took _Pick The Plot_ out of her backpack and showed it to her. She studied the cover, then turned it around and read the description on the book. "Hmm. From the looks of it, it's like one of those dystopian novels that you kids like reading. And it's very long, too. And heavy!"

"It is," Bethany agreed, trying not to get too off-track. "But, the strange part is that my name keeps popping up! See?" She opened to the first chapter, flipping through until she found her name. Then she flipped forward a few more pages, and there it was again. "But there aren't any characters in this book who are named Bethany. And every time I read it, I get this strange feeling." She let out a nervous chuckle. "Almost like _I'm_ a character."

"Ah." Mrs. Ugliano patted her hand, peering at the open pages of the book. "You've been blessed."

"I have?" she responded, crinkling her eyebrows. "But my name is in a book. And when I see it in there, I get the weirdest feeling."

"Bethany." The old woman sighed, offering her a smile. "You're lucky, that's all. Many girls don't get to see their names in books. Even I haven't seen my name in a book. My first name is Carol, so you can imagine the difficulty with that."

Bethany smiled, feeling a bit more relieved. "Oh. Okay. That's good to hear." She moved to the door, pocketing her two books into her backpack. "Have a nice weekend. I'll see you on Monday for the next meeting."

Mrs. Ugliano waved her off. "Tell your mother I said hello."

"I will!"

When Bethany got home, she removed her phone from it's spot in her coat and dialed a number. After a few rings, Liz answered. "Bethany! How is —" Before she could finish her sentence, she was overcome with a coughing fit.

Bethany winced, feeling sympathetic. "You aren't getting any better?"

"Nope," came the reply, Liz's voice ragged.

"Can I stop over tonight?" Bethany asked, transferring her weight from one foot to the other. "A lot of . . . weird stuff happened yesterday."

"What —" Liz coughed again. "What do you mean? Are you okay?"

She shook her head, not realizing at first that Liz couldn't see her facial expression over the phone. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'll tell you about it when I see you."

"Okay. But don't come over. You can tell me when I get back to school."

"Good point. I'd rather not get sick."

"I'll probably see you —" Liz began, coughing again. "On Monday, or Tuesday. Maybe Wednesday. Whenever this stupid flu sickness goes away. It's terrible. I've been sick since Thursday night!"

"Ha." Bethany smiled. "That's more of a reason to come to school. You're already missing so much homework . . ."

"Yeah, but I don't care about homework as much as you do. You're a bookoholic. Schooloholic. Whatever you want to call it.

"Kind of insulting when you put it that way, but true."

As soon as she hung up, Bethany put on a long-sleeved shirt and stretch pants, also sliding on a pair of sneakers. After a minute of stretching, she left her house and ran to the library.

Ever since she was forced into joining the track team last year, she had tried to make more of a habit of running when she could. For all of middle school she was never the athletic type, and even now she wasn't the type of person who exercised every single day.

But at the start of high school, her mom had urged her to participate in some sort of extracurricular activity besides reading, so that's what she did. Ever since joining the track team, Bethany had learned that exercising was actually important, and going for a run was a good way to block out all thoughts.

She wasn't doing track this year, at least not in the winter. Bethany wanted to stay as safe as possible; it was too slippery at this time of year, and she didn't want to accidentally break an ankle. But today was an exception, because the snow and ice on the sidewalk had melted, which made it an easy runway. The walk itself was only ten minutes, so running meant she'd get there much faster.

Panting, Bethany ran to her usual destination, the cold wind whipping across her face and sending a chill through her body. By the time she came to a stop outside of the library, her body felt slightly numb, although she was considerably warmer than she was a couple of minutes ago. She cupped her hands over her ears, trying to rub the cold out of them. When she finally stopped gasping for air, Bethany walked through the sliding glass doors. Immediately, she was met with the warm air conditioning, and she shivered.

The library was quieter than usual. Bethany looked around her favorite hideout, letting the beautiful smell of books seep into her nose. She felt a little more peaceful just by being here.

Instead of going straight to the children's section, however, Bethany made her way to the computers that lined the wall. She wasn't exactly sure what had drawn her to them; she didn't have any papers to write. Out of curiosity, she powered on the computer and clicked onto the "history" tab, scrolling down the list of recently viewed websites. She was surprised to see that there were almost fifty tabs that were related to Germany. She clicked onto one of them, which was on YouTube. A video started to play about how to speak and sound German.

Interesting.

Bethany closed the tab and opened another recently viewed one, which stated facts about Germany. What in the world? She closed that tab and looked through the others, which all had something to do with speaking, or sounding, or learning German. Then, something registered in her brain, and she sat back in the chair, her eyes widening.

_No way . . ._ she thought, feeling disbelief, followed by disappointment, then a surprising burst of anger. Suddenly, this all clicked with what Oliver Bines had told her. Because of what he'd told her yesterday, the only person she could suspect for this was Kiel.

Who else would be watching these videos and reading these websites? Oliver had said that Kiel wasn't from Germany, and that he was faking his identity. He was only pretending to be a German student. As Bethany stared at the screen, with growing realization, it dawned on her that Oliver was completely right, and everything he had told her was true.

Kiel was faking it this whole time. The rumors were true.

* * *

By late morning — nearly the afternoon — Kiel finally awoke to a pillow being smacked soundly against his head. He gasped, and his eyes flew open as he listened to the familiar sound of his friend's voice calling his name. He groggily rolled over, closing his eyes again and taking a slow breath, wincing as a soreness creeped up his ribs and stomach.

"You sleep like the dead!" Elijah exclaimed, grabbing the pillow and tossing it back against Kiel's head. "I've been calling you for hours. How late did you get home last night?"

"Don't . . . know," Kiel said, then flinched at the use of his own voice. The events of yesterday came flooding back to him: being threatened and nearly choked to death, and the frantic ride to the hospital. He shot up, trying his best to ignore the ever-present pain. He lifted a hand to his neck, making an attempt to massage it, then quickly pulled it away with a gasp.

Elijah frowned, his face paling. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"It was . . . Oliver," Kiel rasped, showing Elijah his neck.

His friend gasped. "That boy attacked you again? How did it happen?"

"Tried . . . talking . . . to . . . Bethany. When I . . . went . . . outside . . . he was . . . there."

Elijah's expression hardened, and he started walking to the door. Kiel slowly propped himself against the bed frame, watching with anticipation. "Where . . . are you . . . going?"

"To find where this boy lives and get rid of him. He's gone too far!"

"I . . . agree," Kiel said with an nod, then winced a little at the movement. "But . . . he'll just . . . defeat . . . you . . . again, Elijah. Until I . . . can use . . . my . . . forget . . . spell on . . . him . . . and wipe . . . his . . . memory, there's . . . not . . . much else . . . we . . . _can_ do."

Then he remembered something, and his face brightened as he retrieved the gift from Ms. Conners. He flashed the money at Elijah. "See . . . this? It's . . . money."

"You found some!" Elijah said, a smile forming on his face as he leaned closer to get a better look. "What, so is it gonna take away our Oliver problem?"

"Not . . . exactly," Kiel said with a wink, slowly sliding his tired legs over the bed and starting to get to his feet. "But . . . it'll . . . solve . . . our food . . . problem."

* * *

It was the first time Kiel had ever eaten at a restaurant—a diner, as this was called—and he was feeling more and more confused by the minute. He sat across from Elijah at a small table, who seemed just as confused as the waitress asked for their orders.

"Orders?" Kiel repeated, exchanging a look with Elijah. "What . . . do you . . . mean?"

The waitress looked slightly caught off guard. "Oh, wow. Did you lose your voice?"

He shrugged, trying not to let the reminder Of his new weakness upset him. "Something . . . like . . . that. What . . . orders?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Your food. What do you want to eat?"

"Oh." He winked. "Thanks for the confirmation."

She sighed. "What do you want to eat?"

Elijah glanced down at his menu. "Hmm. I'm not familiar with this . . . cheese . . . bur . . . ger?"

The waitress nodded, then scribbled something on her notepad. "Okay. A cheese burger. Anything you want on it?"

"Like what?"

"Cheeseburgers . . . usually have . . . lettuce, that . . . red fruit, and . . . um . . ." Kiel thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Onions! That's . . . what . . . they're called."

Elijah nodded, smiling. "Okay. I'll have onions."

The waitress raised her eyebrows. "Have you never had a cheeseburger before?"

Kiel laughed automatically, then coughed as pain coursed through his body. "You'd . . . be . . . surprised . . . what we . . . _have_ . . . eaten."

She didn't look amused. She positioned her body towards him, her hand hovering over the notepad. "And what would you like?"

"A . . ." Kiel looked down at his menu. "Oh, I'll . . . have — wait . . . no. I . . . don't . . . want . . . that. I'll have . . . a . . . no. Hmm . . . that looks . . . good. Okay, let's . . . see." He scanned the page, reading each detailed paragraph under the food labels. A few minutes later when he was done, he looked back at the waitress. "I'll . . . have . . . a . . . sandwich."

The waitress's hands clenched around the side of her notepad. She smiled, but it looked a little forced. "What kind of sandwich?"

He looked down again, scrunching his eyebrows as he read the unfamiliar word. "Sell . . . am . . . ee. Salami. And . . . cheese."

"Salami and cheese sandwich." The waitress nodded, jotting down the words. "What do you want for a side? We have soup, salad, fries, or chips."

"Chips," Kiel replied, confident that he finally recognized something.

She nodded, tucking her notepad in her pocket. "Okay. Your order will be ready in about thirty minutes." She turned around and walked briskly away.

"By the way — you look like an angel today!" Elijah called after her, making an attempt to lighten the waitress's mood. The waitress glanced over her shoulder, a strained smile on her face.

"'An angel'," Kiel mocked, snickering once the waitress was out of earshot.

Elijah hit him on the arm. "Hey, laugh all you want, but I don't see you actually acknowledging your feelings for certain girls."

"That's . . . where . . . you're . . . wrong!" he replied, raising his eyebrows. "I have . . . no feelings . . . for girls. Girls . . . have . . . feelings . . . for . . . _me_ , because . . . I'm . . . amazing."

"More and more lies just keep coming out of your mouth, don't they?"

Kiel seized the moment to take a sip of water, not wanting to be apart of this conversation for a second time. Elijah chuckled, shaking his head as he took a sip of his own drink.

* * *

Bethany noticed that Kiel was being uncharacteristically quiet as he slowly made his way over to his desk. It was Monday morning, and although it wasn't snowing, the sky was coated with gray clouds. She hadn't heard him say a single word so far, but she was inwardly glad for the quiet. She didn't want to talk to him, anyway. Not until she knew the full truth.

She glanced over at him, then quickly looked down without saying anything. Kiel didn't meet her eyes; for once, he payed attention to the teacher. This was so unlike him that she was starting to actually worry. She reminded herself that she shouldn't be concerned about him, especially if he was a complete liar. He was probably just tired.

Bethany knew from the beginning that he was faking everything. Well, no, she _didn't_ know. But she should've known. First, Oliver had told her things about Kiel, which she was rightfully suspicious of. Because who would actually believe that? But once she thought for a long time over it, everything started to make sense.

She didn't know if Kiel was a criminal or not, but the fact that he was hiding his identity would make sense if he was a criminal. She didn't know why he was faking his entire identity — his life — just to act like someone else. It made her feel betrayed, because it meant that the new friend she had made — the nice German boy named Kiel — was a fake person. Had he even wanted to be her friend? And was his real name even Kiel? Probably not.

She had found the evidence, and it was crystal clear to her now that he was faking his whole identity. Didn't he see something wrong with that? Hadn't anyone taught him the importance of honesty? It was disturbing for someone else to lie about their whole life, but it was another thing entirely for Bethany's own friend to lie about that.

Since he was apparently faking his identity, who was he? Where was he from? Was he a spy sent from another country? Was he actually a criminal? Or was he a normal kid who just liked to lie? Now that she knew he was definitely faking it, she couldn't help but question him. Why would anyone lie about their life?

"Bethany, what is the answer to number 12?"

Bethany blinked. She quickly returned to the present moment: math class. Some of her classmates looked over at her, awaiting her response with their pencils hovered over their notebooks. "Oh, uh . . ." She glanced down at her sheet of homework from last night. "The answer is 45."

The teacher nodded. "Yes. That's correct."

Sighing in relief, Bethany tuned the teacher out and returned to her thoughts. She knew she should be focusing on the lesson, but her mind refused to cooperate. She wondered why — with slight annoyance — she was still wasting her time on some boy. Why did she care so much? She should just focus on schoolwork.

_Because you were friends, and you found out two days ago that he's a liar_ , a voice in the back of Bethany's head said. Well, maybe. She didn't know for sure, but she had some pretty clear evidence to back her theory up.

Right. _Were_ friends, "were" being the key word. Kiel wasn't even talking to her, anyway. He seemed set on ignoring her, so she really should stop thinking about him. She forced herself to focus on the teacher, listening to the words but they weren't completely registering in her brain.

* * *

A week later, Bethany was walking to lunch by herself, surrounded by hundreds of other students who were on their way to the same destination. There were only two days before winter break, which came as an excitement to her. She wasn't the biggest advocate of holidays, and she tended to prefer the less popular ones, like Halloween. Even still, she liked the fact that she could have a week off from school. She needed the break, especially for the distraction.

When she sat down at her usual table, she tried her best to hide the irritation that grew within her. Kiel was sitting at her table, just like he always was. Except lately for the past week, he wasn't positioned anywhere near her, instead sitting a few rows down. When Liz had come back to school yesterday, she asked Bethany about it. But Bethany didn't know, and neither did she really care.

A few minutes after she began eating, Liz sat down next to Bethany, looking generally healthy now that she wasn't sick anymore. She frowned, then gestured at Kiel. "He's sitting far away again."

Bethany nodded. "Yeah. So?"

" _So_?" Liz repeated, raising her eyebrows with a small smile forming on her face. "You didn't make him upset or anything, did you?"

Bethany almost laughed. "What? Of course not!"

Her friend nodded. "Okay. Good. But why is he sitting over there? He used to always sit across from us."

"I don't know. Maybe he wants to make new friends." Bethany threw a pointed look in his direction, but he wasn't even looking her way. He seemed to be very engrossed in his food, and he was eating at a slow pace. Why was he ignoring her all of the sudden? This didn't make any sense. First, he possibly lied about his life. Now he was being quiet and ignoring her?

At English class the next morning, Bethany decided she would talk to him. Today she would talk to him. She was done overthinking things. It wasn't going to solve anything. She would know soon enough if he was really a dangerous criminal, or if he was German or not.

_Kiel,_

_Let's talk._

_\- Bethany_

As quietly as she could, Bethany threw a folded piece of notebook paper at him. It hit the side of his desk and fell to the floor. She watched his eyes widen, and he looked down at the folded paper, making no effort to pick it up. His gaze drifted to her, then his expression changed as he glanced somewhere to the right.

Bethany immediately followed his gaze to the side of the room, which was where four students, including Oliver Bines, sat in a row. Either he was looking at one of the students, or he was looking at the wall behind them. Bethany turned back to him. He was looking at his notes again. She ripped another small sheet of notebook paper and scribbled on it. When she was finished, she threw the paper at him. This time, it landed lightly on his desk.

Without looking at her, Kiel grabbed the paper and unfolded it. She watched him read it, then write something down underneath her message. He glanced at her, then tossed it onto her desk. Checking to make sure the teacher wasn't watching, Bethany opened the note.

_Bethany,_

_I can talk at lunch. But not in the cafeteria. Somewhere else._

_Love, Kiel_

_Love?_ she thought, shaking her head. He had some nerve to think they were friends! Only if he wasn't a liar would they still be friends. Which he was, by the way. Bethany scribbled something back, then gave it to him.

_Kiel,_

_What, are you being secretive now? Where would you rather meet? The cafeteria works for me. I guess that we could meet in the hallway._

_\- Bethany_

Without looking, she tossed it back to him. It landed with a light smack on his desk. He read it for a few seconds, then wrote his reply and flung it onto her desk.

_Bethany,_

_Of course not. The hallway works perfectly for me._

_Love, Kiel_

Before Bethany could began writing back, a book was slammed onto her desk. She jumped, then found herself looking up into the eyes of Mr. Tompkins. "Bethany Sanderson and Kiel Bauer! Are you almost done writing love notes to each other?"

The class began to laugh, and Bethany's face reddened. "What? We weren't —"

"Yes," Kiel responded confidently, his chin pointed upwards. "So what if we were writing notes to each other? What are you going to do about it?" It was the first thing Bethany had heard him say all week. During both class and during the lunch period, he had been quiet as a mouse, and now that she heard his voice, it sounded different — very hoarse and strained.

"I'm going to give you both detention, that's what I'll do," their English teacher replied. When Bethany started to protest, Mr. Tompkins cut her off. "Detention is the only way you're going to learn. I could let this slide, yes, but neither of you have been paying attention during this whole class. And also, I'm giving you detention for your attitude, Kiel. You need to learn that you can't talk back to your teachers."

"What's detention?" Kiel asked her as Mr. Tompkins walked back to his desk.

Bethany just shook her head, curling her hands into balls. She tried to ignore the whispers of her classmates, the pitying look from Liz, and the familiar sensation of her face burning. "Thanks a lot."

"It's okay, Bethany. I'm sure detention isn't horrible," Kiel assured her gently.

She whipped her head towards him. "I've never gotten detention before. My mom will be so mad. And it's your fault."

" _My_ fault?" He cocked an eyebrow. "You were the one who started the note-writing, not me."

Now he was making her regret having ever made the decision to meet up with him at lunch. Bethany grumbled something unintelligible, feeling so humiliated by her actions. Why did Kiel need to embarrass her in front of the whole class again? Sure, she might've started it, but he was the one who talked back at Mr. Tompkins. Another long talk with her mother was the last thing she wanted. The very idea of it stressed her out.

By the time lunch rolled around, Bethany was sitting in her usual seat, opening her bagged lunch as she waited for Liz to arrive. She looked around as students gradually moved through the food line, talked to their friends, and sat down at their tables. Her own table was slowly filling up, but she didn't see who she was expecting to see.

She ate quietly, glancing around her every now and then. Liz was still in the lunch line, which seemed to be ten times longer than normal. One by one, the other kids who shared her long table sat down.

After ten minutes, Bethany sighed, crumbling up her lunch bag. Of course he wasn't coming to lunch. Now, she'd probably have to talk to him during detention. She couldn't wait that long —

Kiel came into view, pushing past a group of boys who were standing around. He looked over at the other students who sat at their table, then took the seat diagonally across from Bethany. She raised her eyebrows at his late appearance.

"Long line," he explained, opening the lid of his bottled water and taking a sip of it. "Do you still want to talk?"

Bethany hesitated, then nodded. She watched as Kiel turned his attention to his meal, which consisted of a sandwich with a side of French fries. He took a bite of his sandwich, then began poking at his French fries in suspicion, his eyes level with the table as he scrutinized his meal.

After a few minutes of watching him do this, Bethany sighed loudly. He was taking this German act way too far. All Europeans knew what fries were! It was common knowledge, wasn't it?

Sure, she didn't like him too much anymore. But until she confronted him about the rumors and suspicions, she wouldn't know whether he was a liar or not. He seemed like a very good actor, Bethany observed. Maybe too good. But that didn't mean she could let him make a fool out of himself. "They're not gonna kill you. They're just French fries."

"They're French?"

Seriously? He was playing the dumb card? She leaned across the table and popped one in her mouth. "No. That's just what they're called."

"Cool name." Kiel sat up and plucked one from the pile. He chewed on it for a few seconds, looking thoughtful. A grin formed on his face. " _Wow_." Then his smile dropped a little. "They're a little salty, but still good."

She watched him for a little, trying to come up with things to say that might make him confess about his true identity. He had to feel at least a little guilty for lying, right? If he wouldn't confess to her, she needed to try finding the truth out herself. "So, what town did you say you grew up in?"

Kiel momentarily stopped eating. "Germany. You know that."

Bethany nodded. "What part of Germany?"

"The . . . north."

Huh. He wasn't saying any names. Which gave her some more evidence that he clearly was pretending to be German. "Won't you tell me what town?"

He cracked a sideways smile. "It might cost you something in return."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. More fries?"

Despite herself, she laughed. She quickly tried to cover it up with a cough. At that moment, she spotted Oliver striding over to their table.

Kiel was wide-eyed as he said, "I need to go."

He stood up, gathering his tray and keeping a wide berth between him and Oliver. He became lost in the crowd of kids. Oliver was smiling as sat down where Kiel had been sitting. "That was weird. I wonder what that was all about."

Bethany shifted in her seat. "I don't know. What's up? Do you need help with English, or something?"

"No." Oliver shook his head, straightening his glasses. He looked at the other kids who sat at the table, all engrossed in their food or talking with each other. He turned back to Bethany, leaning slightly forward. "Did you confront him yet?"

"About what?"

"You know what," he said, quiet enough for her to hear. He took a bite out of his apple.

"I've been meaning to," Bethany said, lowering her voice to prevent anyone else from hearing.

She swallowed, then rose from her chair, scraping it loudly against the floor. "I'll be right back. If Liz shows up, will you tell her I'm going to the bathroom?"

Oliver nodded, seemingly buying Bethany's lie. She walked briskly across the cafeteria and pushed open the door, out into the empty hallway.

* * *

Kiel watched as Bethany purposefully walked out of the cafeteria, her lunch bag disposed of. Without thinking, he sprung from his chair and followed after her, practically running. He pushed the cafeteria door open and glanced left, then right. He saw her walking several feet away from him, though he wasn't sure where she was going.

"Beth," Kiel said loudly, walking after her. He quickly caught up with her. "Can we talk?"

Bethany turned around, her expression unreadable. Then she nodded. She grabbed him by the wrist and opened the door of a nearby supply closet, pulling him in.

"Why are we hiding in here?" he asked in an amused tone, though he wasn't against it. At least Oliver couldn't spy on their conversation again.

Bethany didn't answer. It was dark inside, so she flicked on a switch. A single light bulb hung by a string above them, giving Kiel barely enough light to see by. But he could see her face, and she didn't look happy.

"What's wrong?" Kiel asked quietly. "You haven't talked to me this whole week. Really except for today."

"What?" she said. " _You're_ one to talk. You haven't been talking to me, either."

He looked down, scratching the back of his neck. After his fight with Oliver, he'd tried to stay away from Bethany to avoid further injury. He also had taken the many days to rest his voice, his vocal cords having taken a toll ever since getting choked. His voice was still very hoarse and painful, he could tell. But now, at least he could speak full sentences without having to take many breaks.

"That's because—”

"You're not from Germany, are you," Bethany said. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. Kiel felt the sudden urge to punch Oliver, and if he hadn't just been nearly choked to death just last week, he probably would have. It was clear now that Oliver had already succeeded. Bethany believed him.

"That," he said, taking a small step back. "Is a great question." Even if it wasn't a question, he wanted to somehow skirt around the topic.

"What's your answer?"

"Why do you care where I'm from?" Kiel asked. "It doesn't have anything to do with—"

Bethany cut him off. "Can you please just answer the question?"

"Fine. I'm not from Germany," he confirmed, wondering how much he could tell her without driving her away. "Actually, I'm from another world."

A frown formed on her lips. "What do you mean? Are you actually from America? Or a different country? I know you're not from around here, but you're definitely not from Germany. So where do you live, if you need to pretend you're from somewhere else? Why do you have to lie about where you're from?"

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you where I live," Kiel said, inwardly cringing as he said this. He wanted to tell her the truth, but he knew she didn't remember anything, anyway. He wouldn't tell her everything. Not yet. It wasn't the right time with Oliver still lurking around.

"How come?" she pressed. "Is it because you want people to like you, or something? Or because you are a complete liar and you don't want anyone to know where you really live?"

Kiel's eyes widened. "Bethany, I swear I'm not lying for a bad reason. You just don't understand."

Bethany's expression didn't change. "I don't get what your problem is or why you need to lie about your life, but trust me — once the teachers know you aren't from Germany, you'll be kicked out of here. You're breaking so many rules by doing this."

"What?" This was going much worse than Kiel had even thought it would. He had to convince her somehow. "You can't do that. I'm not even doing anything wrong. Really, I think you're just jealous of me!"

She scoffed. "What? _Jealous_?"

"Yeah! Because I'm awesome. Sorry if I made you angry, or whatever, but you have to trust me. I didn't lie about anything except for where I'm from. I lied about me being from Germany, because I really want to live there. Is that what you want to hear? I faked the accent. I watched some videos on the Int-ee-net so I could seem convincing." Mentally, Kiel high-fived himself. This sounded convincing enough to win Bethany over as his friend.

"Whatever. But just so you know, your accent sounds fake. Maybe you should watch a few more videos."

Bethany turned around and started walking out of the supply closet, shaking her head.

"You've never even been to Germany!" The words flew from Kiel's mouth, and he quickly shut it. She had told him once, when she was twelve, that she'd never even been out of the country before.”

Bethany slowly turned around. "Okay, this time you really are a stalker. How do you know I've never been to Germany? I've never told anyone that I haven't been out of the United States."

He froze. "I asked . . . Liz."

"Why?"

"I just wanted to know who in our class has been to Germany. She said she didn't think you had before."

Rolling her eyes, she turned back around and continued walking back into the empty hallway. As he watched her go, he cringed a little. He wasn't the best at lying, but it was true, he had done it for the right reason. He had only pretended to be German because otherwise everyone would've found out that he was actually Kiel Gnomenfoot.

Kiel couldn't take it anymore. He knew he had to convince her somehow, but he was really getting annoyed with her right now. Why did she have to be so suspicious of everything?

He followed her out of the supply closet. "Either way, how would you know that I'm not from Germany, huh? If it makes you feel better, you should prove it to the school that I'm not from there. I'm _sure_ they'll find plenty of evidence."

She flashed him a look. "I already know you're not. I saw your videos on the computer."

"You . . . what?" Kiel forced a laugh. "Oh, those. You're right. Those _were_ my videos. They're very educational, I have to say."

Bethany's eyebrows shot up. "And what about the part about you being a criminal?"

"A criminal?" He scratched his head. "Oh. You're talking about the boy who attacked the lady who is in charge of your book club."

"Yes. Was that you?"

He threw her an annoyed look. "No, it wasn't. I'm not a criminal. Do you see any weapons on me? I don't know where you got that idea."

Slowly, she nodded, as if accepting this. "Okay. So you're not a criminal. That's . . . that's good to know."

He shrugged nonchalantly, then smiled. "So can we put all of this behind us and be friends, now?"

Bethany crossed her arms, looking at him with disbelief. "Kiel, you lied about your whole life. How could I even want to be friends with you?"

"I didn't lie, not about everything. Sure, I'm not from Germany. But what's so bad about that? If you can't handle the fact that I'm trying to be your friend —"

She let out a short, annoyed laugh. "No, I don't think so. I don't want to be your friend. I don't care how many girls want to date you. You're a complete liar. Stop following me around."

"Date? Who said anything about _that_?" Kiel questioned, but she shoved past him and walked back towards the cafeteria. He was left wondering what she meant by girls wanting to date him. The only thing he'd done was try to earn Bethany's trust, and he had lost it within the first three weeks of him being here.

* * *

_"The seed of all this indecision isn't me, oh no. 'Cause I decided long ago. But that's the way it seems to go, when trying so hard to get to something real . . ."_


	11. Won’t Back Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bethany grows more confused than ever as the mysterious events in her life continue. Owen spends another nerve-wracking day at dinosaur hunting class.

**_Void (by The Neighbourhood)_**

_"I'll fight just to do somethin'. I'll fight 'cause I got nothin'. Even if I lose again, I can't quit, mmm . . ."_

* * *

"A _comic book sale_?" Bethany repeated, removing her backpack and throwing it in front of the passenger seat she was sitting on. " _That's_ why we're not going straight home? Since when do you read comic books?"

Bethany's mother gave her a reprimanding look. "Don't give me that attitude. I've been reading them since . . . since I was younger. Our local library is having a sale with some really great deals. They're even selling regular books!"

Explaining to her mother why she had gotten sent to detention in the first place was as torturous as actually being there. She'd never been until this afternoon, but she always heard stories about the teacher falling asleep. This wasn't the case, because the teacher was wide awake; he forced the students to do absolutely nothing — not even homework. So for an hour, maybe longer, Bethany sat in the classroom with five other high schoolers, trying to daydream. She couldn't remember the last time she'd daydreamed, and it was difficult to lose herself in thoughts of fantasy.

It was even worse because Kiel was there, and his presence made everything awkward. After confronting him about his lie, Bethany felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She had been nervous throughout the whole ordeal, but at least it was _done_ , and she could officially have a reason for not wanting to be his friend anymore. She was still mad at him, of course. Okay, maybe not _mad_. But she felt something along those lines.

Bethany was glad when he didn't talk to her much and instead doodled some drawings of wizards and spaceships on a piece of scrap paper. Bethany had tried with all her willpower to avoid looking at him or his drawings, but it was hard considering she had nothing else to do.

Much to Bethany's relief, her mother didn't go as hard on her as she had anticipated. Upon entering the car, she sat through a five minute lecture, but her mother seemed surprisingly less mad than she normally would've been. All things considered, there was the fact that tomorrow was the start of winter break. Tomorrow was also Christmas Eve, which was also why her mother felt the dire need to attend a comic book sale at their local library.

"What comics are we getting, anyway?" Bethany questioned, glancing out the window at the houses that dashed past.

Her mother flipped on the left turn signal and put her foot on the brake, indicating they were about to make a turn. They both stared at the other lane of traffic, waiting for the long line to go past. After several seconds of waiting, her mother hesitantly turned back to her. "I was thinking about getting a . . . _Doc Twilight_ comic." She continued warily looking at Bethany, reading her expression, but Bethany was only confused.

"Didn't those come out in the 80s?" Bethany asked. "Why would you want an old comic?"

"Because they're classics, Beth. They aren't old." A car beeped at them, and Bethany's mother quickly turned into the library's parking lot. The parking lot was more crowded than usual, considering that the book sale was today. It took several minutes before they found a decent parking spot.

"I also thought I'd say hello to Ms. Conners," Bethany's mother said as she opened the door and stepped outside. "Remember her? Owen's mom."

Bethany nodded, shivering at the cold air that seeped into her skin. She didn't know why everyone acted as if her and Owen used to be friends. They weren't! However, it was common knowledge that Owen's mother worked at the library down the street.

Before getting out of the car, Bethany took out _Pick The Plot_ from her backpack and tucked it under her arm. Knowing her mother and the amount of time she spent at shopping malls, this book sale wouldn't be any different.

Together, they walked quickly into the library, shivering the whole way. It was supposed to snow later that day, so there had been a sudden drop in temperature. Now it was freezing, and Bethany couldn't be outside for longer than a few seconds without feeling like an ice cube.

Upon entering the library, Bethany was surprised to see how crowded the book sale was. There were many people wandering around the library, looking down at the many books, magazines, and comic books that were piled on each table. Both kids and adults alike were there.

"You can go look at whatever you want," Bethany's mother told her. "I'm going to look for the _Doc Twilight_ comics." Then she made a beeline for the nearest table, flashing a grin at Bethany.

Bethany only stared in surprise, then shook her head with a laugh and made her way over to the children's section, pushing past the many people who flooded the aisles. Since it was unusually crowded, it was hard finding a spot to sit. Finally, after walking through the children's section, she found a row of beanbag chairs. There was only one left, the other four being taken by a small group of young kids.

"Hello!" a little blonde girl, who could have been anywhere from seven to nine years old, shouted as Bethany approached. She was sitting on the beanbag and was holding a stuffed animal in the shape of a dolphin.

"Hi," Bethany replied with a small smile, trying to seem polite. She was an only child, so she didn't know how to act around young kids. She tended to be impatient, so that was also a valid reason.

The little girl stared at her for a few seconds, then blurted, "You have poppy hair!"

"What?"

"She means you have red hair," a boy next to her said, looking almost embarrassed. "Ellie, stop using flowers for adjectives! Flowers stink!"

"Flowers don't stink!" the blonde girl, Ellie, cried. "They smell nice!" She reached across the beanbag, then leaned over to smell Bethany's hair. "See? Poppy hair."

Bethany, who was edging out of the girl's reach, couldn't help but laugh. "I always have described it as red."

"Red is wrong!" Ellie shouted as she leaned towards Bethany again, loud enough for her left ear to ring. "Call it poppy hair from now on, okay?"

Bethany nodded, a smile on her face. "Sure."

Satisfied, the young girl turned back to her friends. They all started re-enacting some type of play with their stuffed animals. Bethany watched for a while, feeling a strange pang of sadness. After her father passed away, she didn't remember playing or having an active imagination as a child. Neither did she have any siblings or many friends to play with.

"There you kids are!" said a woman's voice, making the group look up. She was rushing over to them, her arms laden with hardback books. "I was looking everywhere for you, Ellie. Why did you run off with your friends like that?"

"Sorry!" Ellie squeaked, hugging the stuffed animal close to her chest. "We wanted to play."

"You can play when we get home," the woman replied, then gestured for the rest of the kids to come to her. They obeyed, grabbing their toys and clambering over to her. The woman sighed, glancing over at Bethany. "Kids are a handful. I'm glad that I only have two." She pointed to the blonde girl, Ellie, and the blond boy beside her.

"Are you guys here for the book sale?" Bethany asked, shifting her weight in the beanbag chair.

The woman nodded. "Yes, we are. This is the first time in years I've gotten a _Doc Twilight_ comic! They're super rare. I heard the author stopped selling them, but the fans kept demanding for more. Hey, you should check it out. There are a few copies left on the table."

Bethany forced a smile, not having any intention to read an old comic. "Thanks. I will." She watched as the woman and her two children, along with their two friends walk back over to the book sale area.

She stood up, suddenly curious. She stepped out of the children's section and observed how the book sale was doing. Normally, book sales like these weren't so popular. Maybe it was because they were selling comic books.

Seeing that her mother was still browsing through the book sale, she gave into the curiosity and walked over to the tables. A few tables down, Bethany's mother was holding a paperback book in her hand, busy peering down at the other books.

Many people were wandering around the section, looking down at the books and grabbing one every so often. The tables were piled neatly with books and comics of all different genres. It took Bethany a while before she found the correct comics, because she had only read about three comic book series in her life.

Finally, after searching for a long time, she spotted the title _Doc Twilight_. There were only a few books left, maybe five. She looked down at the cover, which portrayed a superhero in a red and purple costume with a cape and mask that covered his entire face. On his chest was a yellow moon and three stars.

She stepped closer to read the cover. "'Doc Twilight. He's giving crime it's proper medicine.'" She made a face. "Wow."

The fans wanted more _Doc Twilight_ comics? Those were so outdated, especially for being superhero comic books. Why would fans want _that_? All things considered, this comic also had some weird catchphrases. This author was probably, like, eighty years old.

Bethany walked over to her mother, who was gazing down at table filled with nonfiction books. Normally, she would've been more patient, especially considering she was the one who tended to hang out in the library for hours. But she was here so often that she didn't feel the need to participate in the book sale. "Are you almost done?"

"Not yet," Bethany's mother said. "Have you found anything worth buying?"

Bethany shook her head. "I'll pass. There are mostly comics here."

"What's the matter with that? You've read comics before, Beth!"

"Only a few, like _Bone_ , _Tintin_ , and _Zita the Spacegirl_."

"Okay, fine. I'll respect it if you don't want to read any other comics," Bethany's mother said. "I'm looking for some good nonfiction books. I'm starting to lean more towards that. I like it better than fiction."

Bethany made a face. "Fiction is _much_ better than nonfiction, Mom."

Her mother laughed. "Wait until you're my age. Nonfiction is actually very informative, and it talks about real-life issues."

"And fiction doesn't?"

"Definitely not."

After assuming that her mother would take a long time, Bethany found herself walking back to the now-empty children's section. She collapsed into a beanbag chair, then looked down at her hands, which held _Story Thieves: Pick The Plot_. So far, the book was captivating. Despite this, she thought the plot was going a bit slow.

She wondered if Owen and Kara were ever going to escape this time prison that they were locked in. Clearly, they was having some difficulties. If this was a children's book, why wasn't there a climax yet? Why hadn't they escaped the time prison yet? She'd have figured that the main characters would've found a way to escape by now.

Using her fingers to open the spine, Bethany pulled the book open to it's marked page.

* * *

On top of being exhausted from the events of last night, Owen was feeling a strange sensation in his stomach. It started right after he left his jail cell, the moment he started walking with Kara to breakfast. Once they got to the cafeteria, he voiced this to her, feeling slightly sicker by the minute.

"You feel sick?" Kara asked, placing an oversized pancake on her plate. "Do you need to throw up?

Despite the concern on her face, Owen couldn't help the way his own heart flipped at the sight of her. It was strange, but the feeling was familiar.

He considered what she said, then shook his head. "I don't think so. My heart is beating fast, and my stomach hurts. But it isn't very painful. It feels weird, almost like a —" Then he realized what it was. Butterflies. In his stomach. Whenever Charm was around, he had that same feeling. They sometimes overwhelmed him so much that he could barely talk around her.

"Almost like what?" Kara asked, unconsciously leaning closer to him as she poured syrup all over her pancakes.

"Nothing," he squeaked, his face starting to burn. He quickly cleared his throat, busying himself by grabbing a piece of toast and a pile of scrambled eggs. He forced himself to lean away a bit more, because they were _way_ too close. He had to stop touching her, or else he might never be able to concentrate today.

"Want to try the pancakes I got?" Kara asked as they made their way to a table. "I noticed you didn't get any, and they taste really good."

Owen quickly shook his head, placing his plate on the wooden table and sliding his legs over the bench. Kara sat down next to him, digging her fork into the first syrup-covered pancake and taking a bite of it. Owen trained his eyes on his meal, hoping this feeling would cease. It didn't.

Even though it was early in the morning, Owen normally would've been talkative. But today, he was exhausted. After the events of last night, who wouldn't be? He just wasn't in the mood to talk. That, and he was contemplating all the ways Tobias might try to "accidentally" murder him and Kara. It was obvious that Tobias had intended to torture them, and it sent a shiver down Owen's spine when he thought about it. He'd have to keep his distance from that guy. Tobias was crazy, especially for a fictional character. And that was _without_ the use of magic spells.

The Magister was another fictional character who had gone crazy, except that was ten times worse than this. While Owen was miserably stuck in _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source of Magic_ , (much to his jealousy) Bethany and Kiel were off trying to stop The Magister's plans to take over to real world.

Every time he thought of that happening, he still couldn't wrap his head around it. Just like Kiel Gnomenfoot, The Magister had always been one of Owen's idols. Although he knew The Magister was dangerous, he somehow still couldn't imagine that beloved character ever doing something so evil. But the way Bethany seemed to talk about it, she clearly despised him.

"Um . . . are those pancakes good?" Owen asked after a few minutes of sitting in silence and eating their breakfast. His brain was slow this morning, and he couldn't really think of anything else to say.

Kara nodded absently, then without a word, she slammed her fist straight down onto the table. She immediately withdrew her hand, gasping in pain as she clutched her curled-up hand in her non-injured one.

"Uh, are you okay?" he asked, carefully forming his words and scooting a bit farther from her. He noticed a few of the prisoners were watching from nearby, which wasn't a good sign. The last thing they needed was to attract attention, especially if there was anyone else that held grudges against Kara.

"Not even a little bit," she told him, staring at her hand. "I don't like this at all. I keep thinking — we've tried to find the time watches last night, and then we got caught. I know there has to be something they're hiding, besides the location of the time watches."

"I thought that, too," Owen said. "Like when that scientist-looking man in the lab coat walked in. He looked freaked out! He was talking about dinosaurs, in cages. About them being difficult to control."

Kara nodded knowingly. "The TSA keeps the meat-eaters in cages, I'm guessing to run tests on? I'm not sure. It's classified information. Nobody really knows why the dinosaurs are caged up like that. They aren't a threat unless you go into the jungle. It's not like they can break into the prison from the outside."

"They're a threat to us, though," he said. "The dinosaur hunters. We're outside almost all day."

"Yeah, we are," Kara said, adjusting her grip on her fork. "But why cage the dinosaurs?"

"I have no clue. This place has a lot of secrets," Owen observed, to which she silently nodded. Kara was neither smiling or frowning; it was strange to see her expressionless.

"What about Tobias?" he added, absentmindedly biting his lip. "What if he tries to strap us on tables again, or interrogate us, or hurt us, or —"

"Doesn't matter. We'll be fine as long as he doesn't catch us alone. Just follow my lead out there, and I'll keep you safe, okay?" Kara turned her face towards his, studying his expression, then smiled a little. "After all, I can't afford you getting hurt again. Your face is still healing after that fight."

Owen's face felt a little warm. He nodded. "Good idea," he said. "My face deserves a break."

What? His face deserves a _break_? What kind of ridiculous statement was that? That wasn't even cool!

Apparently not reading his thoughts, Kara laughed, which made him feel better. "Yeah."

He shrugged, trying to play it cool but he could still tell his movements were fidgety. A moment later, a woman's all-too-cheerful voice was heard over a loud speaker. "Good morning, time prisoners! Breakfast is ending in five minutes, so get ready for your daily task! Be sure to get there on time, or else your instructors will be very, _very_ unhappy!"

"Unhappy is a total understatement," Owen heard Kara murmur. She stood from the table, grabbing her now-empty plate and making her way over to the trash cans. He followed suite, grabbing his breakfast and tossing it into the trash. He was glad that he'd at least remembered to eat, but he hoped he wouldn't have to face another dinosaur today. Knowing his luck, he probably would, and then he'd probably throw up or do something to embarrass himself.

The other prisoners started standing up too, forming a line to throw out their trash. Many grumbled to each other or threw insults Owen's way as they passed by. Owen avoided their eyes, feeling uncomfortable just by being in their presence. He couldn't wait to get out of this creepy place.

He followed behind Kara as she walked to open cafeteria doors, where dozens of other prisoners were trickling out of. As soon as Owen left the room and entered the crowded hallway, guards began directing the prisoners to certain areas, each holding a taser at their side.

"Prisoners who work in airlock cleaning, follow me!" a guard shouted above the noise, his face emotionless as he talked.

"Prisoners in dinosaur wrangling, follow me!" another shouted.

"Prisoners in the dinosaur hunting squad, form a line and follow me!" a guard, who was positioned next to the wall, yelled.

Owen's head perked up at the mention of his job, and he looked at Kara, who was already moving towards the guard. He quickly scrambled to get out of the way of the throngs of people that were continuously pouring out of the cafeteria, and moved to follow Kara. Once the rest of the prisoners from the dinosaur hunting squad formed a line, the guard led them down the long hallway and turned a corner, pushing past the hundreds of prisoners who were going to their own jobs for the day.

Owen tried his best to follow the group in a straight line, but almost every second he was shoved by some passerby. The line of prisoners in the dinosaur hunting group, including Owen and Kara, turned another corner into an empty hallway, finally breaking out of the large crowds of people that filled up almost all the available walking space.

They continued to trail behind the guard, who walked with stiff movements as he led them to an airlock. It was a different one than Owen had been to yesterday, which made sense. Apparently, each of the dinosaur hunting groups took rotating shifts, which meant that they went to different sides of the jungle each day.

"Pick your weapons," the guard ordered sternly, gesturing to a small assortment of weapons along the wall next to the airlock.

The other prisoners, all adults, eagerly pushed past the guard to choose their weapons. The prisoners shouted insults and pushed each other out of the way, attempting to get their hands on their preferred weapons. Out of the options, there weren't many. Owen and Kara hung back to wait for the flurry of activity to cease. When it finally did, Owen walked forward, his eyes landing on the few weapons that remained untouched. There was a small knife, a slingshot, and a rusted pistol.

"I'd trust you more with the slingshot," Owen joked, mimicking Kara's move by shoving his shoulder lightly against her's. A flurry of butterflies erupted in his stomach.

Kara laughed. "I think I'll be fine with this knife." She reached down to pick it up, curling her fingers around the hilt and returning her hand to her side. "What are you going to choose? I honestly think the slingshot might be more your style. No offense, I doubt that you've ever used a gun before."

" _What_?" he squeaked, his voice suddenly higher in pitch. "Um, of _course_ I have. I'm Owen Conners, user of guns. That's me." He cleared his throat, his face reddening as he heard the guffaws of prisoners behind him. He glanced back and forth between the slingshot and pistol, then made his decision and stuck his hand out, grabbing the pistol.

It was heavier than he thought it would be, and he nearly dropped it in surprise. He moved to hold the pistol in both hands, feeling it's weight. It looked old, and it probably had started to rust a long time ago. Even still, it seemed to function properly.

"Get into a line, prisoners!" a deep voice growled behind him, making Owen jump. He whirled around, and his heart nearly stopped beating. It was Tobias, and he did _not_ look happy. In fact, he looked grouchier than usual. He was staring down the group with a scowl, who quickly scrambled into a line, looking equally fearful of the man.

"Good to see you're obeying my orders. I'm not in the mood for disobedience," Tobias said, nodding in approval. He slowly walked along the group of prisoners, sizing up each person. When he got to Owen and Kara, his beady eyes bore into theirs, his scowl deepening.

Owen gulped, sweat pouring over his face. His hands began to shake, and he quickly moved his gaze to the floor, feeling the heavy stare of his dinosaur hunting instructor on him. If he wasn't going to get eaten by a dinosaur already, he most certainly was going to die today. And it wouldn't be an accident. It would be fully intended.

"All of you know the drill," Tobias said, his gaze lifting off Owen and moving to the group. He placed his hands in his pockets, pacing down the line of prisoners. "You won't be using those weapons unless a dino attacks, that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" the group answered automatically.

Tobias nodded again, then glanced at Owen and Kara, who were at the end of the line. If it was possible, his expression hardened, almost as if to warn them not to do anything. Tobias turned back to the air lock and pulled it open. They went through the same procedure as yesterday, filing into the small, dark hallway and closing the air lock door behind them.

Just like yesterday, as soon as the door closed behind them, red lights began flashing and a loud siren rang out in short bursts. The noise didn't last long, and the double doors at the other end of the hallway swung open by themselves, immersing them with sunlight.

Tobias slipped his hands out of his pockets, then motioned for the prisoners to follow him. They followed suit, piling out of the hallway and into the outside world. This time, they weren't facing an electric fence. Instead, they faced the front of the Time Security Agency, where the ravine was. Owen remembered his fear-filled escape across the ravine from the T-Rex on his first day here. Surprisingly, the rope bridge that had broken was now back, fully restored to it's old condition.

"We're going across _there_?" a woman cried once they had gotten close enough to see how deep the ravine stretched. "If this bridge breaks, we'll all die! That river has gotta be seventy or eighty feet below us!"

Tobias only shrugged. "If you see another way across, be my guest. If not, I hope you'll enjoy being tasered."

The woman glared at him, looking threatening with all the tattoos all over her body. "I've killed hundreds of people in my lifetime! I've gone back in time to do it, and I'll do the same to you!"

"Choose your next words very carefully," Tobias said in a low voice, stepping close to the woman. "I won't tolerate more disrespect from you prisoners."

"I said what I said! I won't take it back!" the woman replied, then jumped as Tobias plunged a taser into her side. She fell to the ground, writhing in pain. The other prisoners grimaced, each backing away and avoiding the eye contact of their instructor.

"You're just going to leave her there?" Kara asked.

"She'll be fine," Tobias said, turning to glare at Kara. He looked at the rest of the group. "Let this be a fair warning to you all: you disobey me, you pay the consequences. And the consequences won't be pretty. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," the group mumbled.

"I said _is that clear_?" He repeated, his voice growing louder.

"Yes, sir!" they replied quickly, in more audible voices.

"Good. Now let's move!" Tobias started across the rickety bridge with fast movements, not even looking at the water below as he walked.

He made it to the other side within a minute, then turned back and yelled for the next person to follow. A middle aged man hesitantly stepped forward, his eyes trained on the floorboards. He hadn't even stepped on the bridge before someone pushed him forward, he yelped, falling a few feet foreword. The bridge groaned and swung under his weight, but held steady. He immediently ran across the bridge, not even looking down until he made it to the other side of the ravine.

One by one, the prisoners went across the bridge, many of them taking their time to avoid the possibility of death. When it was finally Owen's turn, he was so nervous that he could barely breathe. The sick feeling from breakfast had returned, except this time, it wasn't from Kara. It was from fear.

He shakily placed both hands on the rope that was along either side of the bridge. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his rapidly increasing heartbeat. Then, he made the mistake of glancing down at the chasm below. The water was moving at a fast speed, and it roared loudly in his ears, cutting off almost all other sounds. He tried not to think of what would happen if the bridge broke, and he would be consumed by the rushing water that lay seventy feet below. A fall like that would be fatal, which could maybe even result in Owen drowning.

"Owen, are you okay? You're shaking," Kara said from behind him, briefly touching his shoulder.

Owen turned his head around to face her, forcing an awkward smile. "I-I'm fine."

She seemed doubtful, but nodded. In the glaringly bright sunlight, her eyes were a startlingly pretty blue, which was a nice contrast with her pink hair. "Then I guess it's time for you to get started. Just don't look at the ground, and you'll be fine."

He nodded and turned back to the bridge, which seemed to sway the slightest bit in the wind. He took a shaky breath, then took a step onto it. The first floorboard creaked loudly, and the bridge immediately swung a little bit to the right. Owen clung to the sides as he walked, forcing himself to put one foot in front of the other. His breaths came out shallow and quick. He stole a glance down at the river below his feet, and the sight of it took his breath away. Literally.

The world swayed beneath him, threatening to topple him over the edge and into the treacherous river below. He clutched desperately onto each side of the bridge, his legs beginning to shake more violently. He'd never been afraid of heights before, but the fact that one slip-up could send him to his death was frightening.

"Hurry up!" came a shout from one of the prisoners on the other side of the ravine.

Hesitantly, Owen lifted his head. He was surprised to see that he was almost halfway across the bridge. Steeling himself, he straightened his posture and began to slowly walk forward. He cringed each time the wooden floorboards groaned and stretched under his weight, but unlike last time, they seemed to hold steady. He continued at a faster pace, the sound of the river below drowning out the thumping of his metallic heartbeat.

Before he knew it, he landed on the grass. One of the men clapped him roughly on the back as he scurried out of the bridge's way and practically fell into the group of awaiting prisoners.

"Last one! Keep it moving!" Tobias shouted, tapping his foot impatiently as he ushered Kara over.

Owen turned around to watch, the fluttery sensation still in his stomach. Kara didn't look down once as she walked across the bridge. The bridge swayed slightly as she made her way across, but that didn't seem to faze her. In a much shorter time than Owen had, she joined their clustered group.

Owen exhaled sharply, releasing the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Satisfied that they'd all made it across, Tobias led them into the jungle. The rest of the group followed, Owen and Kara trailing behind them a few feet away.

They cut through the dense undergrowth as they walked, the noise of the river slowly dissipating behind them. The dirt path that they'd seen yesterday was barely existent now, and every step Owen took landed him in either a thin layer of mud or a small bush. The trees were so tall here that they seemed to loom above Owen's head like skyscrapers, and he couldn't see the top of one without craning his head. The air felt suffocatingly warm and stuffy, and if it wasn't for his ever-present terror, he probably would've joked to Kara about finding a swimming pool in this prison.

"I've always wondered how big the jungle is. The prison designers made it feel like it goes on forever," Kara said, slapping a gigantic leaf out of her face.

Owen started to respond, then closed his mouth. Thirty or so yards away, the trees shook and rustled, causing goosebumps to form on his arms. The rest of the group tensed up, coming to a stop. After several more seconds of the trees around them rustling, a dinosaur stomped into view, every step it took feeling like a small earthquake.

Tobias grinned. "This one's a keeper. Get your weapons prepared. Should be easier than that T-Rex we tackled yesterday."

" _Easier_?" Owen repeated despite himself. He couldn't believe this guy! He was absolutely crazy!

"W-We should try hitting it from far away before it gets too close," a man said, cowering behind a woman.

"Yeah!" another woman piped up, looking terrified. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Keep your mouth shut and do what I say, you hear me?" Tobias said, giving the group a warning look. Then he started charging forward, aggressively pushing through the leaves and creating a lot of noise. Having nothing better to do, the rest of the prisoners ran after him.

"You ready to make some new dinosaur friends?" Kara asked, running beside Owen.

He shook his head repeatedly, feeling like he was going to throw up all over again. "Definitely not!"

As their group barreled forwards, the dinosaur growled and turned towards them, snapping it's jaws angrily. It pawed at the ground with it's clawed foot, then ran towards them. It's footfalls shook the ground so heavily that Owen almost lost his balance, but he somehow managed to stay on his feet. The dinosaur's head dipped low and it's mouth opened wide, revealing a set of huge teeth.

Yelling something, Tobias threw his long stick straight into the dinosour's mouth. The dinosaur skidded to a stop, then started to choke. While it was distracted, Tobias ordered the rest of the group to tie it up. Half of the prisoners rushed to one side of the dinosaur, the other half to the other side. Someone chucked a long rope over it, and it reached all the way across it's back and touched a few inches above the ground.

Before anyone could begin tying the rope, however, the dinosaur roared again, then started thrashing around violently. Everyone instantly jumped back. It's long tail smashed into several of the prisoners, causing them to soar several feet away. Owen gasped, hurriedly looking for a good escape route as the dinosaur's tail came whipping around again. He looked over just in time to see the tail inches from his face, and he quickly held his hands up to defend himself, but his reaction wasn't fast enough to stop the tail from plowing into him.

The force of the blow sent Owen flying, the world around him tumbling precariously until he hit something hard and could only see black. For a moment, he couldn't breathe; everything hurt. He slowly pried his eyes open, the dinosaur's powerful roars and the shouts of prisoners echoing through his ears. He seemed to have hit a tree, and after that he had landed in some huge leaves, which conveniently kept his body out of sight. Owen blinked, groaning as he put one hand out to push himself off the ground.

He heard another roar, but it was farther away. He stumbled back into a tree as more tremors caused the earth to shake. His vision was still a bit hazy, but he could tell that the dinosaur had fled somewhere. There were only a few prisoners around him, all laying on the ground and looking to be either unconscious or dead. Owen couldn't tell which. He also couldn't see where the rest of the group had gone, but he could hear voices somewhere in the distance.

He scanned the jungle around him, searching for one face in particular. Where was Kara? Was she okay?

Owen pressed himself away from the tree, his head pulsing in pain. He took a few hesitant steps forward, looking each way for any sign of his dinosaur hunting group. It was hard to tell where they were with all the trees and leaves that covered most of the area. Did they really just leave him to die and get eaten?

Wiping the sweat off his brow, Owen trudged in the direction of where he assumed the voices were coming from. He had to find Kara, at least to make sure she was safe. Being alone in a jungle crawling with prehistoric beasts was also a factor to that. He definitely didn't want to be by himself out here.

A rustling of leaves from nearby sent Owen's pulse increasing yet again, and he froze. _Oh no_. Another dinosaur? This was the absolute _worst_ timing —

Then he heard a growl, and a huge blur launched itself straight at Owen. The boy screamed, his eyes practically popping out of his head. He quickly flattened himself against the ground and rolled to the side, hearing a _thump_ from just behind him. He quickly crawled away and scrambled to his feet, turning around to see whatever had tried attacking him.

It was a velociraptor. The dinosaur had crashed into the ground head-first. It rose to it's feet with some effort, then fixed it's eyes on Owen. It took a small step forward, crunching the leaves beneath it. Owen gulped and slowly backed away. This wasn't going well.

"Y-Yo-You really don't want to eat me," he said quietly.

The dinosaur growled in response, snapping it's mouth open and closed. Owen flinched and jumped back, his whole body on edge. The dinosaur continued advancing towards him, it's orange eyes memorizing Owen. It opened it's mouth again and took another slow step forward, it's nostrils flaring. The dinosaur was too close. There was nowhere he could run without getting eaten or killed, somehow.

Seeing no other option, Owen raised the pistol with a trembling hand, all of his hairs standing on end. Despite the heat, his hands felt cold and clammy. For a moment, dark spots appeared before his eyes, and he rapidly blinked them away. His own movements began to slow down, except for his breaths, which came out short and fast. The growling intensified, and the dinosaur stalked forward again, cocking it's head.

"Go away," Owen told it, his lips quivering uncontrollably. His arm shook violently, causing the gun to rattle in his hand. He forced himself to stay in his tracks, keeping the pistol trained on the dinosaur. He had to kill it. He couldn't die. He _couldn't_. Not with Bethany's safety weighing on him. His mouth had gone dry, and he struggled to swallow. But he couldn't focus. He was frozen.

WHAT PATH WOULD YOU LIKE FOR OWEN?

Owen is eaten.

Owen shoots the dinosaur.

_Don't be stupid, just kill it already! It's going to eat you!_

_  
_ The thought banged around in Owen's head so hard that it echoed. He winced, his face contorting in pain as he reached a hand up to massage his forehead. The thought sounded right in a lot of ways, but he didn't want to kill _anything_. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his thoughts. He couldn't blame the readers for this. They didn't know what they were doing. Only Nobody was at fault.

Unable to fight back against the will of the readers, he squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the trigger. He instinctively flinched, expecting a loud noise. But nothing happened. He opened his eyes, then frantically clicked the handle on the gun over and over. It wasn't working!

He looked back at the dinosaur, which seemed to smile at him. It's eyes narrowed, and it threw it's head forward, snapping it's jaws right where Owen's head was. Owen leaped back, not even looking where he was going. The dinosaur followed closely, now only a few inches away from Owen's face. Then his back bumped against a tree.

"Oh _no_ ," Owen murmured, flattening himself as far as he could against the tree.

There wasn't anywhere to escape now. And now that his pistol wasn't working, there was no other option besides getting eaten by this obviously-hungry velociraptor. Out of all the cool ways to die, this was definitely _not_ awesome. It would just a long, painful death, and that was hardly heroic at all. And it was a lot earlier than he wanted to die.

The dinosaur opened it's mouth wide, revealing large, very sharp-looking teeth that seemed to glint in the sunlight. With a growl, it lunged straight towards Owen's face. The boy shrieked and automatically held his hands out, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Leave him alone!" Owen heard someone yell, but he assumed it was all his imagination.

Then he heard a yelping noise, followed by the sound of something solid hitting the ground. Still shaking, Owen opened one eye, then the other. The velociraptor was now on the ground, moaning with pain. And standing in front of Owen was a very angry-looking Kara.

"That's what you get!" she shouted. She bent down to pick up a large rock, then chucked it at the dinosaur's face. It flinched away, then scrambled upright and hissed at her. She waved her knife in it's face. "Huh? You want more?"

The dinosaur backed away, it's eyes darting from Kara to Owen. Ultimately deciding that it's chance at a free meal was lost, it made a small chirping noise and turned around, darting back into the trees.

"Kara?" Owen whispered, slowly turning back to face her. He started to smile, then pulled away from the tree he'd been up against. He had never felt so relieved. He placed a hand on his chest, feeling the rapid beating of his heart that pounded like a drum. "You . . . _saved_ me?"

Kara stuck the knife in her pocket, then threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close. His arms were pinned to his sides, and he was too shocked to register what was happening. When she pulled away, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Was she crying?

"W-What happened?" Owen inquired. "Where's the rest of the group?"

"They're over there," she said, pointing in a direction. "They're trying to capture that other dinosaur. While they were fighting it, I snuck away to look for you. I was so caught up in the action and I didn't realize they left you out there. I didn't realize you weren't with us." She took a deep breath. "I'm so relieved you're okay. I was really worried."

"Me too," he said quietly. "I tried using my gun, but it didn't work." He lifted the gun, showing her it. "The bullet wasn't in it. If it wasn't for you, I would've . . . died."

"Yeah," Kara muttered, looking at the ground. Voices were heard in the distance, jolting Owen back to the task at hand.

"We should get back to the group," he said, although he really would've preferred to be alone with Kara.

She nodded, forcing a smile. "Yeah, we probably should."

"Not so fast, Ms. Dox!" a woman's voice said. Owen and Kara both whipped around, surprised to see a complete stranger in the middle of the jungle. A woman with bright white hair and an elaborate gray cloak wrapped around her shoulders stepped into view. As far as Owen could see, she was the only one in the prison not wearing an orange jumpsuit.

Kara gently pushed Owen back, stepping protectively in front of him. "Do I know you?"

"Oh, you wouldn't know me yet, Ms. Dox," the woman said, giving them a hungry smile. "You'll know me soon enough, when your future becomes your destiny. However, you shouldn't worry about that for now. I've come to know that you two have been searching for those time watches."

"You know about that?" Owen asked, feeling shocked.

"Yes, and I'm not judging you for it. Everyone here wishes to find the time watches, but no one knows where they are. Oh, wouldn't it be _amazing_ if someone, if _anyone_ knew where they were?"

Owen and Kara looked at each other, then nodded. The woman stepped closer to them. "That's convenient for you, then. Because _I_ , The Countess, know where they're located."

"You do?" Owen gasped, clinging to her every word. "But — but how? Where are they?"

"If I told you, Mr. Conners, it would only cause a time paradox." The Countess knit her eyebrows, looking at him with a pitying expression. "You know how those are, right? Sorry, but I can only tell Ms. Dox this information. After that, she can share it with you. She's —"

"Immune to paradoxes," Kara finished, looking more curious than anything. "How do you know so much about me?"

The Countess smiled. "Well, Kara, I'll have to tell you that later. The future can wait. For now, I'll only tell you what you desperately need to hear: the location of the time watches." She walked closer to them. "There's a storm tonight. No one will notice two children if they slip away during a storm."

"What are you talking about? What storm?" Owen asked, raising an eyebrow. "The sky is completely clear."

She glanced at Owen, then waved him off. "Go back to your group, boy. We won't be long."

"But Kara —" Owen started to say, but Kara smiled at him, causing his insides to yet again go fuzzy. "I'll be okay. Go back to the dinosaur hunting squad. I'll be right behind you."

Reluctantly, he nodded, not really liking this. Why was Kara so trusting of this stranger? There was something off about The Countess, but if she knew the location of the time watches, that meant she was good. It meant she wanted to help Owen and Kara escape. Somehow, there had to be something good about this woman. Despite her strangeness, Owen knew that she only wanted to help. If that wasn't the case, she wouldn't be telling them where the time watches were.

With these thoughts, Owen ran off to the group, a strangely optimistic feeling blossoming in his chest. Was this . . . hope? Yes, it was! _This_ was what he wanted to feel in fictional books. It was how adventures were meant to feel, right? And if The Countess had any idea what she was talking about, it meant Owen was one step closer to getting out of here and saving his best friend from an evil faceless man.

* * *

After the dinosaur hunting squad had successfully delivered an unconscious dinosaur to the Time Security Agency, Owen and Kara hadn't talked much. After her talk with The Countess, Kara had been strangely quiet. It looked like she was thinking about a lot of things, all at once. Since Owen was already stressed enough as it was, he allowed himself to be patient about this. Maybe Kara was just waiting for the right moment to tell him. The 'right moment', it turned out, didn't come until dinner time.

"I know where they've been hiding them," Kara announced quietly to Owen during dinner. "This morning, The Countess told me a riddle, and I finally figured it out. I really should've realized sooner! It's so obvious!"

He blinked, turning to look at her. "What are you talking about?"

"The time watches," she said, grinning from ear to ear. "It's why we couldn't find them the other night. It's because they aren't anywhere in this building. They're in the _jungle_!"

* * *

After learning the uplifting news that the time watches were located in the jungle, Owen thought he'd feel a sense of hope. It was so long since he'd felt that, and he actually missed the feeling. While he did feel some of it, he felt more dread than anything. Finding the time watches would mean going back into the jungle . . . which would result in more dinosaurs trying to eat Owen.

He didn't like the idea at all, but he knew that it was the only option. He had to get out of here before it was too late, even if it meant putting himself in a lot of danger to do it. This was the only way. He didn't have anything helpful such as Kiel's magic or Bethany's ability to jump out of books, but at least he had his time powers, which proved to be beneficial when in dangerous situations.

Not only that, but Owen didn't really trust this "Countess" person. Although Kara seemed to trust her . . . upon their first meeting, she seemed a bit shady. But maybe Owen was overthinking this, because of his past experiences with fictional characters. Maybe The Countess was actually trying to help Owen and Kara out. Maybe she was as nice as she acted. Was it bad to think that a genuinely nice, helpful person existed in this book? Maybe not.

Either way, he _really_ hoped The Countess was right about the time watches being in the jungle. If not, Owen would never escape from this place, and that would _not_ be good.

Owen rolled over in bed, listening to the usual faded dinosaur roars that came from outside. Rain patted against the roof and slid down the bars that lined the small window. In the distance, Owen could've even sworn he heard some thunder, but that couldn't be right. The whole day had been completely clear, without a trace of a cloud. Had The Countess been correct? Was there actually a storm coming?

Owen sighed heavily, his eyes wide open as he stared at the darkness that was his jail cell. Sometimes, even if it was only a little bit, he hated himself. He cringed every time he messed something up or embarrassed himself in front of his friends. He tried to be responsible for everyone, but he felt like he continuously messed things up, even when he was trapped in a _Pick The Plot_ book.

What if he messed up everything during his and Kara's escape to find the time watches in the jungle? What if he messed things up tomorrow with Tobias, or what if The Countess was secretly evil and wanted to kill him? What if he was too late for saving Bethany, and she hated him when she saw him again? What if Charm hated him? Sometimes it sure seemed like she did.

On top of it all, he had barely any self-esteem. Especially when comparing himself to Kiel, who, despite being the brother he never had, was perfect in every way. He did everything right, and he was always the hero. Why couldn't Owen ever save anyone? Why couldn't he be more than just the boy who was Bethany's best friend, who messed everything up and failed to defeat Nobody when he had the chance? He was only a sidekick. Bethany was the one with half-fictional powers, and Kiel had his magic. The only 'power' he had was the fact that he read a lot of books, and had knowledge about that. But still, Owen could hardly be called useful.

These negative thoughts spiraled around Owen's brain, leaving no room for anything uplifting. Why did he have this need to be liked, when it was blatantly obvious that everyone disliked him? He'd been kicked around by Nobody and Fowen, who reminded him of the truth: he was a normal, nonfictional boy with no contribution to anything. He had simply been tossed aside as if he were nothing, and he hated that feeling. But he couldn't prevent it now. The moment he started thinking these bad thoughts, the deeper he sunk into them.

Owen sat up in bed and was struck with the realization that he hadn't been breathing. He sucked in some air, coughing as he did so. His breaths were weirdly unsteady, and he coughed again, louder this time. There was a heavy weight on his chest, similar to the many times Spike had nestled up on his chest when he was asleep. What was going on?

He put a hand over his chest, still coughing consistently. He quickly stood up from his bed and a rush of blood came to his head. A wave of heat rushed over his body, consuming him completely. He continued to cough, practically choking. He gasped for air, but he couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe!

Owen heard someone call his name, but it wasn't any louder than the ringing that filled his ears. Was he dying? Had the readers decided to kill him? His heart hammered in his chest, as fast as a hummingbird's wings.

He heard the voice again, suddenly cutting through the fog. "Owen! What's wrong?"

He couldn't respond. More panicked thoughts flooded his brain, which made everything worse. He continued to cough painfully, his body wracking with every cough that left his mouth. He heard a clanging noise, and then another noise as he saw the door of his cell opening.

It was Kara.

She grabbed his arm, staring up at him with worry. "You need to sit down."

Owen let her lead him to the bed. He slowly sat down, still coughing. His body was shaking.

"Try to take deep breaths," Kara instructed. Although her voice sounded calm for the most part, it seemed forced.

Owen managed to suck in some air, his vision slowly growing sharper. He took in another breath, focusing on the wall in front of him. His coughs slowly subsided, and he took in deep breaths, his chest still painful. He looked over at Kara, who held a fearful expression. She was sitting next to him. He felt thankful that she wasn't touching him, or else he would've felt worse.

"I'm fine. I was just coughing," he assured her, once he was positive his coughing fit was over. He rubbed his eyes, which were surprisingly wet. Had he been crying?

"No, you weren't," Kara said. "I've seen people do that before. It's called a panic attack."

Owen swallowed hard, feeling a giant lump in his throat. It was still slightly difficult to breathe. "Oh."

She nodded solemnly. "Anxiety is what triggers it. Trust me, whatever you're thinking, stop thinking it. Okay? Negative thoughts will only make you feel worse."

"I can't really help that," he said in a tone that was much harsher than he expected it to sound. He took another deep breath. "That's never happened to me before. I thought I was dying."

"You just need to focus on your breathing. That's the most important thing. When you have less oxygen, your brain can get fuzzy. Focusing on your breath can calm you down."

He stared at her with bewilderment. "Where did you learn that?"

Kara shrugged, then smiled a little. "When I did time travel, I guess. I'm honestly not sure when. I saw this lady having a panic attack, so me and this other girl ran over to help her. The girl knew a lot more about panic attacks than I did, so she knew what to do."

"Thanks," Owen whispered, looking back at the floor. His vision became hazy again and he rubbed at his eyes, forcing himself not to cry. He knew Kara wouldn't judge him for it, but he felt so embarrassed. How could this happen? Even now, in a book, everything he did turned out as an embarrassment. Nobody must've really enjoyed humiliating him.

* * *

Just outside, the storm was slowly growing massive. Thunder boomed through the Time Security Agency, shaking the building and causing the lights to flicker. At one point, the lights turned off. And so did the electricity.

The commotion went unnoticed at first. It was late at night, and the soldiers patrolling through the halls were not focused on the loud dinosaur noises that were often heard. Since noises like these were not uncommon, the soldiers didn't think of any reason to be concerned.

All of the carnivorous dinosaurs, big or small, were kept in electrically-wired cages. Every time a dinosaur tried to escape, they would find themselves zapped with electricity; the dinosaurs quickly learned to stay in the middle of the cage. Because of the storm, however, this problem was fixed. After the first dinosaur — a small Compsognathus (a bird-like dinosaur) — escaped it's cage, the rest followed suit. In their excitement at the possibility of an escape, the other dinosaurs quickly learned how to break out of their own cages.

In a matter of hours, the Time Security Agency would be no more.

* * *

Bethany heard footsteps approaching, and she looked up in time to see a man wearing a long coat and oversized hat. He was observing the bookshelves with curiosity, and then looked her way. His eyes widened the slightest bit, and then he actually smiled. "Bethany? Is that you?"

She blinked in surprise. "Sorry, do I know you?"

The man's face drooped a little. "Right. Uh, you might not remember me." He walked closer to her and took off his hat, revealing more of his face. Weirdly, he looked recognizable, but she couldn't recall seeing him anywhere. "I . . . was a friend of your parents. I was just talking to your mother."

"You were?" Who was this man? And why hadn't her mother ever mentioned him? Were they friends in high school, or something?

The man nodded. "My name is Murray Chase. I . . . figured you might not remember me." He pointed towards the tables filled with books, where the sale was going on. "I actually came by to see this book sale, mostly because they're selling comic books. I'm a comic book artist."

"You're a comic book artist?" Bethany asked, raising her eyebrows. "For which comics? I might not know it. I don't really read that many."

Murray started to answer, but then Bethany's mother came around the corner. Her eyes widened, and she looked from the man to Bethany. "Oh! Um, Bethany, I've actually been meaning to introduce you to him. This is an old friend of mine and your dad's. I see you've been talking?"

Bethany nodded. "Yeah, we have. I didn't know you guys were friends."

Her mother forced a smile, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Murray, could I speak with you for a minute?" She stared pointedly at him, then started walking back towards the front of the library. Murray gave Bethany one last smile, then followed her mother out of view.

"What just happened?" Bethany whispered to herself, staring at the spot where her mother and the man had just been. It almost felt like they were both hiding something from her. If this guy was her friend, why was her mother acting so weird? It didn't make any sense. Somehow, she had to figure this thing out.

* * *

_"My insecurities are my own worst enemy, yeah. Something's not letting me move the way I used to . . ."_


	12. A Very Un-Merry Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Bethany and Kiel celebrate Christmas in the real world, things take a turn for the worst at the time prison.

**_Demons (by Imagine Dragons)_ **

_"When you feel my heat, look into my eyes. It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide . . ."_

* * *

The ice skating rink was a lot bigger than Bethany remembered it.

The last time she'd been here was with her mother, a few years after her father had passed away. They'd gone for her seventh birthday. It was a long time ago, but Bethany remembered the day clearly.

Ever since that fateful night where her father disappeared and never returned, she lost her circle of friends. She used to have a lot, but that was _before_ she began pushing people out of her life. It seemed that people no longer wanted to be her friend, either, much less attend any of her birthday parties.

For several years after Bethany's fourth birthday party, she invited her friends, even if they weren't very nice to her anymore. They never came. Her mother assured her they were out of town for the week, or they were sick, or they had an important family matter to attend to. Bethany knew better. Her seventh birthday wasn't any different.

On that day, her mother decided to take her ice skating for the first time, since it was her birthday. Excited at the idea, Bethany begged to have a party. Her mother was against it, but she eventually relented. And so, she invited a group of her classmates, all ones who had attended her fourth birthday party. When they got to the ice rink, Bethany waited. And waited. And waited. They didn't come.

She didn't end up going ice skating that day. She had cried for a solid twenty minutes in the car ride home, and vowed to never have another party. Besides the special birthday dinner she had with her mother every year, that was it. There weren't any more parties.

"Hey, are you ready?" Liz asked, snapping Bethany from her thoughts. She blinked, looking over at her friend, who had just finished tying up her ice skates.

"Almost," Bethany said. She quickly finished tying her the ice skate on her left foot and went to the next, tightening it as much as she could. It was the first day of winter break, and it also was Christmas Eve. Since neither Bethany nor Liz were doing much for the holidays until later that night, they decided to go ice skating.

Bethany had decided against telling Liz the whole Kiel-faking-his-identity fiasco. The last thing she wanted to do was spread rumors, even if Liz _was_ her closest friend. But Bethany knew Liz, and she wasn't the type of person who was great at withholding rumors. Plus, Liz seemed to like Kiel, and Bethany didn't want to crush her friend's spirits by informing her that Kiel wasn't actually who he claimed to be.

There was another reason — a more prominent one — why Bethany didn't want to tell anyone about her newfound knowledge concerning Kiel. Despite everything that had happened within the past week or so, Bethany also didn't want to ruin Kiel's education — or whatever it was that he'd come here for. Clearly, he wasn't a secret agent or a serial killer, so he wasn't dangerous in any way.

If he wanted to stay here, Bethany wouldn't begrudge him for it. They'd go to school together, but they just wouldn't be friends. She didn't want to be friends with him anyway, even if he was nice, and really cool, and probably a little too full-of-himself. No, those parts didn't matter. He had lied about his entire life to Bethany, and friends weren't supposed to lie to each other. Friendship was supposed to be built on trust.

Bethany stood up and placed both hands on the rail in front of her, clamoring awkwardly on her two skates. The sound of laughter and voices echoed soundly across the room. The rink was filled with people: kids racing each other, couples holding hands as they glided smoothly across the icy surface, and the occasional people who had more difficulty moving.

"I can't believe we're going _ice skating_!" Liz said with a grin. Her own hands were gripped along the rail as they shifted over to the rink's entrance.

"Me neither," Bethany said, shaking her head. She was more terrified than she wanted to admit, but the people here looked like they enjoyed it. If they were enjoying it, she could too, right?

They came around to the entrance of the rink and opened the short door. Bethany stepped out first. Her foot slipped and she gasped, latching onto the railing beside her. Next to her, Liz stepped onto the ice rink more calmly, easily balancing on her feet.

"I don't know about this," Bethany said as her friend began to glide around. She was still clutching to the railing, too afraid to let go.

"It'll be fine!" Liz said, extending her hand towards Bethany and grabbing her by the elbow. "Come on, Bethany! It's safe!"

"No, wait —" she started to say, but Liz had already begun yanking her away from the railing. Bethany almost collapsed into her but quickly spread her arms out and leaned forward slightly, breathing hard as she regained her balance.

"See?" Liz said, letting go of her and easily skating in a circle around her. "Just start moving."

"Easy for you to say!" Bethany said, sighing deeply in annoyance. Staring hard at the ground, she slowly started forward and managed to move a few feet without falling. A small grin appeared on her face, and she moved forward again, slightly faster this time —

— Only for the world to slip out from under her. She inhaled sharply as her back collided with the freezing ground, then groaned.

"Oh my god!" Liz shouted, kneeling down and grabbing her by the arms. She slowly helped her into a sitting position. "Are you hurt?"

For a moment, Bethany stared at the ground, shock resonating through her veins. Her heart was beating like crazy, and she felt winded. She grunted, rubbing her slightly sore back, then took Liz's hands and allowed herself to be pulled up. As she got back to her feet, she almost slipped again but held herself steady.

She glanced over at Liz, forcing a smile. "I think I'm fine. I just slipped."

"Do you want to keep ice skating?"

"Yeah. Of course! My back doesn't even hurt that much." Understatement of the century, but Bethany really did want to try ice skating. Even if her back was sore from the fall, she couldn't let this one slip-up drive her away.

She looked over at the throngs of people who were all cheerfully skating across the rink, most of them having zero issues whatsoever. She nodded in affirmation at Liz. "Let's do this."

Tentatively, Bethany crept forward, holding her arms out on either side of her for balance. As long as she wasn't being risky, she could do this. She managed to skate forward, more easily this time. She still wobbled on her feet, but she felt slightly less afraid now that she'd already experienced falling.

Beside her, Liz skating at a faster pace, expertly turning in circles. Bethany gritted her teeth as she moved at a snail's pace, wishing she could move just as fast. Thinking only on impulse, she jerked her right leg forward and dug it into the ice, attempting to speed up. Once again, she landed hard on the icy surface, and the air was knocked from her lungs.

"Bethany, are you okay?" Liz asked, quickly skating over to her. Just like last time, she carefully helped Bethany stand, then rubbed her back. "Don't worry, everyone falls on their first time. I fell about twenty times when I first tried ice skating."

"But that was when you were younger," Bethany said, trying to keep the distress out of her voice. "I'm fifteen. I thought this was going to be easier, not harder!"

"Just like most things, ice skating is a skill that you learn over time." Liz pointed to a boy, a few years younger than them, who had just fallen to the ground. "See? It happens to everyone."

Bethany sighed, then wobbled slightly as she moved forward yet again. The problem was: the ice rink felt incredibly slippery. How was it so easy and effortless for everyone else? She forced herself to keep trying, to not give up. Often, she went too fast or too slow, and she fell. By her fourth fall, Liz insisted on holding onto Bethany, not keen on seeing her fall more times.

They skated for about an hour, but for Bethany, it felt like a frustrating month. By the time they were finished, she was immensely relieved. She could say that she had gotten slightly better, although not enough to skate fast across the rink.

After they returned their rental ice skates to the checkout counter, Liz walked over to the double glass doors. "Check this out. It's snowing like crazy out here!"

Bethany pulled on her coat, then walked over to her, peering out the window. The parking lot outside was already blanketed with a thick layer of snow, which lay in heaps on top of each car. The sky was a blinding white, and huge snowflakes continued raining down and dotting the ground in an endless chain. "Wow, it wasn't even snowing this _morning._ I hope your mom can drive here to pick us up without a problem."

"I think she'll be fine," Liz said dismissively, her eyes still on the window. "That's a lot of snow. I wonder how much we're supposed to get?"

Bethany shrugged, letting out a breath of air which fogged up the window. "I think the weather forecast called for ten inches, or something like that."

"No way," her friend countered, then looked at her. "Really?"

She smiled in response, then pushed open one of the double doors. A gust of cold wind blew into her, and flakes latched themselves to her face and hair, but she didn't mind. With the growing excitement of Christmas Eve, she felt slightly numb to the cold. By now, the footprints from people had been covered by additional snow, the traces of their paths all erased.

Bethany dug her gloved hands into her pockets and closed her eyes, liking how the cold numbed out everything — even her thoughts. It was nice to not think about anything for once. It was a rare occasion that Bethany just let herself . . . drift. In a matter of minutes, her cheeks and nose were flushed red from the cold, and her clothes began to feel slightly wet from the snowflakes plowing into them. She didn't mind. In fact, she liked it.

"Are you crazy?" Liz's voice rang out to her. She opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder to see Liz poking her head out of the door. "It's freezing out there!"

"I like it!" Bethany insisted, stubbornly staying rooted to the ground and simultaneously trying to hide her shivering.

A moment later, Liz's mother pulled up in a bright orange pickup truck. Bethany and Liz hurriedly made their way over, the blur of white snowflakes slightly blinding Bethany's vision. Liz threw open the door, quickly getting inside. Bethany followed right behind her, then slid into a seat and closed the door shut. The inside of the car wasn't much warmer than it was outdoors. Her teeth chattered excessively, no matter how much she tried to hide it.

"Hello girls!" Mrs. Davis, Liz's mother, said. There was loud music on, and she made no effort to turn it down at their arrival. Instead, she leaned closer to Liz. "How was ice skating?"

"It was fine," Bethany said through a trembling mouth, raising her voice above the noise. Now that she wasn't outside anymore, the cold suddenly felt less bearable. She quickly rubbed her arms, trying to force warmth into them.

"Mom, could you —" Liz began, but her mother immediently broke out into song.

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la. Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la!"

"Sorry," Liz whispered with a sigh, visibly cold. "My mom's kind of immune to the cold."

"And she doesn't turn on the AC anyway?" Bethany questioned, throwing a look at Liz's mother, who was focused on the road as she sang.

She had met Mrs. Davis a few times, but the woman had always seemed a bit . . . off. As if not all of her brain was together. She certainly didn't envy Liz for her family. From what Bethany had gathered, Liz's father worked all the time to support their family, and wasn't home very often.

Even if her own father wasn't around, Bethany felt grateful that she at least had her mother. Although she worked late hours and wasn't often home unless it was the weekend, at least she was completely sane.

"So, what are you doing tonight?" Liz asked. "Are you having a Christmas party?"

Bethany shook her head. "Not really. It'll just be me and my mom. Pretty much the same as every Christmas I've had." Her eyes flickered to Liz's mother, who's presence made her slightly uncomfortable. "What about you?"

"We're having this huge family party," Liz said, smiling now. "We throw one almost every year. You know how I have, like, five aunts and uncles on both my mom _and_ my dad's side? Yep. You probably won't hear from me until after winter break."

Bethany laughed. "At least you have family to celebrate with. My mom hates throwing parties. When my dad was alive, he —" A pang hit her hard in the chest, and she couldn't breathe for a moment. She quickly regained herself. "We used to have big parties."

"Sorry," Liz said, giving her a pitying look. Bethany turned back towards the window, not wanting anyone to feel sorry for her. Why did she get so emotional every time she talked about her father? There was nothing she could do about it, anyway. Her father was dead, and he had been since she was four years-old. He wasn't going to somehow magically reappear. That would just be wishful thinking.

* * *

  
It took Kiel some time to understand that "winter break" meant a week off from school. He had heard all of the students chatter excitedly on and on about this holiday called "Christmas", and apparently there was another holiday called "New Years"? He finally realized what they'd meant when he walked to school that morning and saw that _no one_ , not _one_ person was there.

_This is good_ , he told himself as he teleported back home. This gave him a week to come up with a decent plan to get rid of Oliver, and a week to also gain Bethany's trust back. Somehow, the harder concept was the second one. But he needed to try. Despite everything Bethany had said, what she believed, or what Oliver threatened him with, Kiel would _not_ back down. He wasn't that type of person. As long as he had a goal, he could remain optimistic.

Sure, he'd stay away from Bethany to avoid getting beat up again, but once Oliver was completely out of the picture, he'd tell her _everything_. Everything about her half-fictional life. Elijah was right: he couldn't keep these things from Bethany anymore. She didn't trust him now, but once he told her the truth, she wouldn't be mad. In fact, she'd feel grateful!

He reappeared in his house, then walked over to Elijah, who was on the couch. "I need a gift for Bethany. Today . . . or I think tomorrow, is this nonfictional holiday called 'Christmas'. Apparently, it's a tradition to get gifts for your friends and family."

When Elijah said nothing, he continued, "Do you think a gift will make her want to be my friend? She doesn't want to be my friend anymore, but I think her thinking is narrow. Who _wouldn't_ want to be my friend?"

Elijah looked over at him, then sighed. "That sounds like a good plan. Where can we get one?"

Kiel frowned. He hadn't thought of that. He didn't even know what Bethany might like. Then, he thought of it. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier? It was a perfect idea. He gestured for Elijah to follow him, then started towards the door and pushed it open. "C'mon. We're going to the library. I think I know exactly what she'd like."

* * *

Bethany had nearly forgotten that tonight was Christmas Eve, but the various decorations and the smell of baked goods that wafted through the house was a quick reminder. A small fire was ablaze in the fireplace. Silver garlands were wrapped around the stairwell, and the Christmas tree was adorned with ornaments and candles. Her and her mother were never big on throwing large parties or inviting tons of guests when the holiday season rolled around.

When Bethany's father was around, things were different. The friends and relatives of her parents would come over to celebrate, and the party would last until the last hours of the evening. Bethany had been very young, so she didn't fully remember the parties. But she remembered that the parties had such a feeling of euphoria to them, and although she was now used to having a quiet holiday, she still missed how much fun the holidays used to be.

"Bethany? Is that you?" her mother's voice shouted from the kitchen.

"Yeah!" Bethany replied, hastily closing the door to prevent the funnels of snowflakes from blowing inside. It had been freezing both in the car and outside, and now that she was inside she shivered at the sudden change in temperature. In the entryway, she shook the small amount of snow that had gathered on her coat and boots. When she was done, she removed her shoes and coat off, setting them aside to dry.

She still shivered consistently, practically soaked to the skin. She combed a hand through her damp hair and made her way over to the kitchen, where the aroma of baked goods are most prominent.

"Hey, Beth," Mrs. Sanderson greeted, in the middle of removing a tray of chocolate chip cookies from the oven. The smell hit Bethany's nose dead-on, and her mouth began to water. But she knew she'd have to wait until after dinner, which disappointed her. Along with the cookies, her mother had also prepared a small, lavish meal for dinner. Since it was only for the two of them, their dinners didn't take very long to make.

"Good, you made cookies," Bethany said, walking over to where the tray of cookies now sat. While her mother's back was turned towards the fridge, she plucked one from the tray and stuffed it in her mouth. It was warm, and the taste of chocolate oozed in her mouth. She grinned. Maybe the holidays weren't going to be so bad after all.

Her mother turned back around, not noticing the missing cookie. She peered at Bethany, then reached out to feel her hair. She withdrew her hand with a gasp. "You're soaked! You weren't outside that long, were you?"

Bethany shrugged, knowing her mother would worry about the littlest things. It was something she'd probably inherited. "I had a snowball fight. Don't worry, it only lasted a few seconds." She decided against telling her mother about her standing outside for ten minutes. Her mother would probably figure out a way to lecture her on it.

"Oh, okay," Bethany's mother said, stepping back towards the oven. "Go get a shower. You can't just walk around with soaked clothes. You can get easily sick that way. Do you _want_ to catch a cold?"

She made a face, then nodded and retreated up to her room to avoid further reprimanding. She wished she was back in the library, where she was completely surrounded by books. Books didn't give her lectures about soaked clothes; they only listened. Why couldn't her mother do more of that?

Sometimes, Bethany felt like she needed to keep things from her mother. Not that she didn't trust her, but she was so used to keeping most of her personal life directed away from her mother. Plus, if her mother knew how much time she _actually_ spent at the library, she might force Bethany to go straight home after school. That wouldn't be good at all. The library was her favorite place.

When she was done showering, she raced back downstairs for dinner. The sun had just set and a few candles had been placed on the kitchen table, illuminating the room with a warm glow. The table was completely set, filled with delicious, homemade food that made Bethany's stomach growl.

"Finally," her mother said with a small laugh, already seated at the table. "Let's eat!"

* * *

Later that night, as her mother went to sleep, Bethany laid on the couch, wide awake despite the very late hour. Though her body ached for sleep, her thoughts whirled around in circles, which dissuaded her from any chance of falling asleep.

For some reason, her thoughts raced back to Kiel. They often did. She found herself wondering how he was spending his Christmas Eve. Was he with his host family, although he wasn't actually German? Did he even _have_ a host family? Where was he staying? How was he enjoying Christmas?

Why _was_ she thinking about him so much? She couldn't keep thinking about him. She just couldn't. They weren't even friends anymore! Why did she care about him so much? Another thought of Kiel popped into her head, and she let out a frustrated sigh, slowly peeling herself away from the couch.

Bethany glanced out the window, which was piled with snow. Aside from the light that shone down from the moon, it was pitch-black outside. Soon, it would be 12:00 am. Before she knew it, it would already be Christmas Day. Her eyes drifted towards the decorated tree, where a few presents were huddled underneath. The fire, which had been burning brightly a few hours ago, had now dwindled.

Yawning, the girl walked over to her backpack, pulling out _Pick The Plot_. Since it was winter break, she figured she'd have a lot of time to read it. Plus, with the warm temperature mixed with the smell of the dying fire, chocolate chip cookies, and the pine tree, it was the perfect environment for reading.

Sometimes, she imagined Owen was a real person, not just a fictional character. As she delved deeper into the book, the more connected to him she felt. Which was ridiculous, because he wasn't even real! But the way the author had written him . . . he just seemed like someone she could know. She wished that was the case. If she knew him in real life, she had an inkling that they'd be friends.

* * *

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

An obnoxious noise stirred Owen from his deep sleep. He groaned loudly, his eyes still closed shut as he extended one arm to fumble for his alarm clock. Why did he have to go to school today? When the alarm continued to blare, he realized that he didn't have an alarm clock, and he was still stuck in the fictional world. Wait, what was happening?

Feeling confused, Owen slowly blinked his eyes open, and his vision was consumed with bright, flashing red lights. His eyes widened, and he quickly sat up in bed. Was this a fire drill, or something?

He glanced over at the window, where it was still raining. Thunder boomed every few seconds, and the occasional flash of lightning illuminated the inside of the room. It was still very dark out, aside from the occasional flash of bright red that the alarm would give off. He hurriedly threw his legs over the side of the bed and put his sneakers on, his heart beating fast. When he was done, he looked across his jail cell, out into the isle.

That's when he noticed that there were no other prisoners in the hallway. There was only him. Along with that, every single cell door was open.

Owen's mouth dropped open. His brows furrowed in confusion, trying to make sense of everything while the loud _beep_ of the alarm filled his head. Warning bells went off in his mind as he carefully stepped outside of his cell, looking right and left. Just for good measure, he checked inside Kara's cell, hoping and praying that she was there. She wasn't.

Had he slept through a drill? Why hadn't anyone woken him up? What was going on? Where was everyone? Where was Kara?

Then, from somewhere in the distance outside the long hallway filled with jail cells, Owen heard screams. Then, he heard a loud roar, and the ground shifted underneath his feet. Owen's blood went cold, and he froze, every single hair on his arms standing on end. Dinosaurs were attacking the Time Security Agency!

He gulped, then slowly made his way towards the exit door, which hung slightly open. The sounds of gunfire, yelling, and screeching from the dinosaurs were a distant ring in his ears. His heart sank into his stomach as he continued advancing forward, inch by inch.

Once he got to the door, he gingerly pulled it open, flinching at the way it creaked. Slowly, Owen exited the hallway, ready for anything. There was no one in sight, and the flashing lights didn't make it any easier to see. He shuddered, his nerves rising as he forced himself to keep walking. From what he could see, several ceiling panels had fallen out of place, hanging by wires. Someone, or _something_ , had definitely been here.

Another roar echoed from somewhere close by, which was enough to set Owen's feet in motion. His heart pounding a mile a minute, he fought every instinct and bolted towards the noise. No matter what, he had to escape somehow. He didn't have a choice. It was a matter of life or death.

As he rounded the corner into the next hallway, he stopped short. A loud, otherworldly growl sounded down the hall behind him, and Owen nearly jumped out of his skin. It was hard to breathe, especially in this fear-ridden environment. Shaking uncontrollably, he slowly turned around, and found himself face-to-face with a dinosaur. His eyes wide with terror, Owen stumbled backwards. The walls seemed to close in on him as the creature stalked forward, it's eyes on Owen.

"Readers?" Owen whispered, backing away more as he stared at the monster. "A-A little h-help here?"

There was no response. _Great_. Now that he needed the readers, they had vanished! That wasn't helpful at all.

Apparently deciding that Owen wasn't going anywhere, the dinosaur suddenly lunged forward. He shrieked and turned on his heel, throwing a terrified glance over his shoulder as he sprinted away. The dinosaur chased behind, it's footfalls shaking the earth. Owen turned the corner and almost slipped over a pile of water, but quickly regained his footing. 

He continued running blindly down the halls, trying to ignore the dull ache that filled his lungs from the excessive amount of running. He could practically feel the dinosaur's breath tickling his neck, plowing into him with each heavy breath.

With the flashing red lights and the deafening beeps that continued soundly through the building, it was hard to tell where he was going. He tripped and collapsed head-first into the floor, his knees forcefully hitting the ground. A loud roar radiated through his body, causing the floor to vibrate beneath him. He flipped around, hurriedly skittering against the wall before the dinosaur could catch him.

Before he knew it, the dinosaur opened it's mouth and darted towards Owen. He screamed. At the same time, his body vibrated with an intense energy. The dinosaur froze before his very eyes, it's mouth mere inches away from Owen.

"AHH! AHH! AHH!" he screamed over and over, pressing his body against the wall as he stared into the huge, gaping mouth of the dinosaur. When he was done screaming, he moaned, his head suddenly dizzy. A hysterical laugh escaped him. Despite his terror, he suddenly found himself grinning from ear-to-ear. He wasn't dead! 

_Thank you, time powers._

Steeling himself, Owen carefully slid out from underneath the dinosaur, not releasing his hold on time. His instincts told him that he should probably get as far away as possible. He set off at a brisk walk, leaving the frozen dinosaur behind. The lights were no longer flashing, and instead, there was nothing but darkness. Even if using his time powers tired him out a little, it felt nice to relax for a moment without any additional noises or lights flashing overhead.

Once he turned down another hallway and got out of view of the dinosaur, he exhaled sharply, bracing himself against the wall and resting his head in the crook of his elbow. Tears sprang into his eyes, and he couldn't tell whether it was from the fear of being killed or the exhaustion, or just the overwhelming emotions that had been bottled up inside.

He needed to get out of here before it was too late. He still needed to find Kara.

Nearby, more gunshots and the roars of dinosaurs were heard. Owen was pulled from his trance, and he realized that he must've unconsciously reset time without realizing it. The alarms blared, and the lights were flickering once again, switching from pitch black to bright red every other second. Owen clamped his hands over his ears, willing the noises to stop and wishing this night would end.

Then, he heard a forceful roar just behind him. Before Owen knew it, he was running again. Despite the exhaustion, and despite the pain in his legs, he ran, not bothering to slow down for a second. The prison was a maze of corridors, and he would've worried about where he was going if he were thinking clearly.

As he ran down the halls, he tried his best to avoid any dinosaur he saw. He didn't know where he was going, but he headed towards wherever the screams were coming from, hoping that Kara might be alive.

"Hey!" a guard suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway, pointed a gun at Owen. "Get over here! Stop —" Before Owen could respond, a dinosaur appeared and pushed the man to the ground. The man hit the ground with a surprised shout.

Horrified, Owen turned in the opposite direction and raced down another hallway. Almost every corner he turned brought a new dinosaur, and he quickly learned to kick his time powers into gear whenever that happened. This prevented the dinosaurs from following him, but Owen could feel himself slowly slipping. Soon, if he wasn't careful, his exhaustion might give out.

At one point, the screams and yells of prisoners and guards had gotten close enough where Owen was positive they were just around the corner. He stopped running and slumped against a wall, catching his breath. He was too exhausted to run anymore. Huge, black spots loomed before his eyes. He sucked in short, panicked breaths, his back against the wall as he listened to the noises just down the hall.

The screams had died down, and now he heard only footsteps, along with the occasional roar. He slowly trudged out of his hiding spot against the wall and turned the corner, bracing himself for what he was about to find.

What he _did_ find was a mostly empty room, just like nearly every other room he'd come across. In this room however, there was one prisoner slumped against a wall, his leg bleeding profoundly. As Owen tentatively approached, the man wearily looked up. Then, his eyes widened. "You can't be here. Get out of here, while you still can!"

"But I-I don't know where to go," Owen said quickly, nervously looking around. He looked back at the man's leg, which was beginning to pool with blood. "H-Here, let me help you." He bent down, searching wildly for some type of bandage.

The man held a hand up, stopping him. "There's no helping me anymore. I'm a time prisoner. I deserve this. But you, you're a young boy. You can still escape while you have the chance."

Owen shook his head. "I need to find my friend. Her name's Kara Dox. Have you seen her?"

The man winced, obviously not too keen about Kara. "You know that horrible girl?"

Owen glared at him. "Yeah, I do. And she's _far_ from horrible. Where is she?"

The man grunted, then looked to the right. "I might've seen her go in that direction. I'm not sure. Everything's been chaotic. The dinosaurs are destroying everything."

"Thanks," Owen said, rising to his feet. As he walked away, he felt guilty about leaving the man. But he knew he had no time to save him. He had to find Kara, then get out of here. If he stayed any longer, he might not live through the night.

As he walked down the hallway, straining to hear any more noises, he heard a strange noise from the dark corner. He gulped, stopping in his tracks. Through the flashing lights, he could make out the form of a dinosaur. Owen forgot how to breathe. He only stood there, dumbly watching it stand in the corner.

And then, as if sensing something, it's head rose. The dinosaur turned to face him, snarling and spitting huge drops of saliva at Owen. It ran forward, it's huge feet inflicting small tremors in the ground.

In the next hallway over, Owen heard various footsteps and shouts. A second later, a group of guards appeared, all holding guns. Except, judging from the surprised and panicked looks on their faces, it didn't look like they were running to the dinosaur. They were running _from_ something. Right after they appeared, Owen heard another roar, and a second dinosaur skidded into the narrow hallway.

The first dinosaur that had begun running towards Owen now stopped, growling at the appearance of newcomers. As it turned around to face the guards, it swung it's tail out, swiping Owen off his feet. Everything careened upside down as he flew through the air, unable to stop his momentum. Then, he collided with a wall, and pain exploded through his body.

Everything went black.

* * *

"Get up!"

"K-Kara?" Owen's lips barely moved as he murmured her name. His eyes were half-closed, and his entire body felt sore, especially his head. Then, the sound of gunshots filled his ears, and his eyes fully opened. Instead of Kara, though, he saw the last person he'd ever hope to see: Tobias.

"Good to see you're awake now, Mr. Conners," Tobias said, a bored expression on his face and a taser in his hand. "When you didn't respond, I was ready to use my taser."

"I'm glad you didn't." Owen slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, groaning as he did so. He lifted a hand to massage the back of his head, which must've hit the wall, because it hurt. Behind Tobias was a group of guards, who were all busy fighting two dinosaurs at once.

"What's going on?" Owen asked, his eyes trained on the fight. Somehow, he felt less scared of Tobias and more scared of the dinosaurs.

"The dinosaurs have been real tricky lately," Tobias replied, looking down at Owen and raising a gun in his other hand. "Real tricky. They've escaped their cages."

He gasped, then looked at Tobias in shock. "Wait, _what_? The dinosaurs escaped from their _cages_? For a prison like this, I'd think you'd have better security."

"Our security is top notch, prisoner," the dinosaur hunting instructor replied, glaring at him. "After everything I've threatened you with, how _dare_ you insult the Time Security Agency."

"Huh? No, I —"

Without warning, Tobias grabbed him by the arm, pulling him off his feet. Then, he pushed Owen back into the wall. "Don't move an inch. Got it?"

Owen nodded vigorously, his body dripping with sweat. He watched as Tobias ran back to the other guards and assisted them with fighting the two dinosaurs. Many of the guards had managed to shoot the dinosaurs, but it seemed like their bullets didn't fully affect them. Owen needed to escape before the dinosaurs got bored and decided to eat _him_.

He looked left, then right. To the left was back in the direction he'd come, where he talked to the dying man. To the right was another long hallway, which hopefully led to Kara.

Owen glanced at Tobias, checking to see if he wasn't looking. Seizing his chance, he made a run for it. He sprinted down the hall to the right, his muscles screaming in exhaustion. As he ran, the dinosaur noises and shouts of guards slowly faded behind him. He didn't look back.

His mind was running a mile a minute, and he knew he needed to do something. He was completely lost, and he didn't even remember where the air lock was that led him outside.

Just ahead at the end of the hallway, he heard more heavy footsteps. Owen skidded to a stop, his head darting around for any possible hiding places. Then, his eyes landed on an unopened airlock labeled "testing room". He ran to it, using all his might to twist the handle and pull the door open. Without looking, he hurried inside, carefully closing the door shut behind him.

Then, he turned to face the room. Aside from the flashing red lights, it was dark, and Owen had to peer to be able to see anything. He quietly walked deeper into the room, looking around for anything that might help him. It was a lab, with plenty of counters that were filled with scientific equipment. He opened a drawer that was positioned on the side of one of the counters and rummaged through its contents. He only found some testing tubes, where weren't very helpful given the situation.

Then, he spotted a roll of gauze sitting a few feet away. If he got hurt, that might come in handy! He searched for some scissors, then unrolled the gauze until it was almost the length of his body. He cut off the end and stuffed it into his pocket.

Owen backed away from the counter, trying to think. He glanced around the room, but didn't see any windows. Could he hide here until the chaos was over? It sounded logical, but probably not. The dinosaurs weren't going to leave anytime soon. Plus, his main priority was finding a way out of here and finding Kara. If only she was with him. That would make things easier.

He walked back to the air lock door, pulling it open as quietly as he could. He took in his surroundings. The hallway was empty, at least for now.

Owen abandoned the testing room and raced in the same direction he'd been running in all along, looking everywhere for a sign of Kara. Luckily, there weren't any dinosaurs in this area, at least not in the hallways he was running in. He didn't know if he had the strength to take on more dinosaurs. This whole night was too overwhelming.

He turned the next corner, now at a walking pace. That's when he saw her.

At first, it was too dark to tell. But as he got closer, he could spot her pink hair. She was laying on the ground, and even worse, her leg was bleeding.

"Kara!" Owen yelled, desperation seeping into his voice. For some reason, maybe due to exhaustion, his legs gave out. He fell to his knees. He began to crawl forward on his hands and knees, hoping and praying that she wasn't dead. She _couldn't_ be dead. Once he got close enough to see her whole form, he gently touched Kara's hand.

She didn't move at his touch. He frantically removed the gauze from his pocket and rolled up her pant leg until it was knee-length. He spotted the wound where her shin was, which was where the blood was pouring out of. He set her leg down, then wrapped the gauze around it. He had to redo it multiple times, because the gauze kept unraveling or slipping out of his shaking fingers. After his sixth attempt, he finally wrapped it tightly enough that it stayed on her leg.

Owen looked back at her face, which was ghostly pale and chalky. He hoped she would wake up soon. He needed her help. He wasn't sure exactly how to escape from here. How could he, with the dinosaurs prancing around? He needed a plan, a good one that would get them out of this place.

"Kara?" Owen asked in a hushed tone, trying to be quiet to avoid any unwanted attention from dinosaurs. Although from the sounds of it, there weren't any nearby. Every so often, he'd hear the distant roar and the screams of people, but he wasn't even sure if that was real or just in his imagination.

He wiped his brow, which was beaded with sweat, then quickly shook her by the shoulders. "Get up!" Kara didn't respond. Trying not to panic, he shook her again, harder this time. "Kara, please, get up. Get up!"

"Wake up!" he said in a louder tone. He shook her again and again, until he thought he might've saw her eyelids flutter. He immediately stopped trying to rouse her, instead sitting back on his knees. "Kara, I need you to wake up. We're going to be trapped here if we don't find a way to escape."

The antagonizing seconds of waiting bled into minutes. Finally, her eyes flickered open, sending a barrel of relief through Owen. She set her gaze on him, looking deeply confused. "Owen?"

Through his exhaustion and terror, Owen somehow managed to smile. "Hi."

Kara's features relaxed for a moment, before she looked up at the ceiling and spotted the flashing lights. Her eyes widened, and she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, groaning in pain as she did so. "How did you find me? The dinosaurs . . . they're . . ."

"They're everywhere. I know," Owen said, repositioning himself to sit cross-legged beside her. "We need to get out of here, Kara. The only problem is, I don't remember where the air lock is that leads us outside."

"Don't worry, I know where it is," Kara said. "I promise I'll get you there."

"But what about your leg?" Owen asked, pointing at her injury. Although the wound was now bandaged, there was a huge blood stain that had soaked through Kara's pant leg. "You lost a lot of blood, Kara. And you probably will have trouble walking."

Kara sighed, looking at the ground. "A dinosaur got me with it's claw, that's all it was. You have to promise me that as soon as the door opens, you go through, and then you get to the jungle to find the time watches. Do you promise?"

He stared back nervously, not sure what she was implying. How could she not leave if she had the chance? "Kara," he began, scoffing in disbelief. "It's almost like you're saying goodbye."

"That's because I am. This is the only way it's going to work. Once we get to the air lock, you need to get yourself outside and make a head start for the time watches."

"No." He shook his head, grabbing her by the shoulder. "Are you insane? _No_. I don't even know where they are, and there's no way I'm leaving you here. You'll get eaten!"

"I'll be fine. _You need to leave_ —"

"No, I'm not leaving. Not unless you come with me."

"This isn't an option, Owen," Kara said. "I'll get you to the air lock. But once we're there, just go, okay? Get to the time bracelets. The Countess said they're hidden in some type of underground tunnel. Get there, and you can get out of here. You can get to your friend. Do you promise you'll do it?"

"Kara . . ."

" _Do you promise_?"

Owen stared at her pleadingly. He wanted to say no, that he would never abandon her here. There was nothing left for her here. The prison was practically gone. What was she thinking, staying here? She was probably delirious from all the blood she'd lost.

But if he stayed here with her, things would go downhill quickly. First, they'd get eaten. Then, Nobody would track down Bethany, and both the fictional and nonfictional worlds would suffer. That was the best case scenario here.

"I promise," he said finally, hating himself for it. "But . . . I just don't understand why you can't come with me. Don't you see that the time prison is already gone? The dinosaurs broke out of their cages, and everyone is basically gone. You have no reason to stay!"

Kara shook her head sadly. "I need to stay at the time prison. If I get a time watch, I won't be helping anyone. I'll be destroying the world, one way or another. And if I go with you . . ." She looked at him. "I'll loose you, too."

"What?" he asked. "What do you mean?" When she didn't answer, he sighed. "You can tell me later. There's no point in staying here, okay? It's not safe. Besides, I really need your help. I can't do this by myself."

Slowly, she nodded. Owen stood up, extending a hand towards her. She took it, and with some difficulty, she stumbled to her feet. She seemed to be weak, especially considering her leg problem.

They began walking in a direction, Owen's arm wrapped around her shoulders to assist her with walking. As they made their way to the air lock that would lead them to freedom, Owen prayed that they wouldn't get attacked by any more dinosaurs. He was exhausted enough as it was, and he had too much anxiety right now to have yet _another_ thing to worry about.

Even with Kara's directions, it was hard to figure out where they were headed. The hallways they passed showed exactly how much damage the time prison had received from the dinosaurs attacking. Most of the building was destroyed, with chunks of the walls and ceiling missing. It was crazy that all of this had happened in such a short time.

Instead, he looked at Kara every so often, who had somehow gotten paler. She looked at everything with wide, sad eyes. She appeared to be in as much shock as Owen, if not more, given the fact that she wanted to stay here. She glanced at him, shaking her head with creased brows. "I can't believe it's _gone_."

Owen didn't have the heart or the energy to cheer her up. He attempted to smile, just to reassure her and himself that things would be alright, but he wasn't even sure if they _would_ be. As they neared the hallway where the air lock was, the sound of earth-shaking _thumps_ sent a shiver down Owen's spine.

He looked at Kara, who put a finger to her lips. He shakily nodded. They hovered right beside the hallway that would lead them to the air lock, each of them pressed up against the wall. The footfalls got closer, and then, a huge, clawed foot sunk deep into the floor right outside their hallway. Owen didn't breathe; he was frozen with fear. He craned his neck up, and up, and up, only to see the most terrifying dinosaur of them all: the T-Rex.

Owen nearly screamed. Before he could, he clamped a hand over his mouth, instead producing a small, strangled noise at the back of his throat. Luckily, the dinosaur didn't seem to hear him. He watched as the T-Rex opened and closed it's mouth, producing small growls every few seconds. As the T-Rex slowly walked away, Owen turned towards Kara.

"T-Rex," he mouthed, pointing a thumb at the dinosaur.

"I know," she mouthed back.

Owen gingerly poked his head into the hallway, then looked around. The T-Rex was walking away in the direction of where the air lock was. It hadn't turned around yet, which indicated that it hadn't sensed Owen and Kara. Yet.

He shuffled back and looked at Kara, who was leaning heavily against the wall. "The dinosaur is headed in the same direction as the air lock. Maybe first, we can tie ourselves up with pillows so we don't get hurt, and then, if we can distract it somehow . . ."

Kara shook her head and nearly giggled, but stopped herself. "Not the worst idea, but I don't think it would work. We're both weak. Our best chance is to sneak into the air lock as quietly as possible."

Owen made a face. "I hate this plan."

She smiled for the first time that night. "So do I."

After checking to make sure the T-Rex was still facing the other direction, Owen and Kara walked to the air lock, trying to keep as quiet as possible. As they got closer, Owen cringed, hoping that the T-Rex couldn't smell them. It had already eaten a bunch of people tonight, right? Maybe it was full for a change?

As they neared almost ten feet away from the air lock, the T-Rex stopped moving. It made a low, growling noise, then loudly sniffed the air. To Owen's horror, it twisted it's head around and unleashed a roar. It started running towards Owen and Kara. Kara gasped, then grabbed Owen's hand, half-pulling him towards the air lock despite her injured leg. But someone else got there first. And it wasn't the T-Rex.

The T-Rex roared in anger, leaning it's head down to take a bite of Owen and Kara, but suddenly, it dissolved. Not just one piece of it. The entire T-Rex disappeared in front of their eyes. As the dinosaur faded, a woman appeared, right behind where the T-Rex had been standing only a few seconds ago. It was the Countess. She held up a long, silky glove in her right hand, and it was glowing.

"What just happened?" Kara whispered to Owen, who's mouth was hanging open. She turned to the Countess. "You saved us?"

She began to cackle, her glowing gloved hand stretched out toward them as she stepped closer. "Oh, no, dear Kara. I did not save you. What you call 'saving' was only for my benefit. I can't have you two dying so quickly, not until you give me what I want."

"Wait, you set us up? Was 'helping us' all a trick?" Kara demanded, raising her fists.

The Countess sighed. "Of course, Ms. Dox. I would've expected you to figure it out by now, but I guess I was wrong. In the future, you disrupt plans that I've been working on for over half a century now. Then you'll turn me over to the TSA, who will send me here, to this _disgusting_ time prison." She made a face, then smiled. "Luckily for both of us, escape is optional now."

"So what does that glove do?" Owen asked, hoping she wasn't going to use it on him and Kara. Clearly, it had worked on the dinosaur.

The Countess looked down at her glowing glove, smiling down at it with adoration. "It devours time from your body, stripping you from your mortal existence and ravaging your physical form until your remains collapse into dust."

Huh. That was . . . new. "W-What do you want?" he asked, his voice quivering as his eyes darted back and forth from where the T-Rex had just been standing to the Countess.

"I want to get out of here, just like you do. And I want to get my hands on those time watches. Once I do, my plans will be fulfilled, and I'll be able to rule everything, forever! Adding onto that, I'll certainly make sure that _you_ , Ms. Dox, will suffer terribly."

"Did you ever think that threatening me now might be what makes me come after you in the future?" Kara asked, crossing her arms. "If you leave us alone, it's not too late. We won't interfere with your plans, whatever they are."

"Yeah," Owen added, nodding along. "We won't mess up your plans, even if you _are_ creeping me out."

The Countess rolled her eyes, stepping closer to them. Owen backed away out of reach of her glowing glove. "I think it's far too late for that. I would never take either of you at your word. If I did, I wouldn't be here, locked in this time prison." She moved to the air lock and pressed her gloved hand into it. The door made a hissing noise, then slowly dissolved into a pile of dust.

"Let's play a game," she said, turning back to Owen and Kara. "Whoever gets to the time watches first . . . wins."

"What happens if we lose?" Owen asked, glaring hard at her.

She smiled. "You get to watch each other die. It's only fair, after everything you put me through."

_What?_ Owen thought. Why on earth would the Countess want that? Why was everyone in this time prison crazy? Why couldn't one single person want to help him and Kara? This book _definitely_ belonged in the horror section. There was no doubt about it.

"You're a monster!" Kara shouted, starting to lunge towards her. But the Countess held out her glove, and Kara quickly backed out of her reach.

"I'll give you both a head start," she said with a sickening laugh, moving behind them and pushing them both through the air lock and into the jungle. "If I were you, I'd _run_."

* * *

It had taken Kiel longer than he expected to find what he was looking for, along with all the necessary materials that came with it. He and Elijah had spent the entire afternoon at the library, scrounging the internet for Christmas gift supplies. Once they'd collected the information they needed, Kiel had asked Ms. Conners for some wrapping paper . . . whatever that was.

He wasn't sure exactly what "wrapping paper" meant, but it seemed to be some type of paper that was wrapped around a Christmas gift. The good part was, she gave him some for free! He wasn't sure why she kept helping him, but he was grateful for it. It wasn't like he had any money laying around, anyway.

After getting the wrapping paper and Bethany's present, he and Elijah rushed back home to prepare the perfect gift. Having no experience with this, the boy magician had a lot of difficulty wrapping it by himself. Eventually, he gave up trying to make it look perfect and decided it was ready. He was positive that as long as Bethany liked it, that was all that mattered. He only cared about gaining her trust back, not about anything else.

It was late Christmas morning when Kiel decided to stop by the library, feeling hopeful that Bethany might be there. Maybe she wouldn't be, because this was a nonfictional holiday. But then again, she was always at the library. Why would today be any different?

Kiel teleported to the back of the library, shuddering slightly once he caught sight of the same spot he'd been nearly choked to death. He grimaced, rubbing his still-sore neck at the memory. It wasn't nice to think about. During the fight, he'd been so weak. Kiel Gnomenfoot didn't _do_ weak. He won everything, didn't he?

The only thing it reminded him of was that he needed to fight back against Oliver, and he needed to _win_ this time. He still had to come up with a plan, but that could always wait until tomorrow. He had plenty of time for now.

Straightening his shoulders, Kiel walked around the side of the building, hoping that Bethany would be there. He hoped she wouldn't get mad again, because that was the _last_ thing he wanted to happen. No, this would all work out. It would. Even Charm acted like she hated him, but she obviously didn't. He was too amazing for anyone to hate him.

"Kiel, how are you doing? Does your throat still hurt?" Ms. Conners asked as he entered the library. She looked concerned. She had asked him this yesterday too, when he borrowed the wrapping paper from her.

"Only every time I speak," Kiel joked, adding a wink to his statement.

She smiled. "How come you're here on Christmas? Shouldn't you be with your family?"

He started to say something, then quickly cut himself off, almost forgetting that she didn't know his real identity. "Um, yes. I was. I actually need to give a gift to Bethany." He scooped up the wrapped present from his bag, feeling a sense of pride that he'd put this together all on his own. He gently placed the gift back inside and looked over at the rows of bookcases, searching for Bethany. "Is she here?"

Ms. Conners nodded. "You probably shouldn't startle her too much. She's been reading this sci-fi-looking novel ever since she got here an hour ago."

Kiel grinned. "I won't."

As he made his way through the library, searching for her, he began to feel a little bit nervous. Last time he checked, she had stated a number of things, calling him a liar, and telling him to "stop following her around." Right. There was that. It had been a slightly disheartening to know she thought those things about him. But he couldn't let her words stop him from being her friend.

Deciding not to back out of it, Kiel pushed forward along the bookcases, his eyes scanning for any signs of his redheaded friend.

* * *

  
Bethany turned to the last page of her chapter, reading all the way to the end. She was shocked at how quickly things had escalated in _Pick The Plot_. First, with the dinosaurs escaping their cages. She'd only seen the first _Jurassic Park_ movie, but from what she could gather, the author of _Pick The Plot_ had heavily based most of their storyline on it. Then, everything seemed to have gone downhill for Owen and Kara. They survived the dinosaur attacks, yes, but how would they outrun the Countess?

Bethany sighed tiredly, using her knuckles to rub her eyes. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night, but this morning made up for it. Since it was only her and her mother, there weren't many gifts exchanged. But Bethany didn't really mind. She was used to that.

What she appreciated most was the warm, cheery sensation during Christmas morning, which gave off the vibe that anything was possible. It sounded incredibly cheesy, almost like she herself were a superhero. Not that she'd ever think of herself as one, because she really _could care less_ about superhero comics.

She heard footsteps come around the corner, near the children's section where she was sitting. The footsteps belonged to a raven-haired boy, who had his back turned to her as he entered the children's section, looking around. He seemed to be searching for something. Then, he looked her way, and Bethany's heart leapt in her throat. It was Kiel.

Kiel stared at her for a few seconds, not saying anything at first. Then, he walked over to her. "I got you something." He retrieved a small, rectangular box from his bag and handed it to her. At the same time, Bethany rose from her seat and positioned herself in front of him. As he passed it to her, she curled her fingers around it, gazing for a moment at his hand on the gift.

"But . . . I don't have anything for you," Bethany said, looking back up at him. She felt both surprised at the gift and guilty that she'd driven him away. She glanced down at the box in her hands, which was loosely and messily wrapped in blue reindeer wrapping paper. If she didn't know any better she would assume that Kiel had wrapped it himself.

"It's okay," Kiel said, flashing her a meaningful smile. "Good Christmas."

"Yeah. _Merry_ Christmas," she corrected. Despite the fact that they weren't friends anymore, a smile curved onto Bethany's lips. She couldn't tell if he was faking it or not, but he still seemed to have trouble with modern phrases and objects. In a way, it was kind of cute.

She leaned down and put the box into her backpack. When she stood up, he was already walking out of the children's section. She hurried after him, stopping once he was in sight. "Hey, Kiel?"

Only a few feet away, Kiel turned around. She placed her hand on a bookcase. "How was your Christmas?"

He smiled at her. "It was good. I probably didn't do it right, though. I hope you like your gift." He started walking away, then glanced back and threw his signature wink at her. "I guess I'll see you at school."

"See you at school," Bethany echoed, watching him leave. Maybe she had made a mistake to judge him so quickly, after all. No, scratch that. She _definitely_ had judged him too quickly.

She walked back to her beanbag chair and sat down, placing Kiel's gift in her lap. She couldn't believe he had gotten her a Christmas gift. Trying her best to suppress a smile, she gently opened the gift, being extra careful not to damage whatever was inside.

After ripping all the wrapping paper off, the gift was revealed to be a hardback book, similar to the thousands she'd read before. The cover depicted a boy clothed in black, with a cape flying majestically behind him in the wind. The title was printed in elegant, golden letters: _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source of Magic._

"Really?" Bethany whispered, staring at the book in disbelief. He'd gotten her a Kiel Gnomenfoot book? She would've laughed if they were still friends. And she _definitely_ wouldn't be lying if she said this gift didn't annoy her the slightest bit.

She sighed, running her fingers over the texture of the book. Even though he had gotten her a book she probably would never read, the gesture still caused a warm feeling to blossom in her chest. She almost wanted to run out the door and thank him just for getting her something, but she quickly decided against it.

Instead, she turned her attention back to _Pick The Plot_ , set on reading at least another chapter before the day was over.

* * *

They'd been running for the past thirty minutes.

Owen was panting, his legs burning and his hair slick with sweat. He was exhausted, but with the Countess's ominous threat hanging over them, he knew they had to get to the time watches as fast as they could.

Racing beside him, Kara swatted a leaf out of her face. "I . . . think . . . we . . . need . . . to . . . stop . . ."

"What . . . ?" Owen breathlessly asked. He turned to her, but she was already coming to a stop. He did the same, nearly colliding into a tree in front of him. He coughed violently, placing a hand on his chest. When he finally regained his breath enough to speak, he looked at her. "We have to get there before the Countess does. We can't stop running, Kara."

She shook her head. "The jungle is huge. She said the time watches would be in an underground tunnel, but she didn't say _where_. I don't think she knows where they are, either." She glanced around at their surroundings, then perked her head up. "Do you hear that?"

He frowned. "Hear what?"

Kara motioned for him to follow, then pushed through the trees. He walked behind her, completely on edge. At every turn, he felt like a dinosaur would jump out at them. So far, their run had been surprisingly uninterrupted. Owen had expected to see at least one dinosaur, but instead, he didn't. Occasionally, he'd hear the distant roar of one or two. But since it was nighttime, they appeared to be sleeping.

"Where are you going?" Owen asked, staring at the back of her head.

"Somewhere that might be a shortcut," Kara said, then placed her hand on a tree and stopped. With her other hand, she pointed somewhere right below them. " _There_."

Owen followed her gaze, then inhaled sharply. It was the same ravine they'd ventured across using the rope bridge, except this time, the water rose higher, and the roar of the waves was much louder than before.

Surprised, he looked at Kara. "How'd you know this was here?"

"I found it yesterday," she told him. "Compared to the other ravine, it's a lot less high up than you think. If we cross it, we should be able to get to the time watches faster."

Owen shook his head over and over. "There's no way we can go across there. The sun hasn't even risen yet! And there isn't a bridge!"

"We don't need a bridge," Kara said. "Luckily for us, there's a log that'll get us across."

He looked back at the ravine, searching for the log she was talking about. Several feet ahead of them, he saw a long log, which connected their side of the cliff to the opposite side. Hesitantly, he walked up to the fallen log, surveying its condition. It was covered with moss and the wood looked worn out, but he hoped the log would still be sturdy enough to hold someone his and Kara's size.

"Fine," Owen said, mustering up his courage. "I _really_ don't want to die, but I guess we're doing this."

Kara grinned at him, then briefly squeezed his hand. He was thankful it was still dark out, or else she probably could've seen that he was blushing.

"I can go first," she offered, stepping in front of him.

"Okay. But be careful," he said, his eyes darting nervously to the rushing water below.

She took a step onto the wide log, stretching her hands on either side of her for balance. She took another slow step, her eyes trained on her feet. The log creaked slightly, but seemed to hold steady. She managed to slowly walk across halfway before turning back to him and calling, "C'mon, Owen! It's safe!"

She took another step, and the floor underneath her groaned loudly. The end of the log dipped downwards, causing Kara to trip and crash into the log, her hands automatically curling around it. Before Owen could comprehend what was happening, the rest of the log tilted all the way down, and the log, including Kara, fell.

" _KARA_!" Owen screamed as she hit the water, her head disappearing under the waves. He heard the roar of a dinosaur behind him and didn't stop to think. He ran over to the edge and stood there, his legs shaking so hard that they threatened to buckle beneath him. He was afraid, but the thought of Kara possibly drowning was enough to propel him forward, and he jumped straight into the water.

The next thing he was aware of was a bone-chilling shock that coursed through his body. Despite the warm temperature of the jungle, the water was _freezing_. Owen's eyes flew open, and he found himself in pitch-blackness. The current pushed hard against him, propelling his body against his will. He couldn't tell which way was up and which was down.

Completely disoriented, Owen choked, sucking in a mouthful of water. He desperately pumped his arms and legs, trying to regain control. But it was hard to see, and he could even tell where he was going, or what direction he was facing. He kicked his legs more forcefully, ignoring their soreness. After a several tries, he finally broke through the surface, gasping for air.

He held his hands out on either side of them, trying his best to stay afloat. The water continued shoving him, threatening to push him underneath the waves. He fought against it and managed to raise his head a few inches above the waves. "Kara!"

Owen sucked in another mouthful of water, and he coughed. He strained his eyes through the dark, trying to catch sight of where she'd gone. With the waves that endlessly pounded into him, combined with the cold and the terror he was feeling, he couldn't concentrate. He could only focus on keeping himself above the water.

Then, he heard Kara's voice from somewhere ahead. "Owen!"

He gasped, then began moving with the current instead of against it, trying to get to her. "Kara! Kara, I'm —" A wave washed over him, sending him tumbling back underwater. Darkness overcame him, and his lungs soon burned for air. He kicked upward with all his might, not even sure if he was going in the right direction.

Then, he collapsed into something, and he felt a hand latch around his wrist. Someone pulled him up, and he choked for air above the surface of the waves. Weakly, he glanced over and saw Kara, who was still holding him tightly. She lifted a hand above the water and pointed somewhere to the right. "Swim there!"

Owen was too tired to say anything, instead allowing Kara to lead the way. His wrist still clamped in her grasp, he followed her direction and kicked with all his might, trying to evade the strong current. It barely felt like they'd made it two feet before the current tugged even more strongly, now completely impossible to fight against.

He and Kara desperately pushed against the current, trying in vain to get to whatever Kara had seen, but it was too late. Before Owen could even shout a warning, the water dipped, and world slipped out from underneath them. He lost his hold on Kara, and the last thing he remembered was free-falling off the cliff of the waterfall, tumbling head-first into the darkness below.

* * *

A few days later was the start of the new year, and upon arriving back at school, Bethany discovered an unusual amount of excitement among the students that hadn't been there before. She didn't know if it was from Christmas, or just the fact that it was officially a new year, but something had shifted in the air.

"Did you know that less than two percent of the population has red hair?" Oliver stated during lunch, straightening his round, thin-framed glasses.

It had been a strange sort of surprise for Bethany to find Oliver sitting at her table as she arrived for lunchtime. She didn't understand why he was sitting here again, but she didn't think too hard on it. He probably just wanted to make some new friends. She understood that. Her whole life, she'd had plenty of difficulty with making friends.

"I didn't," Bethany replied, trying to seem busy with her food, because Oliver had some _strange_ conversation starters. She didn't know why, but she always felt a little bit uncomfortable when he was around. He seemed nice enough, though. So why did she feel that?

"I have not met many girls that have red hair. Your color is remarkable. Is it natural?"

Bethany almost choked on her food, feeling slightly awkward at the compliment. But she nodded anyway. "It's natural. My dad's hair was red, too."

"Was? Oh, that's in the past tense. If I'm assuming correctly, is he dead?"

"Yes," she said in a small voice, leaning back into her chair. She cleared her throat, trying to seem unhurt. "But I don't really feel like talking about that. It's kind of personal."

"Ow!" Oliver suddenly cried, yanking his foot up and bending down to touch the back of his ankle.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there," a voice said. Bethany looked up to see Kiel, who had a concerned expression on his face but his tone was insincere. She felt a strange wash of relief.

Oliver smiled and turned to face Kiel. "As long as you never do that again, it's alright."

Kiel clenched his jaw but didn't say anything as he sat down a few seats away, placing his tray of food down. Bethany turned back to Oliver, who was still rubbing his ankle.

"What happened?" she asked.

"He accidentally stepped on the back of my ankle when he was walking to his seat. I'm sure it was just an honest mistake, though."

Bethany nodded. That made sense. She looked over at Kiel, who was staring at her from across the table. She stared back for a second before shaking her head and looking away.

She missed his company, but she knew it was for the best that they weren't friends. She knew that he wasn't a criminal, but he had lied about being German, which was what he claimed so convincingly to be. It was wrong to lie about things like that. It was something she'd never seen coming. She still didn't understand what made him do it, but then again, she assumed she never would.

* * *

_"Your eyes, they shine so bright. I want to save their light. I can't escape this now, unless you show me how . . ."_


	13. Bethany’s Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiel hatches a plan, Owen searches for Kara in the jungle, and Bethany makes a mistake that changes the course of her life.

**_Snow (by Jome)  
  
_**

_“In an afternoon, we left it open. Kept the pages clean . . .”_

* * *

Kiel sank deeper into the shadows, crouching low behind a few bushes as he waited with growing impatience. The night was quiet and still, barely a noise to be heard besides Kiel's shallow breathing.

He had been crouched here for about an hour, just waiting for the right moment. It was nighttime, and the sun had descended into the horizon a few hours ago. Given that it was difficult to see anything at this time of day, it was the perfect time to sneak around.

It was what Kiel had been desperately craving. He needed to _do_ something, not wait. And he'd waited long enough, nearly three weeks for this.

Finally, a dark figure appeared in front of the house he'd been watching, then looked left and right before opening the door. Kiel leaned forward on his toes, digging his hands into the cold snow. Inside the house, the lights on the bottom level flickered on. Kiel held his breath, checked his own surroundings, then started walking across the backyard to the house's largest window.

After he came home from school, Kiel had rummaged through his spell book, looking for the best tracking spell he could find. _The Illumination of Location_ , as it was called. Once he found it, he cast it, picturing Oliver Bines' face in his mind. To his surprise, the location spell had not only worked, but it also led him straight to the house Oliver had been staying at. Kiel suspected it wasn't actually his house, and the unfortunate people who lived there were most likely on vacation.

He would've been lying if he said he hadn't felt great satisfaction from stepping, quite forcefully, on Oliver's ankle this morning. As he was walking to his seat, he had heard snippets of Bethany and Oliver's conversation. Once he brought up her father, who Bethany assumed was dead, Kiel had had it. That was _enough_. Before Oliver could say anything else to ruin their lives, Kiel didn't think as he purposelessly stepped on his ankle, just for the fun of it.

He knew Oliver might attempt to beat him up later for it, but he was sick of this boy hanging around, almost like a pesticide. Oliver had been here _long enough_ , and he'd ripped Bethany's trust from Kiel. Oliver was only here because of Nobody, and clearly, Nobody wasn't giving up with his evil plans. Oliver needed to leave. Tonight.

Earlier that afternoon, right as the sun set, Kiel followed the path of his location spell and found himself in the backyard of a house. It was there that he devised a plan, although his plan could hardly be called a _plan_. It only included the goal of casting a forget spell on Oliver, then getting his spell back and using that to send Oliver back to his world.

Since he was the one breaking into Oliver's house, he figured everything would go smoothly. Once Kiel got ahold of Oliver, this would all be over in moments, with or without magic. He wasn't worried about his plan backfiring. His plans always worked, and even if everything went sour, they _always_ ending up working in his favor. There was _no_ way Oliver would see this coming.

"I think it's time for a forget spell," Kiel said under his breath, a mischievous smile growing on his face as he crept up beside the window. He placed both hands on the bottom of the window, then slowly rolled it up. Kicking the snow off his shoes, he heaved himself onto the window ledge and landed gracefully on the floor of the house.

He allowed himself a second to look around. He had climbed into a small room with a desk and a bookcase in the corner. He slid his wand-knives out of their holsters, then stepped out into the hallway. The hallway was fairly bright, which gave Kiel a disadvantage. He assured himself that Oliver was the only one with the disadvantage. He'd be the only one losing his memories, after all.

Then, he heard a small grunt behind him. Kiel whipped around, wand-knives raised and ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice. Instead, he saw Elijah on the floor of the same window he'd just entered from.

Kiel's eyes widened, and he walked over as quietly as he could. "Elijah," he whispered in an annoyed tone. "You were _following_ me?"

Elijah brushed some snow off his pants and pushed himself off the ground, stumbling a bit. "For once, don't be an idiot. I know what you're planning. You've had that crazy glint in your eye ever since you got back from school. You're going after that Oliver boy without me, Kiel."

Kiel sighed. "You shouldn't have come. It's a lot easier to do fights without others getting in my way."

The man gave him a look. "You need my help and you know it. Last time you tried fighting Oliver, he choked you. Stop acting like you're the only one who can do anything. You can't, not against someone this strong."

"I'm not acting like that," Kiel shot back. "I'm just _sick_ of Oliver hanging around. I need to get rid of him, and —"

"And you think you know what's good for everyone else," Elijah finished, his voice quiet. "I want to help. Let me! You can do your crazy magic, but if it doesn't work, I want to be there to back you up."

Kiel glanced towards the hallway, then nodded. "Alright. I'm going to cast a forget spell on him, and then I'll get my spell back. Should be easy." He grinned a little bit. "I'll just have to soldier on through this fight and hope that my natural talent and intelligence is enough to outwit Oliver."

Elijah snorted. "You _are_ crazy. What intelligence and talent are you talking about?"

Kiel rolled his eyes. "I have those things and you know it." He turned his hands around, looking down at his wand-knives. He glanced back at Elijah. "It feels good to fight with magic again. There's no way we'll lose this time."

Elijah uneasily smiled back, then gestured towards the room's exit. "Let's just go. The sooner we get rid of Oliver, the better."

The boy magician held up his wand-knives out in front of him, quietly creeping into the hallway again. He didn't hear any noises except for some soft classical music playing in a nearby room, which kept him slightly on edge.

Behind him, Elijah followed, although given the fact that he was much bigger than Kiel, he wasn't as skilled with sneaking around. Every few seconds, Elijah would step soundly on the floor, and Kiel would flinch, expecting Oliver to appear at any moment. For some reason, he didn't.

As they rounded the corner, they entered the living room, which had several cushioned chairs and a TV in the corner. Kiel started to walk closer, then saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head towards it, then gasped.

It was his spell, framed to the wall like some kind of painting! Forgetting everything else, Kiel strode across the room and looked up at it, feeling disgusted. He stood on his toes, trying to reach it. Despite being shorter than Kiel, Oliver had somehow managed to place the spell several feet out of Kiel's reach. The walls were also very tall, which was another thing that added difficulty to this.

"Kiel!" Elijah shouted suddenly, standing at the other side of the room. "Watch out!"

Kiel only had a moment to look back in surprise before something knocked the wind out of him, sending him falling across the floor. He groaned loudly, clutching his still-healing ribs. Laughter filled his ears.

"I figured you would come," Oliver said, smiling coldly as he stood over Kiel. "Are you here for a rematch? You know _exactly_ how well that ended last time." He glanced at the other side of the room. "And I see you've brought a friend. What, you think you can beat me?"

Kiel raised his eyebrows, masking his pain with a forced grin. "I think we have a better chance against you, now that you mention it. Clearly, you didn't see how amazing all of my talents were. Any other day and I would've beat you, fair and square. You only caught me off-guard."

Oliver stepped closer. "I don't think I did, Kiel," he said, causing a shiver to run down Kiel's spine. "I think you're just _weak_ , and you weren't expecting to be shown otherwise."

"Don't listen to him, Kiel!" Elijah shouted, walking closer with a guarded stance.

That was enough! "Are you expecting _this_?" Kiel aimed his wand-knives at Oliver and mumbled a spell.

Instantly, lightning launched from the tips of the wands, hurtling straight towards the boy. Oliver's eyes widened, and he threw himself to the side, landing on one of the chairs. Some of the lighting had managed to hit him, and Oliver frantically patted at his sizzling clothes and hair.

Kiel quickly stood up, pointing his wand-knives directly at Oliver. From the other side of the room, Elijah rushed over to stand next to Kiel. The two backed away from Oliver, who was scrambling to his feet. He observed the two of them, fire in his eyes. "If you're trying to ambush me, you'll never be successful. You think you'll defeat me, two against one?" He chuckled. "You won't. Nobody has made sure of it."

"Nobody is a liar," Kiel said. "You shouldn't be listening to him, whatever he's paying you with. It's not too late to give up, you know. Stop separating Bethany from me, and you'll find that the fictional world will be better off."

"He's right," Elijah said. "We're all from the same world. Our world will get destroyed if Bethany is not rejoined."

Oliver stared at them for a moment, then sneered. "I could care _less_ about that."

"Good," Kiel said, tilting his head. "If you don't care, then stop working for Nobody. Stop trying to stop my plans. You'll definitely be doing me a favor." He aimed both wand-knives at him, just in case. "Who are you really?"

The boy didn't move. "My name is Oliver Bines. I don't use a fake name, unlike you, Kiel Gnomenfoot."

"If you don't have a popular book series, maybe," Kiel said, winking at him. "I've never even _heard_ of an Oliver Bines book series. It's a shame you don't have any fans, unlike me who has _millions_."

Elijah grinned, nudging Kiel as they watched Oliver grow angrier. Oliver balled his hands into fists. "Book series? What are you talking about?"

"Nobody didn't tell you?" Kiel asked, feeling more confident by the second. He stepped closer to Oliver. "I learned the same thing a couple of years ago. I'm a fictional character, and so are you! You're not as smart as you think you are."

"ENOUGH!" Oliver shouted, silencing Kiel. "I see what you're doing. I've observed you for a long time now. I know your tricks, and I know what you're thinking. You're trying to distract me by talking. That's your signature move, isn't it? Once I'm distracted, your plan is to get your spell back, then use it to send me away."

Next to Kiel, Elijah gasped. "How did you know all of that?"

Oliver looked pleased with himself. "I'm a highly intelligent world class tracker and murderer. In this case, I haven't been ordered to murder any subjects." He made a face. "Pity. Just by observing you, I can easily decipher your next moves, your thoughts, and your emotions. Judging from the way you're standing, Kiel's friend —"

"Elijah," Elijah interrupted.

"Is planning to grab the spell, but not until Kiel has cast a forget spell on me." He narrowed his eyes at them. "Nobody has chosen me for a reason: I know everything, and there's no way to beat me."

Kiel cursed himself for not thinking this could happen. When it came to dangerous situations, he normally thought things through — at least for a second — before fearlessly jumping into a fight. He had no qualms about putting himself in danger, but his success depended on defeating Oliver. He _would_ defeat him, he'd just do it differently.

Before anyone could say anything, Kiel tightened his grip around his wand-knives and murmured a spell. At the same time as the spell hit, Oliver managed to dodge it with superhuman speed. Kiel gritted his teeth, then cast a ice spell on the ground beneath Oliver's feet, which made it incredibly slippery. With a surprised shout, Oliver slipped and fell to the floor.

As soon as he tried getting back up, Kiel cast another spell, which made Oliver immobile, aside from his eyes. He made a growling noise as his eyes focused on Kiel, glaring daggers at him.

Elijah laughed, slapping Kiel on the back. "Kiel, you did it!"

Kiel started to grin, marveling at his incredible talents, but then he realized something was wrong, _very_ wrong. When under this spell, the recipient was completely unable to move. Although they were slow movements, Oliver was starting to move. First, his arms twitched. Then, his legs moved. With each movement, Oliver was gaining speed. Soon, he'd be free of the spell.

"This doesn't normally happen," Kiel whispered to Elijah. Fear washed over him, a feeling that was foreign and unreal. He wasn't used to being afraid.

With wide eyes, he watched as Oliver lifted a hand with ease, then used it to pull himself up into a sitting position. Before he could get anywhere, Kiel lunged towards him, bending down and hooking his arms around the boy's neck. Oliver made another growling sound, and then — to Kiel's growing horror — began fighting back with enormous strength. Kiel held him as tight as he could, grunting from the effort of holding Oliver down.

"Elijah!" Kiel cried, Oliver's fingernails crawling at him with an unusual strength as he held tightly him in a headlock. "Get the spell!"

"Getting it!" Elijah said, hurrying over to where the spell hung on the wall. Since he was tall, he could easily see it. "I'm going to recite it. Is that what you want?"

"Yes!" the boy magician gasped as Oliver thrashed around. He leaned his body partly on top of him, attempting to hold him steady.

Out of the corner of his vision, Kiel saw Elijah standing in front of the wall. As he began reciting the spell, Oliver thrashed around more violently, sending various blows to Kiel's body as he struggled. Elijah was nearly done reciting the spell when Oliver managed to break his arm free and elbowed Kiel in the chest. Kiel stumbled back from the impact, his grip on Oliver faltering.

Before he knew it, Elijah had finished the spell. For a moment, the three stopped moving, listening for any indication that the spell had worked. Then the ground shifted and a low, humming noise filled the room. A few feet away from where Elijah stood, a large force field of energy appeared, humming and vibrating with power. The force field of energy shifted and re-formed into a circle that closely resembled a portal.

Everything sped up. Oliver threw himself out of Kiel's grasp and whipped around, swinging his fist into Kiel's face. The boy magician grunted, falling to the floor from the impact.

As Kiel clutched his throbbing head, Oliver got to his feet and turned to Elijah. He quickly walked towards him, then threw his arm back and punched the man square in the chest.

Elijah gasped, clutching his chest as he backed away. Oliver grabbed him by the arms, banging him forcefully against the wall a few times. Elijah sent a well-placed kick into Oliver's stomach, sending him reeling backwards. He quickly recovered. He advanced towards Elijah, throwing a fist at him. Elijah caught him by the arm, and the two struggled against each other, breathing heavily as they shifted around the room.

Slowly, Kiel got to his feet. He decided that Elijah had it handled, at least for now. He quickly scanned the room for his wand-knives. They were several feet away, hidden halfway under a couch pillow. Just as he bent down to pick them up, he heard a grunting noise.

He looked over just in time to see Oliver and Elijah still fighting against each other, damaging several of the house's decorations. With a growl, Oliver stepped towards the direction of the portal. Without looking, he heaved Elijah off of him. The force of the push caused Elijah to stagger backward, tripping over a broken vase.

He began to fall — straight into the portal. He cried out, propelling his arms in every direction to stop his fall, but it was too late. As Elijah passed through the portal, the force field of energy seemed to glow brighter for a second, and the hissing grew louder. A split-second later, the sound dimmed, and the light returned to it's normal hue.

"No!" Kiel shouted, extending his hands in an effort to grab him. But he was already gone.

Oliver laughed, straightening up and turning to look at Kiel. "I was hoping to throw _you_ in there, but I guess putting sending both of you through there will be more efficient!"

Kiel didn't allow himself any time to think. He raised his wand-knives and recited the forget spell. The boy mustn't have been anticipating this, because he didn't react. The spell hit him dead-on, embedding itself deep into Oliver's mind. A cloud passed over his eyes. His face was wiped clean of emotion, appearing expressionless.

Then, Oliver blinked, and he was not the same boy as he was a minute ago. He shook his head, his eyebrows crinkling in confusion. "Where am I?"

Kiel lowered his wand-knives. He stayed where he was. "Do you know my name?"

Oliver scanned him up and down, then frowned. There wasn't an ounce of recognition in his eyes. "I . . . I don't."

He winked. "That's good to hear." He carefully stepped over the mess they'd made in the room, then plodded over to Oliver. He pointed at the portal. "It's time for you to go home."

"Where am I?" Oliver repeated, glancing at the portal. "What is this place? I don't remember. The last thing I remember is . . . sitting in my room."

Kiel winked again. "Don't worry about it, okay? You're a terrible person. That's all you need to know." He patted him on the shoulder. "You should go home. That portal will lead you there."

Oliver eyed him suspiciously. "Why should I trust you? I don't trust anyone at their word, not even my father."

Sighing with impatience, Kiel grabbed him by the shoulders and lightly pushed him into the portal. Oliver shouted in surprise, but the noise was barely audible above the loud buzzing from the portal. Oliver disappeared from view, vanishing into the portal. As if sensing it's cue, the portal shrunk into itself, evaporating in thin air.

Kiel stared at the spot the portal had just been, spots dancing before his eyes. He could barely process what had just happened. Everything was . . . over? Oliver was gone for good. Elijah, his only friend and company for three years, had been swept into the portal.

It was only him left. He was alone, he had survived Nobody's attempts to get rid of him, and now, all he needed to do was rejoin Bethany. But first came the hard part.

He needed to tell her the truth.

* * *

Owen woke up in a ditch, with mud caked to his hair and face, and a roaring stomachache. He opened his eyes and released a barely audible groan. Not only did his body hurt everywhere, but his mouth felt dryer than the Sahara desert. He rolled over to the side, leaning against a rock as he hacked up water. Once his coughing fit was over, he weakly sat up. For a minute, he stayed where he was, staring at the same bush in front of him and listening to the faint sound of a rushing waterfall nearby.

Then, the memory of last night hit him hard. He pushed himself to his feet, wobbling unsteadily out of the ditch. He looked to his left, then his right. Kara was gone.

Owen slowly breathed in and out, checking all his surroundings. Okay, this wasn't terrible. She had probably washed up somewhere close by. She would be okay.

He staggered in the direction of the waterfall, his feet completely encased in mud. As he walked past trees, he brushed his hands against them, using them for support. The chirping of crickets and other various insects filled his ears, loud enough to compete with the roaring of the waterfall. He broke out of the trees and entered a riverbank, where the water was flowing calmly.

Owen squatted down, cupping his hands beneath the water and splashing his face. He made a half-hearted effort to clean the patches of mud off of his face. He wiped some of the water on his clothes, as well as his shoes. Only some of it came off.

There was a small, chirping noise behind him. He froze, keeping his hands in place from where they'd been cleaning his shoes. What now? _More_ trouble?

He heard the noise again and whipped around, yelling at the top of his lungs to scare whatever it was away. What he found was the tiniest, _cutest_ dinosaur he'd ever seen. It was standing on a rock, it's eyes staring into Owen's and it's head tilted, as if it was confused.

Owen's smile became a life of it's own. "Aww! You are _adorable._ " He bent down, slowly extending his hand towards the dinosaur. "Can I pet you? Or adopt you? I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind."

The dinosaur stared at him for a moment, then turned it's attention to his hand. It leaned it's head closer to his hand, it's nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air.

"That's it," Owen said cheerfully. "A little closer . . ."

The dinosaur opened it's mouth, revealing sharp, jagged teeth. It lunged forward and clamped it's tiny mouth around Owen's fingers. The boy screamed, waving his arm desperately around. The dinosaur flew off of him, landing straight into the river several yards away.

Owen gasped, backing away from the river and clutching his hand. He looked down at it. There was bright red puncture marks all along three of his fingers. If it wasn't so painful, Owen would've probably marveled at how cool it looked. But it _was_ painful, so he hopped up and down, shouting in suprise. He hadn't expected that! Using his opposite arm, he mobbed the blood with his sleeve, hoping the pain would dissipate soon.

"Okay," he said once he got further into the jungle. He pulled a twig out of his hair. "There is _no_ way this day can get any—"

An earsplitting roar was heard right behind him, ruffling the leaves on the trees. Owen jumped about five feet in the air, and started to shake almost immediately. He slowly turned around, only to see a rhinoceros-looking dinosaur.

He let out a tired sigh and finished his statement. "Worse."

The dinosaur pawed at the ground with it's huge foot, spurring up heaps of dirt. It dipped it's head, then charged towards Owen. He dove to the left, landing hard on the ground and getting a face full of mud. Stupid mud! Why did it have to rain last night? Using his good hand, Owen wiped at his face and eyes, his vision slightly clouded. There was no way he'd get a chance to shower at this point.

He heard another roar, and the ground shook around him, knocking him further off balance. He threw a glance over his shoulder at the angry dinosaur, which was starting to turn back towards him. He dug his hands into the muddy earth and pushed himself to his feet. He took off at a sprint. Behind him, the dinosaur roared again, it's hot breaths licking the back of Owen's neck.

Panting, Owen ducked under a tree branch and switched directions, using his momentum to slide down a muddy hill. As he raced down, his feet slipped various times, and he nearly lost his footing. He reached the bottom and fell into a palm tree, his heart pounding rapidly. He placed both hands on the tree to steady himself, then peered up the hill he'd come down. The dinosaur raced past, clearly still believing it was chasing Owen.

Owen breathed out a sigh of relief. He leaned back against the tree and shook excess mud off his hands. He swiped the mixture of sweat and mud off his face and closed his eyes, allowing his heart rate to return to normal.

"Owen!" a voice called from somewhere in the distance. He opened his eyes and looked around, wondering if he'd imagined the voice.

The voice called his name again. Unmistakably, it was Kara's. Owen trudged in the direction he'd heard her shout, pushing tree branches and huge leaves out of the way. A soft breeze blew into Owen, much gentler compared to the storm that had come through last night. Out of all the things that could've made this day worse, at least the weather was holding up.

"Kara!" Owen called out, once he was certain he was getting closer. He listened closely for a reply, but he didn't get one. Somewhere in front of him, the trees began to rustle and shake. He heard loud footfalls, which were particularly slow.

Quickly, he ducked behind a few huge leaves. As the footfalls grew louder, he froze, not daring to move an inch. Dinosaurs could only detect movement, right? That was what _Jurassic Park_ had implied. On the other hand, the creators of that movie had never had to face actual, real life dinosaurs before. They probably didn't know what they were talking about.

Some feet away, Owen heard the creature take another step, then stop in its tracks. It sniffed the air loudly, then made a deep, earsplitting noise. Weirdly enough, it didn't sound like the roar of the T-Rex or the other huge dinosaurs. It was more like —

He lifted a shaking hand and slowly pushed the leaf down. Standing before him was a Brauchiosaurus, which Owen had only seen in _Jurassic Park_. It was one of the herbivores, and it's long neck extended to almost the full height of a tree.

Owen nearly gasped in relief. He got to his feet, feeling slightly dizzy from holding his breath. He stared up at the dinosaur, which was busy munching on some leaves on a tree. It chewed, swallowed, then looked down at Owen for a moment, as if noticing for the first time that he was there. After a few seconds of staring at each other, the dinosaur lost interest and turned back to it's leafy meal.

Behind the dinosaur, the leaves rustled nearby. Owen heard footsteps, except they weren't earth-shaking. They were very human-like. His hope surged. He skirted around the dinosaur and towards the noise, his legs carrying him faster than his mind was processing. He crashed through the trees and fell along the pathway. "Kara!"

"Owen?" Kara asked, sounding surprised. She came around the corner and pushed a leaf out of the way. She beamed. "You're okay!"

"Kara!" he shouted, grinning so hard that he thought his face might break. She was safe!

She ran straight to him, limping slightly. They collided into each other, and Owen gasped from the impact, but he didn't mind. He weaved his arms around her, holding tightly onto her and rubbing her back. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, inhaling the scent of her, which almost smelled like flowers.

Then, Kara pulled away. Owen took a step back, surveying her condition. Her leg was still bandaged, although the gauze seemed to have loosened, and it threatened to slip off. She was less dirty than Owen, but she still had a lot of dried up mud on her jumpsuit and face. Her hair was a wavy mess, and she continuously had to push her bangs out of her eyes.

She seemed to be analyzing him as well. She looked up at him. "You're covered in mud. Where did you come from?"

Owen laughed a little bit. He pointed a thumb behind him. "I woke up in a ditch near the river. And then, I got chased by a dinosaur. What about you?"

Kara shrugged. "Much of the same. I guess I woke up before you, because I couldn't find you anywhere." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "We gotta find the time bracelets. At this rate, the Countess might've gotten to them first."

"Don't say that," he said, shaking his head. "There's _no way_ she could've found them before us. We'll find them today. Before she does."

She forced a smile. "I appreciate your optimism, Owen. But if the Countess _does_ get to them first, she'll destroy everything. Without my time bracelet, I'm not sure how much I can do to stop her."

"We'll find them," Owen repeated with forced enthusiasm, although he felt much of the same as Kara did. He glanced around. "What direction do you think they'd be in?"

"They'd probably be farther into the jungle, away from the Time Security Agency," Kara said. "That's how the creators would've made it, so there's no way anyone can easily stumble across it. The river got us there faster, so now we have to keep traveling north."

"Which way is north?" Owen asked, squinting his eyes towards the sun. He had never really payed attention in school. Not voluntarily, at least.

Kara pointed straight ahead of them. "That way."

"Okay." He nodded. He looked sideways at her and starting walking. She took a deep breath, then followed beside him.

"This is just like what happened in _Jurassic Park_ ," Owen told her as he stepped over a large rock. "Did I ever tell you about it?"

Kara considered this for a moment, then shook her head. He smiled at the idea of teaching her another pop-culture reference. "It's a movie about dinosaurs. At one point, the group gets lost in the jungle and has to fend for themselves against the dinosaurs."

"Does the story end well?" she asked. "Do they escape?"

"Of course they do! It wouldn't be much of a story if they all died!" He left out the part that not all of the group had survived, but at least the main characters had. The main characters always survived.

" _That's_ good to hear," she said, tracing her hand along the bark of a palm tree. She looked over at him, then down at his hand. She gasped, grabbing him by the wrist and observing his injured hand. "Owen, _what happened_?"

"Oh," he said, trying to seem nonchalant. "This? I was . . . um . . ."

Kara's frown deepened. He sighed, his face burning from what he was about to say. "A dinosaur bit me. It was a really small one."

She opened her mouth to say something, then laughed. "Really?"

Owen twisted his hand out of her grasp and folded his arms across his chest. "That is _not_ funny. My fingers could've fallen off!"

She laughed again, even harder. She leaned over and clutched her stomach until tears came to her eyes. It was infectious. Owen's attempt at a serious facade crumbled, and after a moment, he was cracking up too. He didn't remember until then how good it felt to laugh over nothing, even if 'nothing' meant getting your fingers bitten by the world's tiniest dinosaur.

* * *

With renewed purpose, Kiel teleported to Bethany's neighborhood, set on marching up to her front porch and telling her everything. He appeared on the sidewalk in front of her house, where a small pile of snow was shoveled to the side. Kiel slowly breathed in the frigid night air and glanced up at Bethany's window, his feet suddenly growing cold. The light in her room was on.

Kiel took another deep breath, gathering his thoughts. "Bethany," he said aloud, holding his hands up. "Since Oliver's gone forever, I need to tell you —"

He shook his head. "No, that doesn't work." He thought for a moment, then continued. "Bethany, this isn't the real you. The truth is, you were born half-fictional, with the power to jump into books." Kiel made a face. "No. That doesn't sound right."

"The reason I've been lying to you this past month is because I'm actually Kiel Gnomenfoot, and I needed to hide my identity from the nonfictional world. You're half-fictional. Well, you _were_. Past tense. I came here to rejoin you with your fictional self." He nodded to himself. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Do you have a plan for getting Bethany to Jupiter City?" a voice asked from behind Kiel.

Kiel jumped, turning around to see a normal-looking man wearing a long overcoat. Since it was dark, his features were barely visible. Kiel placed his hands on his wand-knives, squinting his eyes through the dark. "How do you know about Bethany?"

The man laughed a little bit, shaking his head. He raised his palms towards Kiel. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. No need to get defensive. I'm a friend of Bethany's father."

Kiel's eyes widened. "Wait, what? You are?"

The man nodded, walking over to Kiel from where he'd been leaning against his car. "My name is Murray Chase. And you're Kiel Gnomenfoot. I've heard about you." Kiel watched, backing away from the man as he took a seat on the curb. Murray patted the spot next to him. "I'm sure you have many questions."

Warily, Kiel sat next to him. He figured that he should ignore the man and talk to Bethany. She needed to rejoin herself. And he really should find Owen. It wouldn't do to postpone this, but he didn't have much of a choice. "How do you know Bethany's father? Are you a superhero, just like Doc Twilight is?"

Murray laughed again. "Me, a superhero? No, of course not. I'm the artist of the _Doc Twilight_ comic books."

"Comic book?" Kiel repeated. He wracked his brain for the definition. He remembered Owen showing him some, but the memory was foggy. "Those are the thin books with pictures, right?"

"Right," Murray confirmed. "When Christian — Bethany's father — came into this world, he and his wife talked to me and the author of the Doc Twilight comics, Mason Black. I was really thrilled to meet him. We became fast friends." He stretched out his feet, his eyes drifting to the ground. "Things went downhill after Bethany was born. She told you about her fourth birthday party, right?"

Kiel nodded.

"That was the night Christian returned to the fictional world, but not as himself. Nobody used him, turning him into the villain of his story. Because of Nobody, he lost his memories. He turned into a villain called the Dark." Murray took a deep breath. "After that, I dressed up as Doc Twilight and tried getting rid of the Dark. I thought that maybe I could convince him to change back . . . somehow. I didn't realize it, but Bethany and that friend of hers, Owen, followed me through the portal. They thought I was the real Doc Twilight. When Bethany realized that the _Dark_ was her father, not me, she used her powers to transform into light. She defeated the Dark, and Christian turned back to his real self."

Kiel nodded, recognizing this story. "Gwen told me about this. My friend Charm gave her those powers." He looked at the man. "So how exactly did Bethany split into two halves?"

Murray sighed. "I'm not exactly sure. But I know it was Nobody. Right after Bethany saved us all, he returned me back to my own world before I could stop him."

"Nobody definitely likes to ruin our lives," Kiel murmured.

"I've wanted to stop him," Murray quietly responded. "But I'm only a comic book artist. I don't have the skills to do that." He glanced back at Bethany's house. "I've been worried about her, and about the fictional world. She can't keep going on like this, existing as only half a person."

"You're right, she can't," Kiel agreed. "Which is why I need to talk to her. She doesn't remember anything about her life when she was half-fictional. Before I rejoin her, I have to convince her to come with me."

Murray smiled. "Good luck. You're going to need it." He stood up, brushing off his pants. "My house is at Ditko Drive. It's a few neighborhoods past here. It's a tall, thin house squished between two normal-sized buildings. You can't miss it. If you come during the day, I usually leave the door unlocked since I'm working at home. In my basement, there's a portal that'll take you to Jupiter City. Once you have Bethany, you can come over to my house and enter Jupiter City that way, since she doesn't have her powers anymore."

Kiel grinned without even knowing it. "That was helpful of you. _Thank you."_

Murray smiled back. "Don't thank me just yet. It's all I can do to help." He started walking away, back to his car.

Kiel rose from the curb. "Um, Mr. Chase?"

Murray turned back. "What's up?"

"How come Bethany never knew about you? If you were a friend of her father, why didn't you talk to her before she followed you into Jupiter City?"

The man sighed, rubbing a hand across his forehead. "I wanted to, but me and her mother had an agreement. I wasn't supposed to encourage Bethany in her fictional . . . tendencies. After her fourth birthday party, her mother asked me to give them space. We remained friends without telling Bethany. For years, I've been watching her. Only recently did I find out she'd been jumping into books against her mother's wishes. It was too late to do anything about it, anyway. By that time, Bethany was split in two, and she didn't remember anything about that."

"I get it," Kiel said, although the whole situation confused him a little bit. It bothered him that there was so much he didn't know. "Don't worry, Mr. Chase. Bethany will be rejoined in no time."

"Glad to hear it," Murray replied, opening his car door. He swung into his seat. "See you later, Kiel. Be safe."

Kiel nodded assuringly, sending the man a wink. "I'm always safe."

He watched as Murray started up the car and drove away, the car's tires squeaking against the pavement. Kiel let out a breath, feeling suddenly lightheaded. He turned back towards Bethany's house, ready to deliver his speech of truth. Then, he noticed that all of the lights in the house were off.

"Okay, tomorrow it is," Kiel whispered, staring at Bethany's dark room. He felt disappointed, but he told himself that it was for the best. So many things had happened tonight, and he needed at least a good night's rest before he talked to Bethany.

* * *

On all ten of his fingers, Owen could count the things that had gone bad within the past twenty-four hours. As he and Kara trudged through the hot jungle in search of the time watches, Owen amused himself by making a list in his head. He vaguely remembered making a list when he was in Mr. Barberry's math class, which was about all of the boring things he had to endure. Oh, how he missed the boring, yet safe nonfictional world.

OWEN'S LIST OF BAD THINGS

1\. The dinosaurs breaking out of their cages, ultimately destroying the Time Security Agency.

2\. His anxiety and fear, which sparked from #1.

3\. The Countess. That didn't need an explanation.

4\. Almost drowning in the river rapids.

5\. Seeing that man who'd been dying.

6\. Nearly getting eaten by dinosaurs. Again.

7\. There was no food or water nearby.

8\. He escaped the Time Security Agency, but he was now surrounded by dinosaurs at all times.

9\. They had a short amount of time to find the time bracelets. If the Countess got there first, either Owen or Kara would watch the other die. He couldn't face watching Kara die.

10\. The ever-present threat of Nobody getting to Bethany first and destroying the fictional and nonfictional worlds, which was the worst thing out of any of this.

After he made this mental list, he sighed. Maybe he should make a list of good things, just to even it out?

OWEN'S LIST OF GOOD THINGS

1\. Kara was with him, and she was safe.

2\. Somehow, he survived the traumatizing events of last night.

3.

Okay, so maybe there _weren't_ enough good things. But Owen had high hopes that him and Kara would find the time watches before the Countess did. They had to! His life depended on it, and so did Kara's as well as Bethany's. He was in the fictional world, after all. Although bad things happened to main characters, they tended not to die.

Unless the main character happened to be Kiel Gnomenfoot in _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source of Magic_ , but Jonathan Porterhouse had changed the ending so that Kiel would live. Owen also remembered a book called _Divergent_ , where the main character died. He hadn't read it, but he heard that it was a tear-jerker.

Either way, his life wouldn't end this way. He knew it wouldn't.

Owen was pulled out of his thoughts by a familiar noise. He perked his head up at the sound of footfalls. His eyes widened, and he shared an uneasy look with Kara. Slowly, they turned around. Slightly hidden by the trees, a pack of velociraptors were approaching. They tilted their heads at Owen and Kara, making chirping noises to each other. Then, without warning, the velociraptors tore out of the underbrush and darted towards them.

"Time to move!" Kara shouted, pulling Owen along the path. They sprinted as fast as they could, jumping over tree roots, rocks, and streams. On either side of them, the velociraptors matched their pace with ease as they tore through the jungle. One of them leaped at Owen in midrun, it's mouth opened wide.

"Duck!" Owen cried, grabbing Kara's hand and yanking her with him to the ground. The dinosaur sailed right over them, it's mouth clamping shut right where Owen had been. They didn't wait for the dinosaur to recover. Both of them leapt from their spots on the ground and took off at a run.

The other velociraptors made various chirping noises to each other as they followed close behind. It was unsettling to know they were communicating with each other, probably strategizing the best way to catch Owen and Kara.

The two continued running until they crashed out of the trees and into a clearing. They gradually stopped running, only to catch their breath for a moment. Sunlight filled Owen's vision, and he squinted, holding a hand above his eyes as he looked for a place to go. In front of them, tons of dinosaurs wandered around. They all looked to be herbivores, which was a relief. Some were as tall as trees, and others weren't much bigger than a horse. They didn't look Owen or Kara's way, instead paying attention to only themselves.

"It's a dead-end," Kara said, and Owen saw that she was right. At the opposite end of the huge field that the dinosaurs were on, a volcano loomed before them. It appeared to be inactive. It was tall and as wide as a mountain, with a steep, slanted slope. There wasn't anywhere to run, only forward or backward. Behind them was the jungle, which was where the velociraptors had been chasing them.

"What should we do?" Owen whispered. His thoughts were answered as the pack of velociraptors appeared right behind Owen and Kara, darting out of the trees at a fast pace.

"I'll take the volcano," Kara said, grabbing his hand. Not liking his chances, Owen sprinted along with her. He could tell that the velociraptors were giving chase, but they seemed to be holding back because of the dozens of other dinosaurs nearby. As they became surrounded by herbivorous dinosaurs on all sides, the velociraptors fell back, seemingly giving up on their hunt.

Owen grinned at their luck. Still running, he tapped Kara's shoulder. "Look, they're leaving!"

Kara turned around and stuck her tongue out at them. "See you never, stupid dinosaurs!" she shouted.

He laughed as she turned back around. They fell into a walk as they journeyed the rest of the way across the field. Owen could hardly stop staring at all of the dinosaurs around him, which were gentle and harmless compared to carnivores he'd encountered. He wanted so badly to reach out and touch one, but he restrained himself.

After what seemed like an hour later, they finally made it to the other side of the field. The volcano was huge from far away, but it was even bigger up close. It took a pyramid-like shape, and it was coated with uneven rocks and gravel.

He glanced at Kara, who was staring intently at the volcano. "There's no other way around," she said finally, after observing it for a few minutes. "We'll have to climb it. The time watches must be right behind it, or maybe even inside it. They _must_ be."

"Seriously?" Owen asked, throwing his hands up. "You've _got_ to be kidding me. There has to be another way, right?"

She shook her head, giving him a half smile. "There isn't. C'mon, don't you want to say 'I've climbed a volcano' to your friends back home?"

"No one would believe me," he replied, shrugging. That, and he didn't have too many friends to begin with. And majority of them, if not all, were fictional.

Owen walked up to the bottom of the volcano and took a deep breath, sending a nod Kara's way. Together, they began walking up the volcano. It was incredibly steep, and the loose gravel and rocks made it easy to slip. He dug his feet deep into the terrain, heaving himself upward with as much strength as he could muster. He stared at his feet the entire time, not trusting himself to look at anything else. He didn't bother looking at Kara, or at the ground, because he knew that would only distract him. He really _didn't_ want to fall, especially when falling could lead to death.

The volcano seemed to be impossibly tall, and Owen found himself growing more and more tired. He wasn't sure how long they'd been climbing when the sky began to darken.

"It's almost sunset," Kara warned. That was enough to propel Owen forward. He forced himself to use what remaining energy he had to climb the slippery mountain. He trained his eyes at the ground beneath him, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

Breathing heavily, they made it to the top and regained their footing on the rocky surface of the volcano. Kara's hand brushed against his — intentional or not, Owen didn't know — and for a few seconds the two of them just stood there, staring out at the golden horizon and the green jungle below. For a second, he imagined what it would be like if he wasn't in any hurry. If Nobody wasn't about to separate the two worlds, and him and Kara were simply having a fun adventure. It would be better if he had Bethany and Kiel and Charm with him, of course, but somehow it felt nice to have Kara here too.

Completely exhausted, Owen plopped down on the surface of the volcano, running his hand along the dark gravel. Kara wiped her hands over her face and slowly sat down beside him. For a few minutes, they sat in silence, too tired to say anything.

Owen gazed at the beautiful scenery before him and wondered if he'd ever have the chance to go to a place like this in real life. Before coming here, he had never even been to a jungle, much less a prehistoric one. His mother had promised one day that she'd take him somewhere on vacation. Wherever that would be, he hoped the view was similar to this. Despite being fictional, it was captivating.

"I'm not mad at you for being here, in the time prison. I'm the opposite, really. I'm glad."

"You are?" Owen's eyes snapped up in surprise, and he turned to look at her. She was staring at the horizon, strands of her pink hair flying in the gentle breeze. He traced the outline of the side of her face, burning it into his memory.

"Of course," Kara replied, looking over at him with a smile. "You're all I have left."

"Right now, you're all I have left, too," Owen said softly, surprising himself. Acting on impulse, he put his hand on top of her's. Her hand was soft and slightly warm, with traces of dirt on it. She turned her hand over and interlocked her fingers through his. He felt electricity go through him, up from his hand and into his body. This time, the feeling wasn't coming from his time powers. He shivered.

"Are you cold?" she asked.

"No," Owen whispered. He stared at the rocky terrain, picking off pieces of gravel with his other hand. "We're in a jungle, Kara. How could it be cold?"

Kara laughed. "Just wondering. It get's cooler at night."

"Kara?"

"Hmm?"

He felt her eyes on him, and heat rose to his cheeks. He wanted to tell her something, but what came out of his mouth was entirely different. "Will you go with me?"

"What?" Kara asked.

Owen didn't meet her gaze. He hoped she couldn't tell how red his face was getting. "Sorry, that came out wrong. I-I was just thinking . . . maybe you should come with me when I get out of here. You should come to my world."

"The nonfictional world?" Kara shook her head over and over. "Owen, I told you I'm not leaving this prison. I'm not leaving. I _can't_ go with you. I would be messing up the timelines, and I don't want to think about what might happen to the world if I leave."

"That's not true. You won't mess up the timelines," Owen interjected, turning his head towards her. "Come with me. Please, Kara. I don't think you'll regret it. I want you to."

Kara stared at him for a moment longer, then leaned in. He froze like a deer in headlights. Every instinct told him to back away, but he found himself unable to. Instead of what he initially thought, however, he felt her soft lips press against his cheek. It sent a shiver down his spine. As slow-motion as the moment seemed, everything sped up to it's normal time again as Kara pulled away, smiling bashfully.

He looked away, blushing as bright as the sun. The spot she had kissed him was now pulsing with energy, and Owen had to restrain himself from reaching up and touching his cheek. He didn't know what to say, so he stared into the sky, trying very hard not to notice Kara's hand in his sweaty one, or the way she had smiled just now. A new thought came to mind. Did she like him? The idea was shocking. He couldn't imagine any girl liking him, or not being grossed out by him. That's how it always was. He had crushes on many girls, of course, but never had a girl reciprocated those feelings . . . much less showed affection towards him.

Or maybe Owen was overthinking this. That was probably it. How could she like him, anyway? He always messed everything up! He wasn't even helpful when it came to saving his friends or stopping evil. He was a twelve year-old kid — probably a little _too_ skinny, as his mother said — who was obsessed with books and could hardly be considered charming compared to his best friend Kiel. He was decent looking, to put it one way. He wasn't exactly the type of boy who girls crushed on and fought over. And then there was his personality, which often got other people annoyed.

Despite everything he was thinking, a grin formed on his face. A girl had kissed him. _Him_! On the cheek! And that girl wasn't Charm. Instead, it was Kara. Somehow, this knowledge made him feel fuzzy inside, and he didn't have an ounce of guilt.

* * *

As Bethany pulled herself out of her chair, she looked at the time and was surprised to see it was 6:30, nearly 7:00. She sighed, scolding herself for not getting home yet. Why had she stayed so long? The library had always been a place for her to relax and read, and since it was only a ten minute walk from her house, it didn't stress Bethany too much about being home on time. Today was different, because she hadn't eaten dinner yet. Hopefully, her mother wouldn't be home early today.

Liz had walked to the library with her to do homework, but she had left two hours ago. Bethany had finished her own homework around the same time that Liz left, and afterward she was absorbed in _Pick The Plot_. She hadn't realized how long she had been reading, nor did she notice the darkening sky outside.

As Bethany walked towards the door, she looked across an isle and spotted none other than Kiel. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against a bookcase as he flipped through what looked like a mystery novel. Bethany walked over to him, crossing her arms. He wasn't following her again, was he? "What are you doing here?"

Kiel jumped, then quickly looked over at her. He visibly relaxed, throwing her a wink. "The usual. Being awesome _and_ reading while doing it."

"Reading?" Bethany was surprised, to say the least. She never imagined him as the type of person who read books for fun.

He smiled. "Don't act surprised, Beth. You're not the only person who reads books."

"I know that," she said, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. She uncrossed her arms, letting them fall at her sides. After hardly talking to him for the past two weeks due to all the events that took place, it felt weird to talk to him. They weren't friends anymore, but it still was nice to talk to him sometimes in class. She missed him more than she wanted to admit. "Thank you for the Christmas gift, by the way. I was going to tell you earlier, but . . ."

"But what?"

Bethany bit her lip, looking away at the rows of books that lined the shelves. "Nothing."

"You're _welcome_ ," he said, drawling her attention back to him. She wasn't sure if the smile on his face was genuine or teasing, but she'd grown to assume it was both. "I know you'll like it. _Kiel Gnomenfoot_ is the greatest book series of all time."

She laughed, shaking her head. "It's definitely not. I know you're just saying that because your name is Kiel."

Kiel's eyes stayed on her for a moment longer, his smile growing as she laughed. The look on his face made Bethany's heart skip a beat inside her chest. It must've been because she was forgetting how annoyingly obnoxious he was, but a part of her wanted to keep talking to him for the rest of the afternoon. It would be nice to have a friend like him, she decided.

"You might be right, Beth!" He winked teasingly, and Bethany's heart did another jump. What was wrong with her today?

"I _am_ right."

"Eh, you're only _half_ -right." She watched as he stood up, gingerly placing the book back into it's rightful spot. "I actually didn't only come here to read," he added, his tone more serious. "There's something I want to tell you. It's important."

Bethany frowned, feeling slightly anxious at his words. "What is it?"

As if sensing her anxiety, Kiel gave her a gentle smile. "Oh, don't worry. It's not anything seriously bad. I'll tell you once we're outside."

He started to put on his coat, which was as long and black as the rest of his outfit. Quickly catching on, Bethany shrugged on her own blue coat and buttoned it up. As they started walking to the exit, she hastily pulled her gray hat over her head, along with a pair of gloves and a patterned scarf. She pushed open the door, holding it for him before they started across the sidewalk. Flurries of snow drifted around their heads, swirling in majestic clumps that landed in their hair and clothes.

"Weren't you going to tell me something?" Bethany asked, looking over at him. They'd been walking along the sidewalk for nearly a full minute, neither saying much of anything. It was strange to Bethany, since she was so used to Kiel being talkative. Whatever he wanted to tell her, he must've been silently thinking it through.

Kiel let out a breath, then stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. She did too. He stared at her, looking suddenly serious. "I've been waiting to tell you this, saving it for the right moment — but I realized that there isn't any point in waiting for the 'right moment'. The thing is . . . there's a part of your life that I came here to fix. You don't remember, because you lost the majority of your memories. But the truth is, up until three years ago you were a half-fictional girl."

There was a pause, before his words spilled out like the water flowing over a waterfall. They burst from him abruptly, as if they'd been bottled up so long and now they were finally free to be said. His voice was raw with emotion, and his face was expressive.

"Bethany, you were born with the power to jump into books. You could travel between the fictional and nonfictional worlds. You did this for fun, but mostly you did this to find your father. Your father is a fictional character, and he's been missing since your fifth birthday. Finding him has been your priority for your entire life. You were looking for him with me, and this other boy named Owen. We jumped into books together, until something bad happened, and this villain named Nobody showed up. He separated you into two halves: your fictional half and your nonfictional half. The half that you are right now is nonfictional. Now you don't remember anything about the fictional world and your half-fictional life. That's why you don't remember me, either. Because my real name is Kiel Gnomenfoot. I'm a fictional character, though I'd prefer not to go by the term 'fictional'.” He let out a small laugh. ”I don't like to think of _myself_ as unreal."

"The bad part is, Nobody separated you because he has this plan to take over the fictional world, and now he's destroying it,” Kiel continued. “I want you to come with me, Bethany. We're going to find your fictional self. I can do all the hard work, and then when we get somewhere safe, you can rejoin with your fictional self. If you reunite with your fictional self, you'll get your memories back _and_ you'll be able to prevent the fictional world from getting destroyed."

Bethany was so taken aback at first that she couldn't even respond. She stared wordlessly at Kiel, who's eyes shined with emotion. He took a deep breath. "I know that was all a lot to take in. But I had to tell you sooner rather than later. At some point I had to, and I figured now that Oliver is gone that this would be the best chance I'll get."

He smiled hesitantly. "It hurts to lie about my life to you, but I couldn't afford to lose you before you even gave me a chance. Lying about being German wasn't easy, but it feels good to finally get all of it out. Now everything can go back to normal."

Bethany's eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open. Her brain was slowly comprehending all of what he was saying, and she looked at him in silence. Then, completely caught up in her emotions, she said the most horrible thing she ever could've said; something that she'd always regret until the end of time. "I hate you."

His smile vanished. Kiel stared at her with a hurt expression. "What? You . . . hate me? Listen, I'm not going to take what you're saying to heart, because I know you would never mean —"

"I _do_ mean it."

Bethany felt tears prick her eyes, but she forced herself not to cry. As much as she had liked Kiel, she knew she had to do this. She was certain he was apart of some prank just to spite her, to make fun of her love for books and all things fictional. He was good-hearted and fun, but that could all be a facade. And this confirmed it.

The fact that he told her that she herself was a girl with the power to jump into books was painful to hear, because all her life she'd dreamed of being fictional or of traveling into books. And then he'd gone along and told her he was a fictional character named Kiel Gnomenfoot! The thing was — fictional people weren't real. They just weren't. Neither were superhuman abilities. It was rude of him to even suggest that to her, of all people. As if she would ever believe him!

She knew that she needed to let him go, because maybe the craziest part out of all of this was that he sounded like he genuinely believed what he was telling her. He was insane, crazy, and ridiculous. All of the above.

"Why?" Kiel asked, his voice cracking. He looked so pained, but Bethany felt too hurt and angry to notice the extent of his pain.

"For one thing, what makes you think you can make up stories about my life? About me having powers and you — you're pretending you're a fictional character named Kiel Gnomenfoot. This is just ridiculous. You've lost your mind! Think about it! You just talked about yourself as if you were fictional —"

"But I am!" Kiel interrupted, his voice slightly hoarse. "You need to calm down and listen to what I'm saying. Before you got separated, me, you, and Owen jumped into books. For _months_ we jumped into books to search for your father. Your fictional self is with him now! She didn't really believe me either, but she definitely wasn't overreacting like you are now. The only way you'll believe me is if I show you. Come on, we need to go to your dad's world and —" He grabbed her hand and started to pull her away, but she ripped it out of his grasp.

"Kiel, _stop,_ " Bethany growled. _"_ First of all, my dad isn't alive! How would you know otherwise? I was there, and I _saw_ him die!" She took a deep breath, trying to grab hold of her thoughts. "And I'm not going to follow you anywhere, if that's what you think."

"That's not true," Kiel said, shaking his head. "Your father is in the fictional world. I know exactly where he is. Your fictional self is with him, too."

Why was he still keeping up with this act? Bethany crossed her arms, listening to his completely honest tone. "Can you — are you _serious_? You actually believe that? This is the real world! Please just get that into your head! There are no fictional characters or worlds here! That's extremely low, to try and convince me I'm a half-fictional girl who needs to save the fictional world from some evil No-One —"

"Nobody."

She glared at him, her anger rising. "And since I've told you, you know that the only thing I've ever wanted to do is go to a fictional world! You said all of that just to get my hopes up. At first I thought: 'maybe he genuinely wants to be my friend!' But now I know. I knew all along that you were apart of some prank, but I didn't think you'd act so serious about it."

"It isn't a prank," Kiel protested. "Deep down, you have to know it isn't. I swear on my life that everything I told you is the truth. You don't remember anything, which is why you don't believe me." He looked down at his feet.

"I thought we were _friends_. Prank or not, it hurts that you'd try to convince me of something that could never happen."

"But it _did_ happen, and it's happening right now!" Kiel said, his eyes clouding. "Just believe me! _Please_ , Bethany.”

  
“No,” Bethany whispered. “ _No_ —”

Kiel shortened the distance between them, close enough that she could see the snowflakes that caught on his eyelashes. “Come on, just _believe_ me—”

“I-I can’t!”

”Sometimes, you need to blindly put your faith in something. I need you to believe me. At least come with me, and you'll see —"

She shook her head, feeling frustrated and guilty and sad all at once. "No, none of this is happening. I'm done with you making up lies, first about being German, then about this! I need you to stop meddling in my life. You're nothing but an annoying boy who makes up lies to try to get me to be your friend, when you could be friends with anyone else! You've embarrassed me _twice_ in class! You're the reason I overthink all the time and the reason my mind is always a mess!"

Bethany didn't mean to say that last part, but it was party true. The words had just poured out of her, all sprouting from her own jumbled thoughts. She didn't even realize she had said them until it was too late.

"You don't mean it," Kiel whispered in a choked voice. He swallowed. "You don't _really_ hate me. You're just angry."

"I'm not just angry. I meant exactly what I said," Bethany continued, cringing at how horrible she was acting. But the anger was still coursing through her, and she couldn't push it away. "And we're not even friends. So I don't know why you're making fun of my love for books this way. It's rude, especially coming from you. You have no right to get my hopes up. I'm sorry Kiel, but it's the truth. Please, just . . . leave me alone."

She tried her hardest to stop her voice from wavering. She knew better than to look at Kiel, who remained silent for once, like a statue. This went on for a few minutes, long enough to make Bethany hate herself with every passing second. She hated his silence. She wished he would say something, like he usually did. She was certain that she had just made the worst mistake, but she couldn't restrain herself from speaking her mind.

"Are you going to say anything?" she asked, her voice shaking terribly.

She glanced up at him, and was shocked to see tears falling from his eyes. He gave her a small, understanding smile, although she could clearly see that it was forced.

"I understand," Kiel said weakly, making an effort to wipe his eyes. "I figured that maybe I annoyed you a little, but I never thought you would . . . _hate_ me. I'll stop talking to you from now on. Sorry for telling you what was real. I'll leave you alone."

Then he turned his back on her and crossed the street, and Bethany wanted to scream for him to come back. But she knew it was too late for that. She had made the right choice by pouring out her honest feelings to him. One moment, he lied to her about himself. The next, he believed he was a fictional character. He was crazy. By sending him away, this would solve all of the confusion Bethany had been feeling lately. Even still, she was left with the heavy ache of guilt in her heart.

Wiping her eyes, Bethany trudged across the sidewalk, trying to forget this whole night ever happened as she set off home. The walk home was excruciatingly silent, and the ten minutes seemed to bleed into days. There was no one around her, and only a few cars drove down the road at this time of night.

She tried to let Kiel go, to tell herself that she'd done the right thing by ending their friendship, but she couldn't push his last words away. They echoed in her mind for the rest of the night while she sobbed the whole way home, while she silently picked at her food during dinner, and while she cried herself to sleep.

Deep down, Bethany wanted to believe Kiel. She wanted him to take her hand and lead her to the fictional world, to reunite with her other self to save a world from an evil villain. All her years of reading stories and loving them had finally seemed to make sense. But she couldn't, because she knew that unfortunately it could never be true, no matter how much she wished that she could visit a fictional world.

It was idiotic of her to even believe him for a split second. And now that she had gone overboard and yelled at him, he was never going to talk to her again. That wasn't a problem, though. Clearly he was crazy, and she knew that she had made the right decision by letting him go. 

Wasn't that what she wanted?

* * *

_“I didn’t mean to let you go. I still see you in the snow . . .”_


	14. January Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their fight, Bethany and Kiel avoid each other, their spirits lower than ever.

_**New (by Daya)** _

" _Thought I'd be better without you. I can't stop thinking about you . . ."_

* * *

Slow.

A week after the incident, that was how everything felt. She was slow to wake up, slow to get dressed, slow to do homework. Even time itself seemed to move at a sluggish pace.

The morning after her fight with Kiel, Bethany had woken up in a foggy daze, her eyes bloodshot and a sensation of her chest being squeezed. She didn't find the willpower to drag herself out of bed, and instead, after some convincing to her mother, was allowed to stay home for the day. The next day was much of the same, and Bethany had weakly requested that she stay home. She woke up the same way for the days that followed, and she stayed home for those days, too.

She sunk into despair.

Her mother assumed that she was sick. Often, Bethany felt like she _was_ sick. She hardly left her room except for bathroom trips and meals. She hadn't even ventured outside for fresh air. By the fifth day of her 'sickness', she knew that her mother was worried. She insisted that Bethany go to a doctor, but Bethany disagreed. Although she felt physically exhausted, she knew it wasn't from sickness. It was from something different, and much, much worse.

Bethany felt drained. That was the only word to describe it. Besides her mother, she hadn't talked to a single person. She knew these feelings weren't healthy, but she had dug herself into a deep, dark hole, and now there was no escape. She didn't want to face anyone, not Liz, and _especially_ not Kiel. She didn't know how to face anyone after what had happened.

If she saw Kiel . . . what would she say? Would she be able to say anything at all? Would he ignore her, or would he yell at her? Either of those options seemed likely. She deserved it. She deserved all of it.

What was the point in going to school, anyway? There _was_ no point. Sure, of course her education mattered, but after the incident, everything else that used to be important faded away.

Bethany knew that she would have to go to school eventually. It was inevitable, but she dreaded what might happen. Her thoughts were consumed by the all of the negative possibilities. If she went to school, she would see Kiel walking down the hallway or during English class, and the guilt would slap her full in the face. No, she couldn't do it. There was no way she could face him now.

All she heard were the last words that Kiel had spoken to her, which replayed over and over in an endless circle. His words never left her head. In her dreams, it was worse. One way or another, she dreamed about her fight with Kiel. It always ended with a close-up of his face, tears streaming down his cheeks before he turned his back on her and walked away. He always walked away.

And no matter how much Bethany wanted to run after him, her feet stayed rooted to the ground; no matter how much she wanted to yell for him to come back, Bethany's lips stayed sealed shut. She couldn't speak, couldn't move, couldn't even breathe.

Bethany didn't seem to have the motivation to do much of anything, anymore. Aside from basic necessities, she didn't feel the need to do things that she normally enjoyed. She hadn't visited the library, watched a movie, or read a book in a week. Mostly, she spent her time sleeping. She even had to force herself to do homework, which was uncommon for her. As a person who was used to caring about her schoolwork, she didn't feel like herself. She couldn't even muster the motivation to open _Pick The Plot,_ which used to consume all of her free hours.

Sometimes, it felt like she was drowning. The walls around her closed in, and the air was sucked from her lungs. Her chest screamed in pain, but she could barely feel it through her daze. She looked desperately around for a way out, for a light at the end of the tunnel, but she saw nothing. When would this feeling end?

On Wednesday morning, six days after the incident and five days after staying home, her mother tore the covers off her bed and ordered her to go to school.

Bethany groaned and looked up at her, the ghost of tears from her fight with Kiel still dotting her cheeks and her heart as heavy as bricks. Her voice was a barely audible croak as she said, "Why?"

Her mother crossed her arms. "You've missed too much school. You can't keep staying home like this."

Slowly, the girl sat up, her head spinning. "Can I _please_ stay home? I don't feel well!”

"I'm sorry, Beth, but you need to get better. Sleeping all day hasn't made your sickness go away."

Okay, she _did_ have a point. But Bethany knew for a fact that this feeling would only intensify the moment she saw Kiel. She dreaded it, but she knew her mother was right. Although she had a valid reason for being depressed, she couldn't keep herself cooped up in her room all day. It wouldn't change anything.

Bethany watched her mother exit the room, then slid out of bed, not even bothering to make it. She sighed, drifting over to her dresser and picking out a random assortment of clothes to wear, not really caring whether her clothes matched or not. Once she was finished dressing, she ran a hand through her greasy, unkempt hair and made a half-hearted attempt to brush it. That only made it look worse, so she settled for a braid and headed downstairs.

Normally at this time of day, she would shovel down breakfast or at least a cup of water. Instead, she found herself anxiously drumming her fingers against the countertop, staring intently at the clock as she awaited the arrival of the school bus.

Ten minutes before the bus even got to her neighborhood, she stepped outside and locked the door behind her before speed-walking to the bus stop. Since her house wasn't too far away from the spot, she stood out in the cold for an extra seven minutes, her teeth chattering. Although it was freezing outside, it was nothing compared to the numbness that encased her body and solidified her weary heart.

Her nerves only heightened when the bus pulled up, screeching loudly as it came to a halt. Bethany placed her hand on the railing and dragged herself up the steps, collapsing into a seat right behind the driver's seat. As the bus picked up more kids, an enormous lump formed in Bethany's throat, and no amount of swallowing would wash it away. By the time they arrived to school, she was close to breaking out in a sweat, despite the cold temperature.

As the bus stopped, Bethany flew down the steps before anyone else, a flurry of snowflakes lightly brushing against her face as she landed on the ground. She exhaled slowly, a fog drifting out of her mouth. She lifted her head, staring face to face with the place she'd been dreading most: high school.

She took another deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. It didn't help much. She forced herself to walk, step after step towards the school. Beneath her, the thin layer of snow and slush crunched beneath her feet. It was the only sound she could focus on without having a full-blown panic attack.

Before she knew it, Bethany was pushing the door open. Her mind was elsewhere as her feet led her forward, towards the usual path to her locker. As she walked down the crowded hallway, her heart was beating so fast and hard that she was sure someone would hear it. Her eyes were bouncing everywhere, searching for one face in particular.

And then, as she got to her locker and poured her books inside, she _did_ see him. As always, Kiel was dressed in black, and he was walking down the hallway in her direction. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't look particularly upset, either. Instead, he looked emotionless, and his eyes were glued to the floor. It killed her to see him this way.

In her head, Bethany pleaded and begged for him to look at her, at least for a second. She _needed_ him to look at her. As he passed by her, she thought that she might've seen him look her way. But it must've been her imagination, because he continued walking. Her heart twisted painfully, and tears pricked at her eyes. She blinked them away, her mouth slightly quivering against her will. She swallowed hard, and the painful lump in her throat only grew.

Right then and there, she hoped the ground would swallow her up. Unfortunately, it didn't. Life was nothing but cruel, and she deserved all of the suffering it gave her. After what she'd done to Kiel, she deserved every last bit of it.

Bethany found herself wishing that she could take everything she'd said back, no matter how true some of her words had been. There was one thing that she knew for sure: she didn't hate Kiel; she never had. Sure, he lied about his life, and then he made up fake, hurtful stories about her's . . . but he didn't deserve to be yelled at like that. She knew that she had taken it too far, but in the moment she had been too angry to realize it. Her biggest mistake was laid out in front of her, and now there was no way to fix it.

What had she done?

* * *

Things weren't much better during English class.

Being too preoccupied with her thoughts, Bethany was barely able to listen to the teacher. Every few minutes, she threw a glance in Kiel's direction, trying to be subtle. She doubted it was, because the nerves were spreading through her body like a wildfire. She attempted to hide her hands beneath her desk, which hadn't stopped shaking since this morning.

"Bethany, are you paying attention?" Mr. Tompkins asked abruptly from the far end of the classroom.

Bethany nodded silently, swiping a strand of bronze hair out of her face. As the students turned away from her and back to the lesson, she caught Liz's eye from across the room. Her friend looked more concerned than she'd ever seen her. Liz would definitely confront her about it once class ended. Bethany had anticipated this, but she certainly wouldn't be ready for it. She wasn't sure if she had the strength to explain anything.

Bethany sighed, glancing again at Kiel. He was leaning his head against his hand, his eyes half-lidded as he stared at the teacher. He didn't so much as tilt his head towards her. She wished he would.

As soon as the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Bethany stood from her chair and slid on her backpack. She looked expectantly at Kiel, opening her mouth to say something, anything. "Hey, I —"

"Kiel, do you know what the answer is for the history homework?" a boy asked loudly, walking up to Kiel as he grabbed his bag.

Kiel shook his head and walked beside the boy towards the door, giving him a smug grin. In a German accent, he replied, "Bold of you to assume I even _did_ the homework."

Bethany stood there, disappointment resonating through her bones as she watched Kiel leave. Her heart felt as though it'd been torn to shreds. He didn't seem to be fazed or upset at all. Slowly, she shuffled after all of the other kids, feeling like she'd been slapped in the face.

When she arrived in the hallway, Liz was standing there, her arms crossed and her brows knitted with worry. "Are you okay? You haven't been to school for three days in a row, and you weren't at the book club meeting on Saturday! Is something wrong?"

Bethany bit her tongue hard to prevent another waterfall of tears from erupting. She tucked her hair behind her ears. "I'm fine. I'm just sick."

Liz shook her head, a frown on her face. "You don't _look_ fine. You look upset, Bethany."

"I'm not," she lied, wiping her clammy hands on her jeans. "I'm only sick. I-I had the flu for the past couple of days, and I'm still recovering."

"Is that only it?"

Bethany nodded, stepping away. She forced a smile. "Yeah. That's it."

Liz smiled back, but she still looked worried. "Um, okay. See you at lunch!"

Bethany could only nod again in response, because she feared what might happen if she tried to speak again. She could and would _not_ cry in public. She hated crying in front of other people, even her mother. It was too embarrassing. Although Liz was her closest friend, she didn't want to share her burden with her. It would only make Bethany feel worse about the situation.

Her heart aching, she trudged over to chemistry class. Being there only reminded her of Kiel, and the first conversation she'd had with him. That had been a month ago, in early December. As she sat there, staring blankly at the whiteboard, their conversation echoed in her head.

" _What is your next class?"_ Kiel had asked.

" _Chemistry,"_ she had replied.

" _Chemistry,"_ he'd said, the same smile on his face that she longed to see now. _"Chemistry is very . . . scientific. I prefer a subject that's easier to understand. I never liked science. I only use it if I absolutely need to —"_

"Ms. Sanderson?" her chemistry teacher inquired. Bethany was snapped back to reality, and she looked up from her desk, her heart racing. She was surprised to see that all of her classmates were now sitting at lab tables, preparing for an experiment.

Bethany's eyes widened, and she glanced over at her teacher, who looked almost concerned. "Um, sorry. What?"

"I was calling you for the past minute," her teacher said, gesturing to the other students who sat at the lab tables. "Are you feeling well? I think you should go to the nurse. Maybe you should go home, too."

Bethany shook her head and rose from her desk. "I feel fine. Sorry, I'm just recovering from my sickness." She joined a group at a lab table, ignoring the glances they stole and wishing that this horrible day would end.

She could only hope that Kiel was better off than her. _Was_ he okay? Was he really as happy as looked? Probably not, considering the state he'd been on when she had last talked to him. But maybe he was. Although it was painful to think about, it would still make her feel slightly better to know that he wasn't suffering.

* * *

At lunch, the cafeteria was swimming with students. It was crowded as always, with the loud uproar of conversation. Teachers and students alike walked around, gathering food and searching for a place to sit.

Kiel stood in the line with an empty tray in his hands, his eyes trained on nothing but the food in front of him. Food from the nonfictional world used to excite him, and while it still was intriguing, things were more . . . dull now. The color felt like it'd been drained from his life, which wasn't anything he'd ever experienced before.

Since last week, he did everything in his power to distract himself, to push on and keep a confident facade on. He tried very hard to control his thoughts, but they always ended up going back to Bethany. Thinking about her used to bring a smile to his face. Now, it made his chest hurt.

To be honest, Kiel didn't know what he was doing here anymore. He had no idea why, despite everything, he still hoped Bethany would come around and apologize to him. The things she had said were as harsh as a bitter wind. Her words felt like a stab wound in his heart; they punctured him, and he was unable to recover. Words were just words. They were usually meaningless, but Kiel knew he would never forget her's.

He had an endless list of questions. Why had she said that? Did she actually hate him? Did she really feel that way about him? And then there was the most unanswerable one, which was: what now?

Kiel didn't think he had a purpose here anymore. What was he supposed to do _,_ now that his quest had failed? What was he supposed to _want_? Was he supposed to stay here and wait? Or was he supposed to go home and figure out an alternative way to defeat Nobody?

Bethany had pushed him away time and time again, but now was the only time he would not try again with her. This was the last straw. It was officially over. She would never willingly rejoin with her fictional self, much less talk to him again. There was nothing he could do anymore except either wait for Bethany to apologize or go home. He knew he should probably go with the second option.

Kiel just didn't know which direction to go. He felt lost without a purpose. His goal had been to reunite Bethany's two halves, then find Owen, then stop Nobody. Never had the thought occurred that his plan wouldn't work out. He had tried the best he could, but everything he did seemed to send him backwards. Usually, he always could find the fun out of a situation, and he could easily amuse himself on a daily basis. But now, it often felt like he couldn't enjoy himself as much anymore.

Bethany didn't even try believing him, and she had said that she hated him. She _hated_ him. Was that even true? It didn't matter to Kiel, because those three words cut him inside. It was useless to try with Bethany anymore. She would never believe him, and there was no magic spell to reverse that. She wasn't the same person that he knew as his best friend, and she definitely wasn't the Bethany Sanderson that he knew.

The thought of her ever hating him brought tears to his eyes, because the only thing he'd ever done was be her friend. He _never_ cried. Well, he had cried once or twice, but that was only in private. He hated showing any signs of weakness, especially to his fans. But when he had cried in front of Bethany, it felt like . . . nothing. He hadn't even realized that tears were falling down his face until he got home and glanced in the mirror. It was shocking to see himself that way.

As Kiel finished grabbing his food, he scanned the room, looking for somewhere to sit. Since Bethany hadn't been at school for majority of last week, he had sat at her table out of habit. But now that she _was_ here, there was no way he was going to sit with her. Not after what happened. The wound was still too fresh in his heart, and he felt worse every time he caught sight of her.

Kiel hated how complicated this was. Why did it have to be this way? If she believed him, they would've gone to Jupiter City by now, and she would've been rejoined with her fictional self. He still didn't understand why she had overreacted the way she did. All things considered, he was a pretty convincing person, and he would never do anything to intentionally hurt her.

"Hey, do you wanna sit with me and my friends?" the deep voice of a boy asked.

Kiel blinked, turning to see Charlie, the same boy who he'd become friends with on his first day of school. He hadn't talked to him much outside of math class, but maybe this was a good sign. He needed a place to sit, after all.

"Sure, why not?" Kiel said, plastering a grin on his face. "Thanks for the offer."

The chubby boy smiled in response, leading Kiel over to his table. As Kiel followed him, he glanced around the cafeteria. His eyes drifted to Bethany, who was sitting a few tables away. Just as he looked at her, she lifted her head. Their eyes locked. Kiel's breath caught in his throat, and he remembered her words, as clear as day: _I hate you_. He quickly looked away, wanting nothing more than to talk to her. He knew that wasn't an option anymore. It wouldn't be . . . unless she came around and decided to apologize to him.

For now, Kiel was completely set on pushing her out of his thoughts, which meant that he should probably stop looking at her. Sometimes, he thought about talking to her, but the very idea of it made him feel a little queasy. After this feeling came to him several times, he was forced to admit that he felt nervous.

Kiel didn't do nervous . . . at least he _tried_ not to. He was an expert at hiding any feelings of doubt or fear from anyone, especially to avoid disappointing his fans. He'd been doing it for the past week, so he knew that he could keep doing it without a problem. He wanted to be a good role model for everyone, because what would his fans think if they knew that he was terrified half the time? They'd feel betrayed. A hero wasn't meant to have those feelings.

Luckily, being outside his own world meant that he wasn't being watched, or judged, or read about. He felt more comfortable about letting his emotions run wild, although he still put on a fearless persona all of the time. Hiding his emotions from his friends, though? Especially from Bethany? It was nearly impossible.

Looking at Bethany, especially at a time like this, made Kiel's stomach churn. He never used to get this way around her before. He figured that the events of that fateful night last week must've been the cause. After all, he had poured out the truth to her, and her words had broken his heart in a way that he'd never felt before.

Maybe he _should_ just go home. It certainly would make things simpler.

Even though he missed Bethany with every fiber of his being, he knew there might not be another option. Still, he would wait for as long as he dared. He would wait until she apologized to him, not the other way around. And if she never did, he would still wait. He couldn't give up on her just yet.

Despite everything that had went down, there was a voice in the back of Kiel's head, which told him to stay put. He knew better than to ignore it, so he listened. There had to be a way to embrace the problem and make it work. Somehow, there had to be a positive ending to all of this. Kiel knew there would be. 

He just didn't know if that ending included having a life with Bethany in it.

* * *

Within the second week of not talking to Kiel, Bethany found that the large, gaping hole in her chest was no less big. A broken heart was supposed to heal as more time passed, right? In her case, it didn't seem to be true.

She still woke up with the same sensation of her heart being roughly squeezed, and the feeling only heightened every time she saw Kiel. It was worse, because he never talked to her or even looked at her. He didn't even sit with her at lunch, which made sense, but it still hurt more than anything.

She wanted to say something to him, at least to apologize, but she found herself unable to. Every time she saw him, he was always surrounded by friends, and he seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. She often wondered how he was doing. Was he as happy as he acted?

At school, each period was grueling, and Bethany was never able to focus in any of her classes. Time seemed to have slowed to an agonizing crawl; each second felt like a minute, and each minute felt like hours. She could tell that her teachers were noticing the change, and their short-lived concern had dwindled into irritation. Her grades started to drop, and Bethany found it harder and harder to motivate herself to do homework.

Early one morning, Bethany climbed off the bus and started walking towards the front doors of the school, instantly chilled to the bone. At least the weather, which was cold and dreary, fit in perfectly with her mood. Around her, everyone else seemed to be happy and surrounded by friends. Bethany envied them. The only person she wanted as a friend now wanted nothing to do with her.

Weirdly, it took Bethany longer to get to her locker than usual. Before she knew it, she found herself standing in front of Kiel's locker instead. She recognized it as his because she had unconsciously memorized it sometime within the past month.

_Ugh._ What was she doing? It's not like she owed him anything, anymore. Sure, she regretted treating him so horribly, but it was too late to take everything back. He had lied about his life — straight to her face! And then there was that whole thing about him being fictional, which was definitely crazy. Really, he should've apologized to _her_ before any of this mess happened.

But what had he done wrong?

_Nothing_ , a thought echoed in Bethany's mind. _You were the one who ruined everything. You said you hated him, when it's the exact opposite. You crushed his soul, you ruined your friendship, you're a horrible—_

"Shut up," Bethany said aloud, earning a few strange looks from the people nearby. Okay, yes. She hated herself for the things she had said to Kiel. She felt so guilty that it was hard to wake up, sometimes. But she couldn't talk to him. She just _couldn't._ What could she say? Everything was ruined now.

Sighing, Bethany gazed sadly at his locker for a second longer before turning on her heel and making her way through the hallway towards her first class of the day. She tried in vain to pay attention to the lesson, but it was close to impossible with Kiel sitting next to her. She was unable to stop thinking about him, and a billion questions tore through her head. _Is he alright? Is he hurt? Is he happier without me? Is he —_

"Pop quiz on the vocabulary sheet I handed out last Friday!" Mr. Tompkins announced, grabbing a short stack of papers from his desk. Half of the class groaned, all scrambling to study what words they could and grabbing the supplies they'd need for the quiz.

As a sheet was landed on her desk, Bethany clenched her fists, staring down at the quiz with wide eyes. With how distracted she'd been lately, she hadn't even remembered to read over the vocabulary words. She sighed, then pressed the tip of her pencil to the paper and began guessing at the answers. Once she was finished, she walked over to Mr. Tompkins' desk and slid the quiz onto it, a feeling of dread enveloping her.

A few minutes after Bethany sat back down, the bell rang, releasing them for their next class. As the students hurried to leave, Mr. Tompkins shouted above the uproar of conversation. "Whoever didn't finish their quiz, you'll have to finish it tomorrow during class!" When no one answered, he sighed heavily. "Okay, just go. Everyone but you, Bethany."

Bethany froze mid-stride, her backpack already on her shoulders. She stepped out of the way, allowing the other students to pass by without getting trampled. Once the last person walked out, Mr. Tompkins closed the door. Uh oh. _That_ wasn't a good sign.

Mr. Tompkins went over to his desk, ruffled through a stack of papers, then pulled out a sheet and handed it to Bethany. It was her vocabulary quiz from earlier! Then, she saw what grade she had gotten, and her heart sunk even lower than before. It was a D. A _D!_

"I've noticed a lack in your performance lately," her English teacher said, gesturing to her quiz as she gaped at it. "You haven't been focused in class, and you haven't handed your homework in on time, either. This grade is just the icing on the cake." He leaned against his desk, observing her. "If this keeps going on, I think I'll have to call your mother —"

"Please don't," Bethany said, cringing. There was no way she could face this, too. Then, she'd have to explain everything to her mother, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

His expression changed to one more of concern. "Is something going on at home? Sometimes, when there is an issue in a student's life outside of school, that effects the performance of the student severely. If that's the case, we have a guidance counselor on the second floor."

"No, everything's fine," she said quietly, gritting her teeth as she stared at the ground. "I'm sorry. I'll try to improve in class."

"Good. I expect you to," he said. "Try to get this under control. If your grade slips any more in my class, just know that I'll be forced to take matters up with your mother."

Bethany nodded, anger and guilt burning through her as she left the classroom and stomped over to her next class. _Ugh_. This was so humiliating. But her teacher had a point: she needed to get this under control. There was too much at stake, and her grades depended on it. She knew that she needed to stop herself from falling down this dark path before it was too late.

At the end of the day, there was an all-school assembly in the gym. Bethany had actually forgotten about it, and by the time she got there, it was completely filled. Some kids were still finding seats, but other than that, it was full.

In front of the bleachers, a woman was holding a microphone, speaking to the audience in a sympathetic tone. "This is why we need to care about our health and wellness, especially in high school. But I want you to know that whatever you're feeling right now, it is normal and okay."

Bethany climbed the bleachers, ignoring the stares that followed her as she looked everywhere for a place to sit. Then, at the very top of the bleachers, she saw only one open seat. It was next to Kiel.

She quickly turned around, desperately scanning the room for another open seat, _any_ other seat that wasn't this one, but she had no such luck. Accepting defeat, she climbed to the top row. His eyes bore into her's for a moment, almost longingly, but he looked away as soon as she sat down. She scooted as far away from him as she could, but he didn't even look her way. He was talking quietly with another boy and barely acknowledged her presence.

Every time she stole glances at Kiel, he was smiling and talking with others around him. She could tell that his smiles were fake; they were small and forced. Not once did he speak to her, and only once did she manage to catch his eye, but he quickly looked away without saying a word.

To Bethany, it was the worst thing in the world. Every time she tried to speak up, she took one look at him and the words died in her throat. She couldn't apologize to him. Not here. His eyes, which once looked at her with admiration, were now distant and cold.

That afternoon, she walked to the library for the first time in two weeks. She craved some form of comfort, and sometimes, books were the only place to go. She had been distancing herself from the things she loved, and she needed to feel like herself again. She was mad at herself for _still_ being so upset.

Upon arriving at the library, Bethany ignored everything else and walked straight to the children's section at a brisk pace. She stood there for a moment, taking deep breaths in an effort to calm herself down. She placed her hand on a bookcase and slowly ran her fingers along the spines of the books, reading each label. As always, the books helped. They always offered comfort in a way that no one else could.

Then, there was a sudden throbbing feeling inside of her chest, and she nearly gasped out loud. Unable to fight the feeling off anymore, she sunk to her knees, sliding against the bookcase as she descended to the ground. Her whole body shook, and she grabbed fistfuls of her hair as the world blurred around her. A sob erupted from her chest, and she wasn't able to hold it back anymore. She squeezed her eyes shut, choking on her own tears as she cried for the second time this month.

At that moment, Bethany realized what she needed to do. It wouldn't be easy, but it was necessary. She was determined to set things right. If she didn't, she had a feeling she'd regret it. And she was sick of regrets. She wanted to turn back time and say she believed Kiel on that fateful night. It was obviously too late for that, but it wasn't too late to talk to him.

Because deep in her heart, she had a feeling she needed to believe what he was telling her. If she didn't try, she'd lose him forever.

* * *

  
It was February 1st when Bethany had finally finished writing the perfect apology letter. It had taken her a week of attempts and rough drafts to finally settle on one that she was satisfied with. This was the best alternative for apologizing to Kiel, because she wasn't sure if she could handle talking to him in person. It was too hard. But writing a letter was simple, and it included everything she wanted to say to Kiel.

There was a thought that plagued her: _would Kiel even read the letter?_ Maybe he would see it, and immediately upon seeing Bethany's name he would toss it in the trash. Or maybe he would read it, but he wouldn't forgive her. Or maybe he would forgive her, but after that he'd never talk to her again.

There were too many ways this could go, and it made Bethany's head spin. It was an unsettling feeling to not know what might happen next.

"Where are you going?" Liz asked, one hand on her backpack as she glanced back at Bethany. "Don't you need to get on the bus?"

The bell had just rung, signaling the end of the day. As always, students darted out of the classrooms, chattering loudly to each other as they walked to the school's exit. After stopping at her own locker, Bethany had started walking with Liz towards the buses.

Before she could get close to the exit, however, a guilty feeling stopped her, and she remembered about the letter. It was now or never. She had to do this, or else she would regret it forever. She had already gone nearly a full month without talking to Kiel, and it had killed her inside. For her sake, she needed to put an end to this.

"Yeah, I do," Bethany said, craning her head around the crowd. She spotted Kiel's locker several feet away. "But first I owe someone an apology."

"Okay." Liz smiled, her naturally dark brown eyes turning to a lighter shade of honey as they passed by a window, the sunlight engulfing them. "Good luck with that apology. It's for Kiel, right?"

Bethany's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

Liz moved over to the side and Bethany did the same, allowing other students to pass by. "C'mon, really? He's the only person you'd need to apologize to. It's been torture having to talk to him separately when I'm not around you. He's heartbroken! I don't know what you said to him, but it obviously upset him. Not only that, but you've been distant and upset this whole month. You seem really depressed, and I can tell it has something to do with Kiel."

Bethany bit her lip and looked down. Whenever she looked at Kiel this past month, he was as blank as a white slate. He lacked the light in his eyes and the warmth in his smile. It made her heart sink. "Youre right. I . . . I haven't been myself. I know. I just . . . I hope he can forgive me. It won't be easy. That's why I wrote a letter."

Liz gave her a quizzical look. "What actually happened that made you guys stop talking to each other? If you got into a fight, why did you write him a letter? Why not tell him in person?"

Bethany threw her hands up, her eyes suddenly watery. "I don't know how! He won't even _look_ at me. I treated him so, _so_ badly, Liz. I don't even deserve to be his friend after what I said. And the bad part is . . . everything told him was true. Except for the hating him part. He's kind of crazy, sure, but I could never hate him."

"What? You said you _hated_ him?" Liz leaned over to smack Bethany on the arm. Bethany yelped and pulled back her arm, which stung where she had slapped it.

"I guess I deserved that," Bethany said, releasing a sigh.

"Of course you did! How could you say that? That actually makes a lot of sense why he's been acting different." Liz took a deep breath, resting her hand on a locker. "But I think he'll accept your apology. As long as you make it meaningful, and as long as you don't insult him in the process."

"I only put nice, apologetic things into that letter!"

"Good," Liz said, slowly starting to smile. "Because if you didn't I really would stop being your friend."

Bethany scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious!"

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, but the thing is . . . I had a good, valid reason for saying those things to him. He lied to me, and after that he started following me around when I went to the library after school. Rethinking on that . . . I know that I was wrong to judge him for everything. But at the time, I _did_ have a good reason for yelling at him. Not because I said I hated him . . . but, well . . . he was trying to convince me that he's a fictional character."

"You're joking." Liz peered at her. "You're not? Maybe _he_ was joking. He does that a lot."

"I don't know. He didn't seem like he was joking. He wanted me to go with him into a book to reunite with my fictional self."

Liz let out a small, choked laugh. "Wow. Maybe that was his way of asking you on a date."

Now it was Bethany's turn to smack her friend's arm. "That isn't funny. I'm serious. Kiel was saying everything like it was real. Like he believed he's a fictional character. He was convinced that I'm a half-fictional girl . . . or I used to be, anyway. Now I'm only nonfictional, apparently."

Liz frowned, rubbing her arm. "That's . . . huh."

"Yeah. I didn't believe him either. How could I? How could anyone? But I took it out of proportion and drove him away. Now, and even then I felt terrible about it."

"Have you tried talking to him?"

"I've . . . I mean, sometimes I've tried but —" She sighed, looking down at her shoes. "No. I haven't. Every time I look at him I just remember about how much he hates me."

Liz was quiet for a moment. She twisted her fingers in her wavy locks of hair. "I don't think he hates you."

"How would you know that?" Bethany asked, her voice low.

"Because he asks about you."

"He does? When?"

"All the time."

"Wait . . ." Bethany looked down at the envelopes letter in her hands. She felt a surge of hope go through her. "What do you mean 'all the time'? Every few days? Every week? Every few weeks?"

"No," Liz said. "I mean, all the time. Every day. Every time I see him, no matter what we talk about, he always asks about _you_."

_He always asks about you._

Bethany shivered at the thought, an unexpected array of various emotions flooding through her. Then wordlessly, she walked over to Kiel's locker and stuck the letter through the slit.

* * *

At school, it was pretty easy for Kiel to distract himself by talking to others. He could block out most of his worries that way, and he could prevent himself from thinking about Bethany for a short time. But it was the worst at night, because he had only his thoughts for company. Since Elijah wasn't with him anymore, Kiel was in an empty house, and since he had nothing better to do, his mind raced constantly.

Often, he thought of Owen when he was alone. He missed his best friend, and he needed him — now more than ever — after what had happened with Bethany. Because who else knew the boring, nonfictional world like Owen? Kiel itched for the things he was familiar with, like fighting fire-breathing dragons or searching for the missing keys with Charm, or even just being in Magisteria. The only reason the nonfictional world had ever felt like home was because of Bethany and Owen, and now, both were practically gone from his life.

More than anything, he wished things could go back to the way they used to be. Everything used to be filled with danger and fun, and now, the light was gone from his life. He wondered why Bethany hadn't apologized to him yet. Although he hid his true feelings when he was at school, he still felt upset by her words. He could hardly look at her without the words _I hate you_ repeating in an endless mantra in his head.

It was always her hair that caught his eye first, and then he would see her face, which looked considerably grown-up compared to the twelve year-old girl he'd met three years ago. He would stare to her, if just for a moment, and then would rush off to class as the bell rang. He never really thought of it before, but now that she wasn't with him it felt much emptier in the hallway. Even though he was always surrounded by other kids, he still felt very much alone without Bethany.

That afternoon, as he opened his locker, something unexpected happened. An envelope fell out, landing on the floor beneath his feet. Kiel's eyes widened, and he bent down to pick it up. It was the color of fresh snow, with a folded opening in the center. He turned it over, feeling confused about how it had even gotten there. On the back, his name was written in cursive. He recognized it immediately as Bethany's handwriting.

Kiel's mouth dropped open, and he slowly started to smile. He stared down at the letter in disbelief, his hands shaking slightly. Bethany had written him a letter? After a month of waiting and hoping and being continuously disappointed, something good had finally happened.

Still, he had some doubts. A month ago she'd said that she hated him, so he knew that some part of her must've meant it. He had to remind himself that Bethany had written the letter for the purpose of writing an apology, but he was nervous to read it.

He hoped she would agree to reunite with her fictional self after a month of avoiding him. Then again, he had been avoiding her too. Even though he thought about her every day, and longed to talk to her again, he had been too hurt after their fight. He was glad that she had been the one to apologize, because he was close to losing hope and heading back to Magisteria.

When he got home, Kiel gently pried the letter out of his bag, being careful not to accidentally rip it. He took a deep, shaky breath and walked over to his room, sitting on his bed and opening the envelope without a second of hesitation.

_Dear Kiel (Gnomenfoot or Bauer? Please make up your mind),_

_I didn't know how to tell you this face-to-face. First of all, I want you to know how sorry I am. If you hate me now, I don't hold that against you. I was horrible and rude to you. I want you to know that I don't hate you. I never hated you, and I wanted to be your friend for a while, but things became so complicated and I didn't know if you were telling the truth any more. Oliver told me those things, about you being a criminal and you not being German. I already know that you aren't either of those things, but the fact that you lied about it made me really doubt if you were my friend at all._

_But I realize now that it doesn't matter. You were only doing what you thought was right. You were trying to tell me something, and I was too angry to see that. I don't know if I'll ever believe that thing about me being half-fictional, and I don't think I ever will, but I still want to be your friend if you want to be mine. I'm really sorry for hurting your feelings. I want so badly to believe you, but I just can't. I don't think a fictional world or character could ever be real, but if you want to convince me still, I promise I won't resist or get mad. It's the least I could do to make up for all those things I said._

_Your friend,_

_Bethany Sanderson_

* * *

  
" _Messing with someone new, thinking I wanted to. Turns out I don't want new, I want you . . ."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anfjsjdsjnd writing this chapter actually made me cry but im glad Bethany made the first move to reach out to Kiel bc she’s been stubborn this whole fic and that’s her character but like,, Bethany honey just TRUST your magical boyfriend!! 
> 
> if you got this far, thanks for reading!!! Hoped you enjoyed and didn’t cry TOO much!


	15. Two Halves, One Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen and Kara rush to find the time bracelets but are too late in too many ways. Bethany gets a major breakthrough.

_**Find Me (by Sigma)**_

" _Like a river always running, I keep losing you. Like a fire always burning, I'll be here for you . . ."_

* * *

The next morning, Owen skidded down the volcano, Kara right at his heels as they navigated the slippery decline. After talking for hours until the sky was filled with stars, they had both fallen asleep at some point. A volcano, Owen decided, definitely wasn't an ideal place to sleep, nor was it the most logical hiding spot. He was glad that he hadn't been unexpectedly eaten in the middle of the night. After all, this _was_ a _Pick The Plot_ book, so anything was possible with the readers being in control.

"It just looks like more jungle to me," Kara said once they finally reached the bottom. Owen could only agree to her statement. There were trees everywhere, and the foliage was so dense that it blocked any chance of seeing what lay beyond the jungle.

Owen scanned his surroundings, walking along the edge of the jungle. Halfway covered by bushes and plants, there was a dirt path. He pointed to it. "Hey, look, there's the path! It'll probably lead us to the time bracelets."

She nodded, moving in front of him and starting along the path. From her expression, Owen could tell she looked nervous. "Let's hurry."

Owen followed right behind her, trying his best to stay on the path. It wasn't very wide, which didn't give him much space to walk around. The ground was also more uneven here, so it was easy to trip. As they continued walking, the sun rose higher in the sky, radiating heat onto the jungle and warming the air around them. So far, there were only a few dinosaur noises, but they were distant and faint.

Suddenly, an idea abruptly came to Owen's head, making him wonder if the readers had planted it there. This idea didn't give him a headache, so he doubted it. He stopped in his tracks, grabbing Kara's hand before she could venture further.

"Wait," he said. "I think I have another idea on how to get us out of here. And we won't have to use the time bracelets."

Kara sighed, turning around to face him. "How exactly can we do that? There's no way we can get out of here without the time watches. They're our only way out."

"Maybe you're right," Owen said slowly, feeling more optimistic than he had in a while. "But I still have to try. If it doesn't work, it's not too late to keep looking for them."

She scrunched her eyebrows, some of her distress showing in her voice as she spoke. "What's your idea? We've been searching everywhere for the time watches, and at this point the Countess has already gotten to them." She frowned and looked out into the trees. "Not only that, but we need to stop her. She'll destroy everything if she gets her hands on them. We need to find the time bracelets _first_ , and then we can take her down. And if we don't, well, you know . . ."

"I know," Owen said quietly, knowing exactly what she was talking about. If they didn't get the time watches first, the Countess would kill one of them and make the other watch. But he had to remain optimistic about this. They'd come so far, and he was so close to getting out of here.

He clapped his hands. "Well then, as my friend Kiel says: let's make it work for us instead of against us. I'm going to do one of those nonfictional things you hate hearing about. It _might_ backfire, but if we can't find the time bracelets than I'm not sure what other choice we have to escape. It'll get us out of here."

"Okay," she said with some reluctance. "But remember, we _do_ need to stop the Countess somehow."

He nodded. "If this works, it'll take care of both things. _And_ you'll be able to leave here if you want to help me find Bethany."

Kara frowned. "But . . . I already told you that I can't leave. My whole life — my _future —_ is mapped out for me. I'm destined to destroy the world. Along with some other things, too. It just isn't that simple." She didn't meet his eyes. There was obviously something she wasn't telling him, maybe about what might happen in the future? Owen didn't know.

Owen shook his head. "No, _everything_ is simple when you break it down. If you leave this world altogether it'll change your story _and_ your future. You just have to trust me. This'll work. And if it doesn't, we can go back to looking for the time watches."

With that, he squeezed his eyes shut, an idea sprouting in his head. If this was the only way out of this book . . . then so be it. He might as well use the readers to his advantage, if this could even work. It was a slim chance, but Owen was out of options. It would be a miracle if it worked. He envisioned the readers cooperating with him, then ripping open a page between stories, allowing him to travel straight to Jupiter City. As he thought of this, he began his speech to the readers, thinking in his most convincing tone.

_Hey, readers. I know we didn't get off on the right foot. I mean, how could we? You tried to control me and make me do things I didn't want to do, and I feel like I never did anything to deserve that. I get that if you believe what Nobody says — about nonfictionals taking control of the lives of fictionals — then you probably don't want to help me. You want me to learn my lesson since I'm nonfictional. I get it. But please, whatever you're feeling, you need to help me and Kara. Please. If you could maybe get rid of the Countess for us, we'd really appreciate it. If you've been reading this book, I'm sure you see plenty of reasons to hate her, too. And well, you need to help Bethany, too. She's my half-fictional best friend, and she's done nothing but try to look for her father. So please, just send me back to the Doc Twilight comics — back to Bethany. I promise in return I'll tell every single nonfictional writer to stop controlling fictionals' lives. I'll even stop writing my own stories! I'll do whatever it takes! Just please . . . help us?_

Owen held his breath and waited. He looked around, searching for a response or a sign that his plea had been answered. As far as he could tell, there weren't any portals appearing in thin air that would take him to Jupiter City. He shoulders slumped in disappointment, and he looked at Kara, who was staring at him in confusion. "What happened? Did it work?"

He shook his head, releasing a sigh. Once again, things were always against him. "No. It didn't."

Kara gazed at him for a moment longer, then reached over and grabbed his hand, pulling him into a walk. She gave him a half-smile. "It's okay. Just like you said, we'll find another way."

Owen nodded, wanting to kick himself for this not working. He tried to do one thing to save them, _one thing_ , and of course it didn't work. Of _course_! Ugh. He'd only been here for a week and he was completely sick of this stupid book. If the readers were choosing his every move, why couldn't they help him out for once instead of sending him into danger? _That_ would be helpful.

For once, he understood what it was like to be fictional. Not only the being-controlled-by-someone-else part, but the fact that there wasn't a simple way to solve his problem. This kind of thing always happened in books. It made the main character's conflict harder to beat, but Owen was determined to bypass this. He could only hope that they'd find the time watches before the Countess did. If that happened, at least he'd have a chance at escaping.

As they walked, the uneven ground grew slanted, transforming into a hill. The jungle floor was crunchy and brittle beneath his feet, a dramatic change from the muddy surface the day before. The hill seemed to only get steeper, making it harder for Owen and Kara to move at a fast pace.

When they finally reached the top of the hill, Owen was panting, and he was covered in sweat. He put his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths as Kara appeared beside him. Then, he looked up. He didn't except what he saw.

Surrounded by a grove of trees, a large, metal door had been dug into the ground. There were words on top, but they were too faded to read. The metal on the door was rusted, which made Owen wonder how long it had been there. It almost looked like a storm shelter. Why was there a random door in the ground?

"Is that . . ." Kara whispered breathlessly to Owen. Without waiting for him to respond, she dragged her feet forward and ran to the door, sliding onto her knees.

"Wait up!" Owen shouted, but he couldn't blame her. He hurried after her, standing a few feet away as he watched her place her hands on the handles of the double-doors. Kara pulled with much effort, leaning her body to the side. Wincing, she withdrew her hands and shook them out, as if she were in pain.

Owen went to her side and knelt down, grabbing the handle of one of the doors. With all his might, his pulled on it with both hands. It was as heavy as a ton of bricks, and it barely budged. He sat back and looked at Kara. "Okay, _that_ didn't work. Is it really necessary for the door to be this heavy?"

She laughed. "Apparently." She nudged him lightly in the side. "C'mon, let's both try."

He nodded, wiping the sweat off his palms before placing both hands on the handle. Kara put her's right underneath his, and said, "One . . ."

"Two . . ." Owen muttered, tightening his grip on the handle.

"Three," they said together. Instantly, they yanked open the door. It was still heavy, but with their combined effort, they managed to get it open halfway before it fell the rest of the way to the ground with a loud clatter.

Owen beamed, nearly jumping in the air from excitement. "We did it!"

She grinned in response, standing up and directing her gaze towards the hole in the ground. Beyond the door, there were stairs leading down into darkness. Kara took a deep breath, then started walking down. Owen hesitated before walking down after her.

"Think the time bracelets are down here?" he asked, half-jokingly. He wished he had brought a flashlight, or something. The deeper they went into the underground tunnel, the harder it was to see.

"If I could guess, my answer would be yes. This is the only underground tunnel we've seen," Kara said, her hand against the wall as she descended the stairs.

"How do we know if it's safe?" Owen asked, his voice raising in pitch. He cleared his throat, heat rising to his cheeks. " _Um_ , usually dark staircases are where people get killed in horror movies.”

She shrugged. "There's no other way to find out what's down here. If it's the time watches, we need to go down here anyway.”

He sighed. She had a point, but he didn't like this one bit. He sensed something might be wrong, but it was probably just his nerves. He'd been afraid nonstop ever since he got thrown into this book.

In front of him, Kara paused. She placed her hand out, sliding it against the wall, then made contact with something. She pressed down on it. Instantly, the room was filled with light.

Owen's gasp echoed through the room. He slid up beside Kara, staring with wide eyes around the room. But it wasn't a tunnel like the Countess had depicted. Instead, it looked to be an underground bunker. Scattered around the bunker were dozens of crates — all unlocked and hanging wide open. Owen assumed they might've been neatly stacked at some point, but now they were all over the floor. On the crates, there were huge letters, the initials of the Time Security Agency, which read: TSA.

In the center of it all, there was a single time watch on the floor. And from what Owen could see, it was broken.

Next to him, Kara was slowly breathing in and out, her hands balled into fists. "What. _Happened_?" She darted forwards, grabbing an empty crate and turning it over. Letting out a frustrated noise, she tossed the crate to the side and picked up another, then another. She moved around the room in a rampage, looking angrier than Owen had ever seen her.

Quietly, he walked up to a crate that was laying on the floor. He carefully picked it up and flipped it over, peered inside at the contents. Inside were dozens of wires connected to the sides of the walls, which looked almost like cell phone chargers. Had the time watches been in here? If so, where had they gone? And who had taken them?

In a fit of anger, Kara threw the last crate on the floor and ran a hand through her hair. She turned on Owen, advancing on him. "Where did they go, Owen? Where did the time watches go?!"

"I don't know!" he replied, quickly backing away and dropping his eyes to the floor. He walked over to the broken time watch and picked it up, gently turning it over in his hands. "This is all that's left. Maybe you can fix it?"

She snatched the time watch from him, fiddled with it, then threw it on the floor. "I can't fix it! There's no way I can fix it, not without — without —" She sighed loudly, burying her face in her hands. " _She_ did this. It was the Countess. I can't believe how stupid I was. I should've never listened to her. I should've —"

"Hey," Owen said, placing a hand on her shoulder. When she didn't pull away, he slid the rest of his arm across her shoulders, pulling her into a side hug. "It's . . . it's going to be okay. We'll find another way to defeat her, and after that we'll escape."

Kara dropped her hands, her eyes filled with tears. She looked at him with a sorrowful expression, and Owen realized with a start that their faces were only inches apart. "I'm so sorry, Owen. That was your only way out, and now she's gotten to them."

He stared at her, an array of butterflies forming in his stomach. As if drawn by some unseen force, he leaned a bit closer to her, feeling warmer by the second. "It's okay, it's okay. I-It isn't your fault."

"'It isn't her fault'?" an amused voice repeated, followed by a cackle. Owen and Kara both jumped, their heads snapping in the direction of the voice. Standing at the top of the stairs was the Countess. Slowly, she walked down the stairs and closed the door behind her, locking it into place. They were trapped.

"Give us the time watches," Kara ordered. "Where are they?"

"As if I'd ever tell you that." The Countess smiled down at them. It wasn't a pleasant smile. As she took the last step down the staircase, she lifted her wrist and waved it at them, revealing a time watch. "See this? This is all I need. One push and I'll be free to sculpt the world into my creation. But I know we made a deal, and it would be very inconsiderate of me to ignore our agreement."

"We didn't agree on that, _you_ did," Owen pointed out. "No one is going to get killed, okay? All I ask is that you leave us alone, and give us a time watch to borrow.”

The Countess blinked in surprise, then scoffed. "If you think I'll ever give you little monsters what you want, you're nothing but stupid. This is about what _I_ want, and I want to make Kara suffer."

"You've already made me suffer enough," Kara said, glaring hatefully at her. "Do what you want, but just know that you'll be bringing about the end of the universe no matter what you do to me." She pointed at Owen. "If he dies, I'll make sure it comes sooner. And when it does come, I _swear_ you'll be the first to go."

"Those are famous last words," the Countess said, then disappeared out of sight.

Owen's eyes widened, and he looked around. "Hey, where did she go?" A split-second later, he felt an arm latch around his neck, and he was yanked close to the Countess, who was now standing behind him. Her glowing glove was right in front of Owen, nearing closer to him with every second.

"Let him go!" Kara yelled, raising her fists. She stepped closer to them as the Countess moved back, holding Owen tightly against her. Her nostrils flared, and she took a deep breath. In a calmer voice, but no less threatening, she said, "Let. Him. Go."

"Not a chance," the Countess said. "I know how important this boy is to you. A deal's a deal. One of you gets to watch the other die."

"No," Owen whispered, shaking his head desperately. "No _, please._ " He wasn't ready to die. He couldn't die here, not like this! His mind racing, he looked at the ceiling and directed his thoughts at the readers. _Readers!_ he screamed in his head. _If you're listening, please help me! I still need to escape from this book and save Bethany! I don't deserve this! If you disagree with anything Nobody is saying, please do something! Please, I need your help!_

"You're out of time," the Countess said, raising her glove to Owen's chest. He flinched and squeezed his eyes shut, his ears echoing with Kara's shouts, which sounded far away now. But nothing happened. When he opened his eyes, he saw why.

Out of nowhere, two women and one man in gray suits blinked into existence in front of them. One woman grabbed the Countess, yanking her off of Owen and removing the time watch from her wrist. The other woman grabbed Kara. Instantly, handcuffs formed around their wrists, preventing them from moving their arms.

"What is this?" the Countess roared, writhing around in a fit of anger. The woman only held her tighter, not bothering to respond.

"We're going to have to take you both in," the man said. "Since the time prison is currently . . . inhabitable, we're placing the time prisoners we can find into a smaller, temporary prison."

What? After everything that happened, after the Time Security Agency was destroyed, the agents _still_ wanted to put Kara into jail? Owen gritted his teeth, prepared to fight if he had to. "You can put the Countess in there, she deserves it. But Kara doesn't! She hasn't done anything wrong!"

The man stared at Owen for a moment, then laughed. "Do you even know who this is? This is Kara Dox, immune to paradox after her mother gave birth to her in a time bubble. Her older self has caused three hundred and twelve reported time violations, including fourteen major felonies. We have reason to believe she's the cause of the world being destroyed in the future. She's meant to be locked up for the rest of her days."

The Countess stopped struggling for a moment to flash a grin at Kara. "Hear that, Kara? You won't be escaping. You won't get the satisfaction."

Kara glared at her. "Neither will you. Knowing that is enough to make me feel satisfied." She glanced at the man, raising her cuffed hands in surrender. "I won't fight back, okay? Trust me, I know how dangerous I am. Just . . . please let me say goodbye to my friend."

The man frowned, then reluctantly nodded to the woman holding her. The woman released her, and Kara stepped forward towards Owen. He grabbed her arms, staring into her eyes. "Kara, don't do this. We can still fight back and use the Countess's time watch to escape! It isn't too late."

She gulped, shaking her head. "I'm sorry . . . it was really nice what you said yesterday, about me going to the nonfictional world with you. I would love to go, but I don't really have a choice now. I can't easily escape, not from these guys. There are three of them and two of us." She looked at her feet. "I think it's best that I'm locked up, anyway. The world will be safe, and _you'll_ be safe."

"Is that even what you want?" Owen asked quietly. "You'll be locked up again. That isn't life, Kara. You can't run from your problems because you're afraid of them. There's so much more to life than that."

Kara sighed. "I'm sorry, Owen, but even if it's not what I want . . . I still need to do it. For the sake of the universe. But I hope we see each other again someday." She forced a smile, slipping out of his grasp and allowing the woman to grab her again.

"I'll come back for you!" he said as both women pressed buttons on their time watches. A second later, Kara, the Countess, and the women all disappeared, aside from the man who had stayed put.

Owen gasped, staring helplessly at the place Kara had just been. ". . . Kara?" He clenched his fists, looking over at the man. "Where did you take her?"

"I already answered this. They'll be moved to a different facility," the man said, sounding slightly annoyed. "Since the Jules Verne Memorial Time Prison will be under construction for a long time, we'll stick who we can find into solitary confinement. The prisoners shouldn't be interacting with each other, anyway. They should be punished for the countless crimes they committed to time, and they should be surrounded by higher security. Especially Kara Dox, since she's had countless felonies . . ."

The rest of his words faded beneath the roar of blood in Owen's ears. In that moment, he wouldn't have noticed if someone had punched him in the stomach or kicked him in the face. There was only a numb, cold feeling. Just like that, she was locked up like a prisoner again. One moment, they were on top of a volcano, and she was kissing his cheek. Now, she was _gone_.

The numbness inside him snapped cleanly in half and spread a searing anger through his veins, causing his body to shake. With this, he was given the strength to shove his feet forward. Blind rage flowing through him, Owen charged toward the man and threw himself against him.

"Bring her back!" Owen screamed, plunging his forearm into the man's chest. His impact didn't even effect the man. He blocked the boy's attempts to hit him and pushed him backward, sending him hurtling to the ground.

When Owen got to his feet, the man had vanished. His anger died down, and he looked around everywhere for a sign of Kara. He knew there was no logical way he could follow them. He didn't even know where the rest of the time watches were, nor did he know where the agents had gone. He let out a defeated sigh. It looked like he was on his own now.

The only part of Kara that was still with him was the ghost of a kiss on his cheek.

Owen crept up the stairs, cursing Nobody, cursing the readers, and cursing the stupid agents who took Kara away. For a short while, everything had seemed so optimistic! Why did things have to be ruined? It felt like the world was against him, especially when he was inside a book.

After many attempts to push the door open, he finally managed to use his lingering anger to heave the heavy door open. Sunlight blinding his eyes, and he landed back on the jungle floor. As he started walking aimlessly in a direction, the shaking of bushes nearby jolted him to the present.

Trying to contain his shaking terror, he threw a glance behind him and saw a dinosaur stalking towards him; it was short in height but huge everywhere else, and it looked angry. It opened it's mouth into a snarl, then dug it's feet into the earth and bounded towards Owen. The boy gasped and pushed himself into a run, nearly tripping over everything he came across. As he ran, the dinosaur made several attempts to bite him, and it's heavy footfalls shook the ground around him.

With wild eyes, Owen forced his burning legs to keep running. The ground started to dip again, and it became uneven and rocky. Despite this, he kept moving forward, his adrenaline being the only thing keeping him from losing his balance. Then, out of nowhere, the path he'd been running on ended, forming into a small cliff.

He didn't have time to stop himself. Before he knew it, he was flying over the edge, too surprised to even scream. His arms flailed everywhere as he tried to grab hold of anything that would slow his fall. The world spun around him, and for a moment, all he heard was the roar of wind in his ears. A second later, he landed on the ground and immediately suspected something was very wrong.

Owen heard a sharp snap, and a feeling of dread overcame him. Simultaneously, an agonizing pain shot through his arm, and he was unable to prevent the scream that erupted from his mouth. He was trembling violently as he rolled onto his side, moaning as the pain skyrocketed. He clutched his arm with one hand, barely able to think.

Fresh tears fell in a constant stream from his eyes, blinding his vision. He tried to sit up, but accidentally leaned on his injured arm in the process. He screamed again as intense pain shot up his arm. He was barely able to breathe with all this pain. The tears continued washing down his face, like a waterfall that refused to cease. With much effort, he sat up, using his other hand to wipe his eyes.

"Oh _god_ ," he said in a choked whisper, and then he made the mistake of looking down at his arm. His eyes bulged out of his head, and panic flooded him. His arm was bent at a strange angle, completely deformed. It was already starting to swell up, and the pain only seemed to be increasing. He made an attempt to gently move his injured arm or hand, but it was no use. He wasn't able to control it.

All in all, this day had somehow gotten a whole lot worse.

* * *

Bethany was in the library, sitting at one of the empty tables. She'd been here since this afternoon, and spent her time reading _Pick The Plot_ after a month of avoiding it. After she sent the letter to Kiel, a small weight felt like it'd been lifted from her shoulders, and she felt the slightest bit motivated to do something she enjoyed. In her case, that was reading. She didn't realize how much she had missed it until she opened the book and absorbed herself into the story.

So far, it had been a day since she delivered her handwritten letter to Kiel, pouring out her apology onto paper. Since then, she hadn't been able to stop thinking about him. She wondered if he had read the letter yet. Maybe he was avoiding her still, or maybe he was just unsure how to talk to her. That would make sense, but Bethany really hoped that he would talk to her soon. She was dying to know if he'd accept her apology.

Bethany closed the book and stuffed it into her backpack, zipping it closed. She rose from the table, rubbing her tired eyes with one hand and picking up her backpack with the other. As she started towards the door that would lead her home, she rounded the corner of a bookcase and nearly fell into someone.

"Sorry," Bethany murmured, jumping away from the person. Then she looked up, and her brain stopped working altogether at the sight of Kiel standing in front of her. She was so surprised that she didn't remember to say anything. Of all places, he was here?

"Bethany?" he asked in a surprised tone, his eyes widening. Bethany's heart leaped at the sound of his voice, especially with him looking directly at her. It was a relief to hear his voice again.

Regaining his senses, Kiel held up a folded piece of paper. "I got your letter."

Bethany held her breath. "You did?"

He looked down at it, his fingers pressing harder over the edges of the paper. "Thank you for writing this. It —"

"I'm sorry, Kiel," she said, cutting him off. "I didn't know how to tell you in person." He looked at her then, and she forced herself to hold his gaze. It was the first time in a month that she had looked at him — _really_ looked at him. "I'm sorry for everything I said. I didn't mean it. At the time, I did — but I was _so_ confused about everything. I took things _way_ too far. It was uncalled for, and . . . you don't deserve that. I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore. Really, I do."

"Why did you write the letter?" Kiel asked, suddenly looking curious.

Bethany's face began heating up for some reason. "I felt really guilty, and I didn't know an easy way to apologize. I'm sorry. You must really hate me."

"Hate you?" he questioned, tilting his head. He laughed. “Are you kidding? I could _never_ hate you, Beth! I thought it was the other way around." She smiled. He looked down at the ground, and the next thing he said surprised her. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have expected you to come with me after I told you you were half-fictional. I thought you would've _wanted_ to come."

"I did," Bethany said quietly, her smile fading. "I would love to travel into a book. It seems impossible, though. I really don't want it to be." Then she shook her head. "I meant what I said in my letter. I want to be your friend. Even if it means rejoining myself, or whatever that means. I owe you a lot."

Slowly, he smiled. His smile looked like the sun peeking out after a long season of winter, and it made Bethany feel a lot lighter. "So you trust me now?"

"Yeah."

"Really? You trust me enough to take you to Jupiter City to rejoin with your fictional self?

Even though she still didn't believe that part could be true, she nodded.

"Then . . . friends?" He held his hand out, and she smiled before shaking it up and down. His hands were cold, but Bethany's hand felt like electricity and warmth had coursed into it when she touched him. She shivered at the contact.

"Friends," she agreed.

Kiel grinned, letting go of her hand. "We can leave for Jupiter City tomorrow. I already know the way."

"Tomorrow?" Bethany blanched. "But tomorrow's a _school_ day!"

"This is more important than school. We need to do this fast, before things get worse. We need to get you back with your fictional self. Tomorrow."

She still felt doubtful. "Okay . . . but you do hear how impossible that sounds, right? We can't just skip school! I'd be breaking so many rules. _So_ many. We need to be safe about this."

He rolled his eyes, then smirked. "Live a little, book-girl. I promise you'll be happy you made this decision."

"Okay," Bethany said, relenting. "We can meet at my house. At 8:00 in the morning, once I know for sure that my mom won't be home."

Kiel nodded. "Got it."

"And . . . this definitely isn't a joke? Because if it is, I'm —"

He cut her off. "No, it's not. You want to be my friend now, remember? You said in your letter that you wouldn't try backing out of anything."

She nodded, internally yelling at herself for adding that part into her letter. She'd felt so guilty, and she wanted more than anything to be his friend again, that was true. Even if it meant doing something she didn't really believe was real. Even if it meant doing something she was _afraid_ to believe in.

But she didn't care less about all that now. What mattered was Kiel, and as long as she stopped feeling so guilty about the things she'd told him a month ago, this would all be worth it.

"Once it's all over tomorrow, and once you rejoin with yourself, you'll be thanking me," Kiel assured her, giving her a wink. "Really, you _will_ be."

Bethany laughed at that. "We'll see about that."

Kiel laughed too. It was music to her ears, and it melted the icy exterior that had grown around her heart within the past month. "It's true! _You'll_ see about that." He then raised an eyebrow. "8:00 tomorrow, right?"

"Right," she confirmed, then added, "And don't make me regret skipping school!"

He only grinned in response. Bethany would've been lying if she said her face hadn't nearly broken in half from smiling so much. After hardly cracking a real, genuine smile during the month of January, her face was still getting used to the change. For the first time in a while, things felt good. _Really_ good. The rights had been wronged, and a sense of peace overcame her. She concluded that she had made the right choice by apologizing to him, after all. She was done with being miserable.

* * *

In a rush, Kiel had explained his plan last night. First, they'd travel to Jupiter City. Then, once they found Bethany's fictional self, Bethany would rejoin with her. While Bethany understood most of what he planned to do, she was still both wary and confused about this entire thing. She simply didn't believe it, but she knew better than to tell Kiel that again. They'd already gone through that a month ago, and that had ended in chaos.

For now, she'd have to play along, even if she was afraid of what might happen. For all she knew, this could either be real or fake. Fake sounded like the most logical answer, but Kiel had full faith in what he believed was true. If he did, why would it be fake? After everything that had happened, there was a chance that it _was_ real. And the idea of that scared her. Was there really another version of her, a _fictional_ version? And she was supposed to . . . rejoin with her? What did that even mean? Was that even possible?

Despite her worries, she couldn't help but feel slightly excited about this. It wasn't every day that opportunities like this happened, and it certainly wasn't common for boys like Kiel to exist. She figured that she should just trust him. He was her friend now, and that was all that mattered.

By the time Bethany spotted Kiel arriving in front of her house she had a large combination of both adrenaline and nerves pounding through her. After waiting for a solid thirty minutes, Kiel had finally made it to her house, holding a bag and two sticks that almost resembled wands. Bethany hugged her blue coat around her, trembling — both from nerves and the cold — on the porch.

"I hope you're right about all of this," she told him, clamoring down the steps and meeting him at the end of her driveway.

Kiel winked. "You can trust me. You don't need to hope. I _am_ right."

"Which way is this man's — I mean — Murray Chase's house?" Bethany asked him. The last thing she needed was to ring doorbells and ask if there were any middle-aged men who had a portal to a fictional world around at home.

He turned around in a circle, then pointed. "I think . . . that way. Yeah. He said it was a few neighborhoods past yours, somewhere called . . . Ditko Drive?"

Bethany nodded. "I think I might know where that is."

They walked out of the neighborhood and started across the sidewalk that lined the road, searching for Ditko Drive. They had been walking for quite some time before a sign caught Bethany's eye, and she pointed to it. "There it is!"

Kiel smiled as they rounded the corner. "Perfect."

The two continued walking, passing house after house in search of Murray Chase's residence. Bethany had no idea what to look for, given the fact that she'd never been to his house before. She didn't understand why her mother had hidden this from her. Why not tell her about Murray? It seemed like they used to be good friends, after all.

Suddenly, Kiel shouted, "That's his house!"

Bethany gave him a quizzical look, then tried to follow where he was staring. "What? Where?"

"The one on the end of the street," he said, releasing a cloud of fog from his mouth. She glanced over to see a tall, thin house squished in the middle of two normal-sized buildings. Compared to the other houses in the neighborhood, looked more like a tiny apartment building than a house.

As they neared Murray's house, Kiel glanced around them to check if anyone was watching, then clambered up the steps. Bethany's eyes widened, and she ran after him. "Wait, you can't be serious. I think you're taking this too far. Common sense tells me we shouldn't break into this guy's house. That's completely illegal! He's a friend of my mom's, but still! You don't even _know_ him."

"It'll be fine," Kiel assured her. "I already talked to him about this, and he said I could come over." Then he looked at her and winked. "You'll understand everything once we get to Jupiter City."

Butterflies swirled in Bethany's stomach. She stepped back, still very doubtful and on edge about this entire situation. Even if he believed it was real, Kiel was going too far with this. "I still think that maybe —"

Before she could finish her sentence, Kiel knocked loudly on the door. "Hello? Mr. Chase? It's me, Kiel! I'm here with Bethany!"

Bethany whispered something inappropriate under her breath. _Crap,_ she thought. There was no way she was getting out of this now. She watched with baited breath as Kiel knocked again on the door. As far as she could hear, there weren't any noises coming from inside.

"Are you sure he's here?" she asked after a minute of waiting in silence.

Kiel looked confused. "I thought he would be. He _said_ he would be." He knocked again, just for good measure, but no one answered. Then, he tried the handle on the door. It was locked.

"Okay," he said, turning to Bethany. "Plan B! We need to find another way in. The easiest way would be the door. Or maybe the lowest window. But then again, we don't want to attract too much attention. Just in case the nonfictional police show up." He winked again.

" _Police_?" Bethany nearly shouted. "No, _no way._ I can't get into trouble."

Kiel put a finger to her lips, then removed his hand and pulled two thin black sticks from his belt. He murmured a few words, and then a golden light exploded from the tip, plowing straight into the door. When the smoke cleared, all that remained of the door were several wooden chunks.

Bethany could only stare in shock, her mind refusing to accept what she'd just seen. She looked back and forth from the sticks in Kiel's hands — wands, she guessed — to the remains of the door. Wordlessly, she looked at Kiel. "You — what? You just destroyed that door! You . . . you're _actually_ Kiel Gnomenfoot?"

"The one and only," Kiel said, giving her a grin. He fit his hand into her's, pulling her into the house as she continued to feel shell-shocked. "Yikes. Too bad he's going to have to get a new door. I guess I should use a repairing spell when we get back. C'mon, let's find that manhole he told me about."

"What manhole?" she asked, finally shaking herself out of her daze enough to look around. She felt like an intruder in someone else's home. Which she was.

"He said it was in his basement. It's a portal to Jupiter City."

"A portal," Bethany repeated quietly, shaking her head. "Makes sense." She started to follow him, but then, she saw something that made her blood turn cold.

On the wall facing the door was a photo of two men and a woman, all three adults smiling at the camera as they stood behind a group of kids surrounding a birthday cake. The adults were her father, Murray, and her mother. Behind them, a banner read, "Happy Fourth Birthday, Bethany!"

"What's wrong?" Kiel asked, glancing back at her.

She couldn't respond. Her eyes were locked on the picture, which she had never seen until now. Her heart constricted painfully, and for a moment, she couldn't breathe. This had been the night her father died. It had been the night he'd left Bethany and her mother for good.

But maybe . . . if Kiel was telling the truth after all . . . she'd see her father again. That was one thing to look forward to, right? Unless this all ended up being a game. But given how dedicated Kiel was to this, she doubted it was.

"Oh," Bethany heard Kiel say in a quiet voice, making her jump. She had nearly forgotten he was there. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, bringing her back to reality. "Don't worry, you'll see your father soon. He's in Jupiter City."

Bethany turned to look at him with a pained expression. "Are you _sure_ he is?"

He started to nod, then stopped. "I . . . I think so. I've never been there, but that's what I've heard from your fictional self and Mr. Chase. I hope he is."

"Okay," she said quietly, tearing herself away from the picture. She dropped Kiel's hand and walked through the living room, which was narrow and cramped with a large pillow-covered sofa that took up much of the space. Drawings littered the walls, most of them looking like comic book art. Some of it Bethany didn't recognize, but she could recall several of the drawings as of Doc Twilight. Murray hadn't been lying when he said he was the artist of the _Doc Twilight_ comics.

Silently, she exited the room and stopped in front of a staircase that led both up and down. From what she could see, there was a kitchen upstairs, which meant that the stairs leading down must lead to the basement. She looked back at Kiel, who was making his way towards her. "That must be his basement, where the manhole is."

"I'll go first," he said, then edged past her, starting down the stairs. The stairs led to a closed door, and Kiel curled his hand around it, opening it without much difficulty. He flashed a grin at Bethany. "That was easy. You'd think he'd keep his door locked!"

"Most people don't lock their basement door," Bethany said, then gave him a pointed look. "Well, they _usually_ don't have to. But now that you've broken into his house without his permission, he might think otherwise."

"I already told you that he gave me permission," Kiel said, opening the door to reveal a pitch-black room. Bethany squeezed in next to him and felt her hand around for a light switch. Her hand caught on something, and she flicked it up. The room was instantly illuminated, revealing another set of stairs that led to the basement below.

Slowly, she crept down the stairs, allowing her eyes to adjust to the bright room. Five glass cases were positioned around what looked like the manhole Kiel had mentioned. Inside the glass cases were superhero costumes, which were such high quality that Bethany assumed they were insanely expensive.

They walked to the middle of the room, Bethany silently observing everything while Kiel made comments about each of the costumes. "Wow, this guy should make _me_ a superhero outfit. I usually just wear the same thing all the time, but it _would_ be cool to have an upgrade."

Bethany snorted. "What, do you wear a cape, or something?"

"Obviously," he said, not looking at her. He stopped in front of the manhole and bent down to remove the chains that interlocked over it.

"Wait!" she hissed, grabbing his arm to pull him back. "We're going down _there_? That doesn't look safe, Kiel. We need to listen to common sense."

"Don't worry. It's not going to kill us. It'll take us to Jupiter City," Kiel said, flashing her a wink. He turned back to the manhole and tugged on the chains again, but they didn't budge. "Huh."

Bethany knelt down next to him and scanned the manhole. In one corner of it, she saw that the chains all joined together under a number pad. "There's a number pad," she said, pointing to it. "That'll probably open it."

Kiel's eyes followed to where she was pointing, but instead of typing a code into it, he stood up and took out his wand-knives. "Stand back."

She quickly stood up and scooted out of the way. "You're not going to blow that up, are you —"

Before she could finish her sentence, he said something under his breath. A bright light extended from the tips of his wand-knives and made contact with the number pad. The number pad exploded, and the chains underneath it fell away. Kiel grinned at Bethany, then pulled the manhole cover up and dragged it slowly to the side.

Instead of a ladder or a tunnel like Bethany was expecting, there was a blue circle of fire right underneath the manhole. She frowned. "I can't say I was expecting that. Figured there'd be something less . . . fiery."

Compared to her, Kiel looked underwhelmed. "I see this type of stuff all the time. Blue circles of fire? I can cast a spell that makes those."

He looked at her and smiled, seeing her worried expression. "I can go first, if you want. Not that there's anything to be afraid of. Just, you know, listen less to your head and more to your heart." With that, he slid his wand-knives into their sheaths and moved to the side of the manhole, dropping to the floor beside it. Before Bethany could protest, he pushed himself into the manhole, disappearing into the fiery pit.

"Kiel?" Bethany whispered, swallowing hard. Her eyes darted around the room, then back at the manhole. She took a deep breath and dropped to the floor, her anxiety heightening as she stared at the blue flames. She placed a hand on her chest and nodded to herself. "You can do this. Now _go_." Shutting her eyes, Bethany slid into the manhole, the blue fire instantly surrounding her body.

Before she knew it, she had landed hard on her stomach. She coughed from the sudden impact and picked herself up off the floor, rising unsteadily to her feet. She definitely wasn't in Murray Chase's house anymore.

The room was dimly lit, and the only thing that gave off light was a larger version of the blue fire, which stood straight up and down. There were machines everywhere, making the room look like some sort of futuristic laboratory. She walked over to Kiel, who was standing by a round bank-vault door.

"Ready?" he asked.

"You really _were_ telling the truth," she said, giving him a bewildered look. "I can't believe we're . . . somewhere else. We're not even in a basement anymore. How is this possible? How is _any of it_ possible?"

He shrugged. "It just is. It might be harder for you to wrap your head around it, but that's only because you've been living with nonfictionals. See? I _told_ you you'd understand once we got here!" He laughed a little, then walked through the door. "Let's get going. I'm pretty sure Jupiter City will be this way. Your fictional self will most likely be fighting crime, from what I've heard."

Bethany followed him, her mind still whirling with thoughts. Somehow, they had teleported to an entirely new location. But that didn't mean they were in a book, right? After all, it was the least logical idea she'd ever come across. And if it was true that they had arrived in Jupiter City, that meant they were going to find Bethany's other self — her fictional version. She still couldn't fully wrap her head around it, and she didn't think she'd believe it until she saw it with her own eyes.

She was met with both a stunning and surprising sight. A curved glass window covered the entire wall in front of them, displaying a huge city — Jupiter City. Evening was falling across the city, and the tall buildings that dotted the view appeared black against the dusk sky.

Bethany hadn't been to many cities, but it didn't resemble anything she'd ever seen before. The various buildings were similar to those in New York or Chicago, but not a single one of them looked run-down at all. Instead, they were perfectly constructed, and even seemed to shine like a newly-washed car.

"It's beautiful," she heard Kiel say.

She glanced over at him. He was busy staring at the view, his hands pressed up against the glass. His eyes were wide with awe, the view of the city reflecting in them. She smiled a little bit, then looked away and did a quick scan of the hallway. There was an elevator several feet away from them, on the opposite end of the hallway.

"Come on,” she said. “Let’s take the elevator."

She marched over to it, Kiel following close behind her. She slammed her thumb into the button, then started twisting her hands nervously as she waited for it's arrival. Once the doors slowly creaked open, they walked through. Kiel pressed a button labeled "lobby", and immediately, they were sucked towards the ground at a speed faster than Bethany could interpret. Just like that, all of her thoughts flew out the window.

For the first ten seconds, she could only scream, staring with panicked eyes at Kiel who appeared to be having the time of his life. Then, as they passed floor two hundred, the elevator continued speeding up. In spite of herself, Bethany started to grin, enjoying the adrenaline rush that came with the fall. Although she was afraid of what might come when they hit the ground, it was still undeniably exciting. It wasn't something she'd ever experienced before.

"This is . . . kind of fun!" she shouted above the noise, suddenly unable to stop smiling.

"It is!" he yelled, his eyes filled with glee. "I _love_ danger, especially when the threat of death is involved!"

She laughed. "Okay, you're _definitely_ crazy."

Then, the elevator gently slowed to a stop, and the doors rolled open with a dinging sound. Still grinning, Bethany marched out of the room, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. She looked at Kiel, who mirrored her expression. "That was _amazing_. And in spite of the danger, I was actually having fun! That never happened to me before."

Kiel winked at her. "It's happened more times than you think. Even still, I'm glad you aren't so worried anymore. I like to think that dangerous situations bring out the best in people."

"That's a strange motto to follow."

"It's true, though," he said. "You stop thinking and you just . . . do. When you're having the most fun, it's because you aren't worrying over every little thing that might happen. You're just living in the moment."

She opened her mouth to respond, but they pushed the double doors open, and she was only able to stare at the bustling city around them. The streets were filled with people, who were either rushing about or taking their time. It looked the same as any other city.

"Any idea where the . . . other version of me is?" Bethany asked Kiel, not fully wanting to know. Even after everything she'd seen so far, she was still skeptical about meeting her other half. The person she was more eager to see was her father, whom she hadn't seen since she was four years-old.

"She — I mean, _you_ — should be wherever the crime fighting is," he said. "Let's head downtown and find the darkest, most crime-ridden place here."

"That doesn't sound safe," Bethany muttered, but started walking with Kiel anyway. As they walked through the streets and the sky continued to darken, the night life only seemed to elevate. The crowd of people didn't dissipate, and everyone surrounding them seemed to be in an unusually good mood.

A half hour later, they reached a less crowded part of the city, where dogs barked and the buildings became more run-down. Across the street, Bethany heard faded voices. She looked over in the direction and spotted a large warehouse, with the door slightly ajar. There was one window, and she could see that the room inside was dimly lit.

She pointed it out to Kiel. "Think there's some crime going on in there?"

"There's only one way to find out," he said, then took off across the street. Bethany sighed and sprinted after him, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a passing car.

As they quietly walked up to the building, Bethany saw that there were several boxes laying around in an alleyway right next to the warehouse. She stopped, squinting her eyes in the dark to read what they said. The words were too difficult to read, but she could see the pictures on the top. They were _fireworks_.

"Kiel," she whispered, tapping his arm. "Look, there are tons of boxes of fireworks just laying around."

Kiel walked over to her and stared into the alley, his eyebrows knit in confusion. "What's a firework?"

"They're like . . . sparks of fire that are shot into the sky. They can form shapes. They're normally used for celebrations." She backed away, glancing at the warehouse. Cautiously, she walked to the door and pulled it open wide enough for both of them to look inside.

The warehouse was large, with many rows of shelves that were filled with boxes and other supplies. In the center of the room, hidden partially by a beam, was a group of men clustered around a table. They were arguing about something, their voices nearly raised to shouts. Then, one of the men said something, and the rest quieted down. They stood up and dispersed around the room, beginning to transport boxes that looked suspiciously filled with something dangerous.

"We need to be quiet for now," Kiel whispered, placing his hand against the door. "If we attract too much attention to ourselves, we won't be able to get her."

"'Her'?" Bethany repeated, wondering why she hadn't seen a sixth person among the criminals. Then, she looked up towards the ceiling, and that was when Bethany saw her. She wondered, with growing disbelief, how they had managed to find the right location. At the same time, she realized that this wasn't a dream. Her fictional self was right there. She existed.

The fictional version of Bethany was crouched in the rafters of the warehouse, staring silently down at the five men. After several long seconds of waiting, she pulled out a launcher and shot it at another rafter, swinging away without catching the notice of the men. In mid-air, she released the launcher and dropped straight to the floor, her bright purple cape settling around her as she landed feet-first without making much noise.

"I hope you're ready for a rematch," she growled to the first man who spotted her. The man gasped, dropping the box he was holding to the ground. "It's that Kid Twilight girl again! I see you aren't with your father this time, or that other sidekick of his. What, do you think you can handle all five of us better this time?"

"Okay, first of all: that's rude. It's Twilight _Girl._ Get it right. Second of all: I _said_ I was ready for a rematch."

With that, she flung her arm forwards, and a throwing star sailed at the man. The man quickly dodged, then charged at her, sending a punch to her face. She ducked. Without looking, she kicked him in the legs, sending him falling to the floor. Just as he hit the floor, another man came behind her and kicked her in the back. She stumbled forwards but quickly recovered, whipping around and sending a throwing star into the man's chest.

"She's amazing," Kiel breathed quietly, staring at the other girl with awe. Bethany side-eyed him, feeling strangely jealous. Why was she jealous of herself? They were technically the same person.

"Yeah, I guess," Bethany muttered, her arms crossed as they watched the fight continue. The rest of the men bounded over, and soon it became harder to see how well the fight was going. She was surrounded on all sides, but she still managed to fight back, using a long staff to defend herself. At one point, a man punched her in the face hard enough to send her skidding across the floor.

Bethany gasped, turning to look at Kiel. "We need to help her," she said, her voice raising with worry. "They're going to hurt her!"

Kiel motioned for her to keep quiet. "How about we use those fireworks?"

Bethany scrunched her nose. "Wasn't the point of this _not_ to attract attention? People will realize we're here."

"Exactly," he said, moving from the door and walking over to the alley. After a second more of watching her fictional self, she trailed after him. He grabbed a small box of fireworks from the ground. "I _want_ them to know we're here. The best way to break up a crime scene is to cause a distraction."

"This is a really bad idea," she told him, shaking her head. But she leaned down and picked up a box of fireworks anyway.

They crept into the warehouse, edging along the wall until they were mostly out of view. Luckily, the men were too busy with the other Bethany, so they didn't notice. Kiel placed his box on the floor, and Bethany did the same. Exchanging a look with her, he took out his wand-knives and murmured a spell. A spark of fire shot towards both firework boxes, causing the boxes to sizzle and hiss.

Bethany's eyes widened, and she grabbed Kiel's hand, moving them away as far as possible. Without warning, a loud noise blared from the boxes, and two fireworks plowed into the ceiling, sending sparks everywhere. Everything was quiet for a moment, only for two more fireworks to shoot outward, slamming into the shelves nearby.

"What's going on?" one of the men shouted above the noise, while the rest of them starting running frantically around the room, desperately trying to grab boxes as more and more fireworks destroyed the insides of the warehouse. A small fire had already started in the ceiling, and it was beginning to grow.

Kiel grabbed Bethany's hand, pulling her through the smoke and chaos. Both were coughing as they made it over to where fictional Bethany sat on the ground, looking deeply confused. With his other hand, Kiel yanked her off the floor. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

The fictional Bethany didn't protest. She ran along with them towards the exit, slightly more fatigued than they were. They sprinted through the wreckage of the building, the heat from the fire beginning to deep into Bethany's clothes. She was the first to make it outside. The other two were right behind her, and they all stumbled to catch their breath.

Before any of the men could escape, Bethany slammed the metal door shut, locking it into place. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, still coughing from the smoke that filled her lungs. All of the sudden, Kiel let out a choked laugh. "That worked out much better than I thought it would."

The fictional Bethany looked at him in surprise, as if just realizing he was there. "Kiel? What are you doing here?"

"To reunite you with your nonfictional self," he said, gesturing to Bethany. The fictional Bethany looked over at her, then gasped, looking just as shocked as Bethany felt. "Wait, you're _real_? You're . . . me?"

Bethany forced herself to nod, feeling suddenly light-headed. "Yeah. I just learned much of the same thing. I didn't realize you actually existed until now, though. I still can hardly believe it."

"So Kiel was telling the truth?" fictional Bethany asked, turning back to Kiel.

He nodded. "I already went through this with both of you, but neither of you really believed me.” Kiel grinned. “Now that you see I'm _right_ , though, we really should get going. You need to rejoin yourself as soon as possible."

"Why?" fictional Bethany pressed, crossing her arms. "I don't see why we need to. We've obviously been fine on our own."

"Yeah, it looks like we have," Bethany observed. "But . . . Kiel said something bad would happen if we don't rejoin ourselves. Plus, we've apparently lost our memories. I'm still not sure if I believe that could be the case, but don't you want to get those back?"

Fictional Bethany frowned, looking down. "I don't know. I mean, all I know are my memories of being here, in Jupiter City. I've been a superhero ever since I can remember."

"Your life does sound pretty cool," Bethany reasoned. "Although, I think it would be logical if we trusted Kiel. He's come a long way to do this for me. It wouldn't make sense if we didn't try."

Fictional Bethany bit her lip, then slowly nodded. "Okay. I . . . I guess you're right. We should try."

Both girls looked at Kiel, who winked at them. "Let's do this. But we shouldn't do it here. We should go back to the nonfictional world through the portal, just in case Nobody tries to stop us."

Still feeling hesitant, Bethany agreed with some reluctance. She could tell that her fictional self wasn't too excited about this ether, but deep in her heart, she knew it was something that had to be done. As they walked back towards the way they came, Bethany shared her life story with her fictional self, who in turn did the same. As it turned out, they had completely different lives, and her fictional self seemed to have a very different personality compared to her. Bethany wondered how on earth they could be the same person. They were complete opposites. How was it possible that they used to be one girl?

By the time the moon was glistening brightly in the sky, they'd made it back to the laboratory. The blue circle of fire was still there, slightly blinding Bethany's vision. She looked at Kiel, who smiled at both of them before jumping straight through the portal, disappearing as soon as he did so.

Bethany took a deep, shaky breath, then turned to her fictional self. "I don't know if I'm ready. I'm more scared than I've ever been in my whole life. Is this the right thing to do?"

"It has to be," fictional Bethany said, staring at her in the darkness. "I'm not thrilled about this either, but as much as I hate to admit it . . . I think that we need each other. I think that we can help each other."

"I can't argue with that," Bethany said with a sigh. "I'm just not used to diving straight into things, especially things that I'm unsure of. I know that this seems like the logical thing to do, but I'm still doubtful."

"I have my doubts, too," fictional Bethany replied quietly. "I'm pretty much the exact opposite of you. I jump into danger without thinking, and I guess that isn't always the smartest thing to do." She smiled a little bit. "You're right about what you said earlier. We need to try. If this works, maybe we can feel more like ourselves again. Who we used to be, I mean."

Bethany nodded and smiled back. "Sounds like a good plan. For what it's worth, I hope this does work. And I hope that I remember what I've been missing."

"Me too," her fictional self said. She looked over at the blue flames. "Ready for this?"

"Well, I guess I'll have to be," Bethany said, tilting her head. She watched as her fictional self ran towards it and jumped inside, not hesitating for a second. Steeling herself, Bethany shook out her worries and charged towards the portal, her eyes closing instinctively before she made contact with the flames.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself back in the basement of Murray Chase's house. Her fictional self and Kiel were standing next to the manhole, waiting for her.

"This is it," her fictional self breathed, straightening the mask on her face. Bethany grimaced and looked away from her fictional self, her eyes searching Kiel's.

He put his hands on her shoulders in a comforting manner, staring down at her without a hint of doubt in his eyes. "Trust me, it'll be okay, Bethany."

"I hope so," she whispered. He backed away to stand next to one of the glass cases, giving them space. Bethany slowly walked up to her fictional self. She forced a strained smile. "Ready?"

Her fictional self nodded, looking just as nervous. "Yeah. Let's do it."

"This going to hurt," Bethany said, inwardly wincing. Before she could back herself out of it, her fictional self grabbed her hand. The pain that followed wasn't like anything she'd ever experienced. As their fingers slowly merged into one, the pressure increased, causing Bethany to cry out in pain.

"I can't believe it's working!" Bethany's fictional self said, appearing to be in just as much pain. "Don't let go," she added, then pushed herself more forcefully into Bethany. Their arms slowly merged into each other, followed by their shoulders. There was a lingering burning sensation in Bethany's body that made her nearly scream, but she held it in, focusing only on the task at hand.

The pain heightened as they merged at a snail's pace, but as they continued, Bethany found it more bearable. At last, it was finished. Their bodies and minds fully joined back together, becoming a whole person. For the first time in three years, things felt _right_.

When the pain fully dissipated, Bethany glanced at Kiel, who was looking at her as if he'd just won the lottery. "Welcome back."

She grinned, then stumbled as three Kiel's appeared in her vision. She had only a second to feel confused before she swayed and fell against one of the glass cases. She cried out as a sudden pain filled the back of her head. She tried her best to catch herself, but instead fell the rest of the way to the floor. She scooted backward and leaned her body against the case, feeling too tired to stand. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

Kiel got on his knees and gripped her by the hands, his eyes large. "Beth? Beth!"

Bethany coughed weakly, staring at him in a daze. His face grew blurrier, and she blinked rapidly. She felt so tired all of the sudden. She felt a huge weight on her body, but she couldn't see anything there. Her eyes fluttered closed, and the pitch-blackness was blissful compared to the loud noises she was hearing all around her.

"Bethany? Can you hear me?"

His voice was like an echo from far away. She felt his hand cupping her face for a few seconds, then moving to her shoulder and shaking her. With his other hand, he squeezed her hand hard, prompting her to bring her focus back to the present. Bethany's eyes slowly opened again, and she saw a blurry Kiel. She moved her lips to say something, but nothing came out.

"Can you hear me?" Kiel asked again. She tried to nod, but she was so exhausted that she wasn't entirely sure if he saw.

"Beth?" He shook her gently. "Bethany, keep your eyes open. You can't pass out right now. You need water. You just rejoined yourself."

Bethany forced her body to move, weakly lifting her arms and gripping his hands, clinging to him like a lifeline. He sighed in relief and carefully helped her sit up, a bright smile appearing on his face. She trained her eyes on him, memorizing the structure of his face. Her eyes were still glazed, and everything in her vision was blurry and out of focus, like the smudged lens on a camera.

"Can you stand?" Kiel asked softly, putting a hand on her back to support her. Slowly, she nodded and moved to push herself off the floor. As soon as she did, her vision went hazy and spots danced before her eyes. Her legs wobbled beneath her, causing her to fall to the ground.

She heard Kiel shout in surprise, then grunt as he caught her dead-weight in his arms. When Bethany managed to open her eyes again, he had two arms around her torso and was struggling to pull her off the ground. She put an arm around his neck and managed to get her feet beneath her, making it easier for him to move her. She slowly stood, leaning heavily on Kiel. She was still dizzy, but he somehow managed to not let her fall.

"You alright?" he asked. She forced herself to nod. With some difficulty, they hobbled up the stairs and out of Murray Chase's empty house. As they walked outside, Kiel muttered something about fixing the door. In her dazed state, Bethany barely heard him. The February air was cold as it sank into her bones. With some effort, they made it to the bottom of the porch steps, and Kiel paused for a moment to catch his breath.

Bethany felt a little less exhausted now, and her head felt much clearer than it had in three years. That was when it finally hit her: she was herself again. Her full self. Bethany Sanderson, half-fictional girl.

"Kiel?" she whispered, her mouth dry.

He glanced over at her, then smiled. "Hey, Beth. How're you feeling? Any better?"

"I'm not sure," Bethany said, feeling too tired to explain herself. "Where are we going?"

"Your house."

"My mom. Is she . . . ?"

Kiel shook his head. "She isn't home. Don't worry. You have a long time to rest. We need to get you some water."

"Water," she agreed. She wanted to thank him for the millions of things he had done for her, but she didn't have the energy to say more. She briefly half-closed her eyes again, forcing herself to take steps to keep up with Kiel as he started walking again.

They slowly navigated their way towards the backyard of a nearby house, which kept them hidden from view of anyone who was possibly watching. Kiel retrieved a button from his pocket and pressed it, holding onto her tightly with one hand. The world around them faded away, replacing itself with Bethany's room.

Bethany glanced up at him, giving him a weary smile. "I've missed teleporting."

Kiel smiled back, then helped her over to her bed, not letting her go until he was certain she wouldn't fall over. "I'll be right back," he said, then hurried out of the room.

Yawning, Bethany closed her eyes and leaned her head back against her pillows. She felt strangely relaxed, and another wave of exhaustion washed over her. Her breathing slowed, and the noises around her faded away. She hadn't even released she'd fallen asleep until she woke up several hours later to Kiel sitting on her bed and a glass of water on her nightstand. Groggily, she sat up and reached for the water, bringing it to her lips and taking large gulps of it. When she was done, she set it on her bedside table and leaned back against the pillows, looking over at Kiel.

"You have to tell me everything," Bethany ordered. "And don't leave anything out. How did you get here, to the real world? How did you do _any_ of this?"

Kiel adjusted his position on the bed, leaning his head on his hand as he studied her. "I guess it started three years ago. I saw your fictional self in my world, and I realized you must've been separated. I didn't know of any other way to get to the nonfictional world, so I created a spell. It took me a long time . . . but I had help."

"And you didn't remember magic, either," Bethany said, realization dawning on her. "How did you . . . ?"

"I started re-learning it when I came back to my world," Kiel said. "Actually, I even found a new teacher. His name is Abdo. But shortly after I found your fictional self, Nobody captured me and took me to his . . . prison. I don't really know what else to call it. It was this white nothingness all around me. There was no sound. Time was frozen, or so it seemed. I didn't even know how long I was there. It felt like days. It could've been months."

Bethany felt horrified for him, as well as mad at Nobody for kidnapping her friends. It seemed to be a habit of his. "Nobody _kidnapped_ you? How did you escape?"

"A group of pirates were rescuing people. They somehow had found a way to move their ship in and out of Nobody's prison. That's how I met Elijah, actually."

"Who's Elijah?" she asked, feeling suddenly very lost. How much had she missed?

"Oh, that's right. You haven't officially met him, now that I think about it." Kiel scratched his head. "He helped me with my spell research, and he's a good friend of mine. When I met him, he was indebted to the pirate captain, and he wasn't allowed to see his family for thirty years!"

"I can't imagine that," Bethany said quietly. In all honesty, she really couldn't. Being separated from her dad for years had been agony — but being separated from both her mom _and_ dad for thirty years? That would be torture.

"I made him come with me to Magisteria. I gave him the choice, of course, but we didn't have much time to decide."

She nodded. "Because Nobody would find out, right?"

"Yeah. And he did," Kiel said. "Once we'd finished rescuing everyone, we went outside to this field of portals. You should've seen it. There were thousands of them. They were all portals that led to different worlds . . . the _fictional_ worlds. Everyone was looking for their own portal when Nobody showed up and started putting people back into his prison."

Bethany shivered. "So after that . . . you created the spell for three years? Couldn't you have searched it up in your spell book?"

Kiel shook his head. "I tried that a few times, but it didn't work. I had to research about it instead. I learned everything I could. I even took some trips across Magisteria and Quanterium to gain more knowledge about magic. If I were doing it all by myself . . . I probably would've gone crazy. Once I had the spell written, I used it to get to your world. That's how I'm here now."

She was in a state of shock. "I can't believe you did _all_ of that, and you _still_ stayed after everything my nonfictional self put you through. Just to reunite my two halves!” She leaned a bit closer to him, her eyes locked on his. “Kiel, I know I apologized before, but I'm _so_ sorry. Everything I said to you was horrible."

He gave her a smile. "It's water under the bridge. Don't blame yourself for it. You didn't remember me. I couldn't give up, though. That's why I stayed. The only way to defeat Nobody and save the fictional world is for you to be whole, and now you are!"

Bethany sat up straighter. "Wait — defeat Nobody? Didn't you say earlier that he was _destroying_ the fictional world?"

"With his pure possibility, yes."

She pushed herself out of bed. "Then we need to find a way to defeat him right away, before he wins. We'll make a plan, get our friends, then we'll fight him together. I'll need to get Gwen, and Charm, and Orion, and Ow— Wait . . ." She looked past him, then turned around in a circle. " _Where's Owen_?!”

Kiel winced, sliding off the bed and onto his feet. "I don't know."

"You don't _know?_ " Bethany demanded. "What do you mean you don't know?”

"Ever since I got here, Owen has been missing. I assumed you would know where he was once you got your memories back."

She swallowed hard, her mind running in circles. She tried to search her brain for answers, but had no clue where he could be. "I . . . I have no idea."

Kiel frowned. "Okay, _that's_ not good. We have to find him. He has to be somewhere in the nonfictional world. Where was the last place you saw him?"

"In my dad's comic book," Bethany said quietly. "Charm gave him these time powers, but he vanished after she gave him them. He somehow could communicate with me while I was there. He warned me about bad things that he saw in the future. But that was the last time I saw him. After that, I turned into light to save my dad. It was the only way to turn him back to normal."

Kiel nodded in understanding. "You did the right thing." A smirk came to his lips. "By the way, you'll need to show me those powers of yours later. I heard that Charm gave you shapeshifting powers!"

She blinked. "You did? From who?"

"Gwen."

How had Kiel met Gwen? She pointed a finger at him. "You'll have some explaining to do later."

He winked. "I plan to. Either way, for now we need to focus on finding Owen. But he's nowhere. Even his mom doesn't have a clue. Where could he be?"

Bethany was silent for a moment, and then reached under her bed and pulled out the thick book that her nonfictional self had been reading for the past few months. She showed it to him. "I didn't know at first . . . but I think I do now."

"'Pick The Plot,'" he read aloud. He took the book from her and studied the cover. Unmistakably, a drawing of Owen was on it. "Wait . . . he's _in_ here!" Kiel gave her a shocked look. "He's been in here the whole time! If I had known . . ." He shook his head, his eyes wide. "This whole time, I thought he was in the nonfictional world! But he wasn't."

Bethany quickly stood up, her expression hard. "Hand me the book. We need to get him out of there."

"Bethany."

"Give me it!"

"Hey, just hear me out." He glanced down at the book again. "He's been in this book for three years, right? So what if Nobody hurt him? He said he would hurt me if I disobeyed him. I mean, obviously I didn't listen to him. I'm not even sure if he really meant it, but what if he did something to Owen?"

"Worse than throwing him in a Pick The Plot book?" Bethany shook her head. "He wouldn't. He _couldn't_ have done that. This is a Pick The Plot book. That means that the readers choose certain actions the characters do. That was probably enough to hurt Owen."

"Right," Kiel said, looking uncomfortable at the thought. He looked her in the eyes. "We'll get him back, okay?" He tried for a smile. "Some faceless guy is _not_ going to stop us."

Bethany tried to smile, or nod, but instead, she felt the sudden urge to cry. "I really hate this, Kiel. Owen doesn't deserve any of this. He's been controlled by the readers, including even _me_ , for _years_!" She took a shaky breath, feeling a sudden pang in her chest. "He's been trapped in here. I was so stupid, I didn't even realize he was in there! This whole time I was reading it, I s-should've realized! I should've—"

" _Hey_. You didn't know he was in there. It's okay, it's not your fault."

"Just because I didn't know doesn't make it okay!" Bethany's breath hitched. "His only way out is through _me_ , and I never got to rescue him!"

Kiel walked over to her, grabbing her by the hands in an effort to calm her down. She was on the verge of tears, feeling both furious and upset. Panic bubbled to the surface, leaving no room for anything else. She _had_ to find Owen. She _had_ to.

What if Owen was hurt? No, scratch that. She already knew that he was. But if he was dead? She hated to think that way, but seeing the book he was in, she didn't know for sure. Life without him was unimaginable, but now that she'd lived for three years without him she could see how badly her decisions had led her. How blinded she'd been.

Despite his easily excited nature, he was often the one who knocked common sense into her, not the other way around. Sure, his crazy ideas sometimes got them into trouble, but he still tended to be less reckless than Bethany. Without him here, it felt like something was missing. And something was: her best friend.

If she never found Owen, who would obsess over books and comics? Where would she spend her sleepovers at? Who would draw Charm in class while Bethany pretended not to notice? Who would stick by her through everything, and against everything? _Who?_

There _was_ no one else. No one but Owen could fill that gap, which hadn't been whole for three entire years. She just hadn't been aware of it until now. She missed her best friend so much that it hurt. She had to get him back. But what if she never did?

"Beth," Kiel said, snapping her out of her trance. She looked at him with wide eyes, clinging to his surprisingly soft hands. "It's going to be okay. I promise. We're going to find him. But first we need to have a plan, and luckily you're with _me_ , so that part should be easy!" She smiled a little. "He's locked in this huge time prison, and if he hasn't been able to escape yet . . . well, we know why."

Bethany nodded a few times, glancing down at their joined hands. Her hands felt tingly and hot at his touch. "Y-Yeah, he is." She blinked, and a few tears slipped down her face. Embarrassed about crying in front of him, she quickly drew her hands back, not noticing his disappointment when she did so. Quickly, she wiped her cheeks. "Seriously though, we need to take Nobody down. He's been ruining our lives and I've had enough of it!"

Despite the situation, Kiel grinned. "There's the Bethany I know. You never give up. That's what I love —" He stopped himself before he could say anything else. "I mean, um, that's what everyone . . . that's what everyone loves about you."

Giving her an almost shy smile, he leaned down to pick the book up again, fumbling with it a few times before he could get a good grip on it. Bethany stared at him, her own face heating up. Never — not once — had she ever seen him fumble. Even getting embarrassed was against his nature.

  
"Bethany!" her mother called from downstairs. "Dinner's ready!"

She froze. Her mother was never home early, except if something bad happened. Usually, Bethany cooked her own food, ate leftovers, or ordered food from a nearby restaurant. Her mother being home early meant she was in a state of sadness; it was something Bethany had seen too many times to count.

What set her off was always something that reminded her of Bethany's father; sometimes it was a word, and other times it was the color of Bethany's hair, which was the same color as her father's. But soon, after she rescued Owen, she'd bring her father home too, and the wrongs would be righted. Her mother would feel so overjoyed that she would have no room in her heart to be angry at Bethany for jumping into books. At least, that's what she hoped.

"Okay!" Bethany yelled. She looked back at Kiel, who was staring down at _Pick The Plot_ , looking eager to jump right in. She couldn't blame him. She felt the exact same way, and she was itching to have Owen back already. "Meet me at my house. Tomorrow night after school."

He met her eyes, observing her with a serious, tight-lipped expression. "Wouldn't miss it."

"Good." They stood there for a moment in silence, gazing at each other, before Kiel moved to open the door.

"See you at school?"

Bethany smiled. "Of course. And don't forget that you're still a German exchange student."

"Trust me, I haven't forgotten." He grimaced. "I'd better go look on your-tube —"

"You mean YouTube?”

"— for more language videos. Those have been helpful so far."

Bethany almost laughed at the idea of Kiel researching how to speak and sound German. It was something she had never expected him to do, but it was a smart move on his part to hide his identity. She watched as he pulled his gray, wool coat on and buried his hair under a hat, and momentarily she took notice of how good he looked when he wasn't wearing his regular clothes. Well, the clothes he wore when he was a boy magician in the fictional world.

"Bethany!" her mother yelled, walking over to the bottom of the steps. "Bethany? When are you coming down?"

"One minute!" she shouted, ushering Kiel down the stairs. "Just saying goodbye."

"Oh!" Bethany's mother took a step back in surprise as they came downstairs. "I didn't know your friend was here. I haven't seen you here in years! Kiel, isn't it?"

"Yes, Mrs. Sanderson," he said, smiling politely.

"I'm sorry about my daughter. She's never very reliable when I call her for a meal. Do you want to stay for dinner?"

He glanced back and forth between Bethany and her mom, looking perplexed. "Um . . ."

"He would love to, but he can't," Bethany interjected, elbowing him in the stomach. "Right, Kiel?"

"No," he said, throwing an annoyed look at Bethany. "Actually, I'm free. My, uh . . . family is out of town tonight, so I was going to order some food. But thank you for inviting me! I'd love to stay."

"Okay, great!" Bethany's mother exclaimed, smiling. "I can't believe your family would leave you at home. Do they not know how to take care of their children?" She scoffed.

Kiel shook his head. "They had an important dinner. I wanted to stay home anyway."

She stared at him in disbelief for a second longer before clasping her hands together and offering them a smile. "Well, I made some chicken casserole. It'll be ready in a couple of minutes. I need to go set up the dishes first."

She walked back into the kitchen, humming a tune to herself. The second she was out of sight, Bethany narrowed her eyes and turned to face Kiel. Angrily, she whispered, "What are you doing?"

"Why can't I stay for dinner?" Kiel asked in a hushed tone, looking slightly offended.

Bethany crossed her arms. "I didn't think you'd want to."

"Well, I don't have any money. I can't use magic to make food."

"Wouldn't the food be tastier that way?"

"That's not a word," he pointed out, then shrugged. "But, I don't know. I'd rather eat real, cooked food."

"Fine. You can stay," she said. "But you can't mention anything about what we're doing." She looked away, feeling a pang of guilt. "She can't . . . she _can't_ know. She'll ground me forever."

"I won't," Kiel vowed. "But I hope you don't keep this a secret forever, Beth. She's your mom."

"After I get Owen back, defeat Nobody, and bring my dad home — _then_ she can know. But until then, I'm not telling her."

"Okay, it's ready." Bethany's mother walked out of the kitchen again, arms folded across her chest. She had a smug, teasing expression on her face. "Are you two just friends, or is this a date, now?"

Bethany face-palmed, and Kiel quickly shook his head, laughing. "No, we're only friends."

"Yeah, Mom," a red-faced Bethany said, glaring at her mother.

Her mother only laughed, analyzing them for longer than Bethany would've liked. "Okay. Well, who's hungry for dinner?"

"I am," they both said in unison, a little too quickly. They exchanged a look, Bethany feeling more irritated than embarrassed now. Kiel raised his eyebrows and followed Bethany's mother into the kitchen, leaving her alone in the hallway. This was _so_ not going accordingly. Her mother tended to ask a lot of questions, and she was annoyed that Kiel even wanted to eat dinner with them in the first place. Why couldn't he just make food with magic?

Bethany grumbled something unintelligible as she entered the kitchen, still feeling slightly groggy after having just rejoined hours before. Kiel and her mother were already seated across from each other, so she slid into a seat next to her mother.

"How was school today?" her mother asked, dishing a piece of casserole onto her plate.

"Good. Nothing too eventful." She met Kiel's eyes and gave him a warning look to not say anything. Her mother couldn't know that she had skipped school today, nonetheless to find her fictional self and rejoin her two halves. After explaining that, she'd have to go even further and explain her years of searching for her father in books. She probably would be grounded for the rest of her life. So, if asked, she would pretend that nothing had happened.

"That's very vague. How was your history test?"

Her heart skipped a beat. She had forgotten that was today! "Actually, it went well. It was mostly an essay portion."

"See?" Her mother smiled, nodding in understanding. "When I ask you how your day was, I want you to spare me no details. I'm barely home early as it is!"

She gulped and began putting some food onto her plate, avoiding her mother's eyes. "I know. I will."

"So, Kiel. Do you and Bethany have many classes together?"

Kiel shook his head. "We have only our English class together."

"Oh, that's a shame," Bethany's mother said, taking a bite of food. "Well, I'm glad you became friends again. When you and Owen stopped hanging out with Bethany three years ago, I assumed you weren't friends anymore."

" _Mom_ ," Bethany groaned, shooting her a look. Her mother sighed loudly in response, but obeyed, going back to her meal. Across the table, Kiel winked at her. Her irritation fading, Bethany smiled in response before placing another warm piece of food into her mouth.

After dinner, the two of them walked outside, and Bethany shut the front door behind them to prevent her mother from eavesdropping. It was almost pitch black outside, and as always, there was a chill in the air. Kiel held _Pick The Plot_ in his hands. "Mind if I borrow this? I want to know what Owen's been going through, and I figured we should see what we're up against."

"Sure, but read fast," Bethany told him. "Think you can finish it by tomorrow?"

"Are you underestimating my ability to read a book?"

She smiled. "Maybe.”

A plan formulated in her head, and she let the smile slip from her face. "We'll jump into a page where we won't get caught. It might be better if he's outside of that prison, though. Last time I read it was last night, and he was outside in the jungle. Either way, we grab Owen and get out of there as fast as possible. And maybe we'll even see a real dinosaur while we're at it."

"Aren't dinosaurs just dragons without wings?"

"No. They don't breathe fire!"

Kiel chuckled. "That sounds like a good plan. So, tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night," she confirmed. "Time to get Owen back."

Despite the dark, Bethany knew Kiel was smiling. And so was she.

* * *

  
" _If you're ready, heart is open. I'll be waiting. Come find me . . ."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bethany is finally rejoined yay!!! sadly Kara is gone (writing that made me so sad aww my Kowen heart) but don’t worry everything will be good soon guys


	16. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After three years of not seeing each other, Bethany and Kiel reunite with a distressed, emotional Owen. Owen discovers more shocking news.

_**Thousand Miles (by Tove Lo)**_

_"_ _Coming for you babe, I'm coming now. That's when I run all of these thousand miles to get you back . . ."_

* * *

Bethany had forgotten what it was like to be herself, and this new feeling of wholeness was taking some getting used to. It was comparable to trying on high heels for the first time, or when she first got her hair cut a few inches shorter. In time, the feeling would fade, and she would feel completely normal again. Her two perspectives of the world had changed, and instead of being kept separate, they were joined together.

Despite this strange feeling, she couldn't be more grateful that her memories had returned. Now that she had her real memories, along with the memories she'd gotten from both her fictional and nonfictional selves, she spent a lot of time thinking over everything that had happened within the past three years. Getting split into two halves meant forgetting who she was, and she forgot what was important. She never wanted that to happen ever again.

As Bethany got ready for school that morning, it took all of her willpower not to run to the library, right then and there. She was done with her rules, and she didn't care whether she got into trouble or not. Those things didn't hold as much importance compared to Owen's safety. She _had_ to get him out of that horrible place.

She couldn't imagine how traumatic it must've been for him, trying to fight his way out of the book when there was no way he could've escaped without her help. Most of all, she felt guilty. She should've saved him before any of this happened. She should've tried going back for him when he first went missing, back in her father's comic book. Then again, her, Charm, and Gwen were on a time crunch to find her father, but Owen had been in danger. Her father could've waited if it meant taking a quick detour to save her best friend from Nobody.

When she was finished getting ready for the day, she was tempted to sprint to the library and borrow a copy of _Pick The Plot_ to jump into, since Kiel was currently borrowing her's. More than anything, she wanted to throw the book open and jump straight in without a second thought. It was tempting, and it would give her some peace to see Owen again. If she started running to the library now, this could all be over within a few minutes.

But no, Bethany couldn't do it. She had promised Kiel that they'd do this together, and she knew how important this was to him, too. As much as she resented the idea, she'd have to wait until tonight.

Ditching her idea, she hurried down the stairs, her mind dancing with thoughts about Owen. She couldn't wait to see him again, and she figured he would also have a lot of questions pertaining what had happened. She would have many questions, too, but mostly, all she wanted to do was hug her best friend after three antagonizing years of separation. She wouldn't rest until he was safe.

All because of Nobody's plans, Owen had been trapped in a time prison in the fictional world — without Bethany even knowing! It made her even more furious, and she hated the faceless man with every fiber of her being. He had taken Owen from her, caused Kiel to suffer, and he'd separated her into two halves against her own free will. Once she returned Owen back safe and sound, she was ready to punch some justice _hard_ , right into the middle of Nobody's nonexistent face.

Tonight couldn't come any sooner.

Bethany forced herself to do what she normally did in the morning: eat breakfast, walk to the bus stop, and distract herself on the thirty minute ride to school. She hadn't even arrived at school yet and she was itching to get home already. School was necessary, but at times it felt like a curse. Why did she have to spend her entire day here when she could spend it in _Pick The Plot_ , rescuing Owen?

Before she knew it, she found herself jumping off the bus and bolting to her locker, earning several strange looks from students around her. She barely noticed them, as she was too preoccupied with her worries and thoughts.

After the fifth frustrating try, Bethany finally managed to yank her locker open. Yeah, this whole "rejoined" thing would take some getting used to. It felt as if her memories from her fictional and nonfictional selves were scrambled together, and she couldn't decipher them just yet. On top of it all, she had so much adrenaline that she was ready to sprint home the second school ended.

"Bethany!" a girl's voice said from behind her, as she was on her way to English class. It was Liz. "Where were you at school yesterday? I didn't see you."

"I was at home," Bethany said, after a second of hesitation. "Sick."

She inwardly cringed. She'd completely forgotten all about Liz, who her nonfictional self had believed was her closest and only friend. Now, even though she still considered Liz her friend, Owen obviously filled that role of "best friend". But now that she was rejoined again, Bethany knew better than to tell Liz about her half-fictional powers; if she remembered correctly, Liz had a wider range of friends whom she tended to gossip to. If Liz happened to expose Bethany's secret . . . that'd be it. That would be the end of Bethany ever trusting anyone with her secrets.

Telling any other nonfictional person besides Owen, Bethany concluded, just didn't seem like the smart thing to do. She'd already gone through that problem once when Owen had found out about her powers, which increased the risk of him telling others. Luckily, he hadn't told anyone else, which had been surprising at the time, but she was glad he hadn't. Trusting him with her secret was the best thing she'd ever done, but the same couldn't be said for someone else.

Unless the situation called for it, Bethany wouldn't tell another soul about her being half-fictional. What would a normal person think if they knew about her powers? They'd have questions, and they would force her to do things against her will, like make her take them into Harry Potter or something. Maybe they'd even conduct experiments on her, like in the movies Bethany used to watch. That probably wasn't likely, but she didn't want to take her chances.

They walked into the classroom, which was quickly filling up with students, whose loud voices echoed through the room. It would be about five minutes before class started, so Bethany figured she'd have enough time to discuss matters with Kiel.

She sat at her desk and leaned conspiratively towards Kiel, who was already seated. "Did you read the book last night?"

"Yeah," he said quietly, quickly withdrawing _Pick The Plot_ from his bag and handing it to her. "I didn't get very far, but I got to the part where Owen is outside with the, um, dragon hunting group."

" _Dinosaur_ hunting," Bethany corrected. "I'm a few chapters past where you are. You know how he's with that girl, Kara? Well, he's not anymore. They escaped the prison because of the dinosaurs attacking, and they were trying to find time watches that they thought would help them escape. Instead, Kara got taken by some time agents. I have no clue where they took her, but Owen is alone out there, and he's hurt." She flipped through the book as quietly as she could, then pointed her finger at the page she was currently on. "See? Plus, something big is about to happen, like a volcanic eruption. We need to get him out _before_ that happens."

Kiel scrunched his eyebrows together, looking confused. "How did you know there's a volcano eruption if I was reading the book last night? I already read the last page of the book and —"

"Kiel!" she whisper-shouted, her eyes widening. " _Never_ read the last page of the book! You know the rules."

"Sure, Ms. ‘I Never Break The Rules’," he said, winking teasingly at her. "But you're right, because there _is_ a volcanic eruption. So we need to get him out before it hits. Should be easy. And fun."

"Yeah," Bethany whispered, her leg bouncing in nervous anticipation. Her breathing grew slightly unsteady as she thought more about what was to come. "That part is close to the end of the book, so I guess we know what's supposed to happen. But we can pull him out of there before it does."

She already knew the end result of the book, but she didn't want to think about that. It would only worry her further if she did. From experience, she learned that the story could always be changed, and there would always be a way to save a person from their fate. She'd changed Kiel's fate, when he was supposed to die in _Kiel Gnomenfoot and The Source of Magic_. Now, she'd be changing Owen's, and she would save him before the entire fictional world was wiped out.

Kiel smiled, seeing her nervous expression. "Don't worry, we'll get him out of there. Just like that saying: 'It'll be a piece of nonfictional cake'. It's nothing we haven't done before."

"I know," she said, dropping her hands into her lap. "But this is a _volcanic eruption_ we're talking about. It's going to take more than a few stupid risks. I don't even know for sure if my plan will work."

"'A few stupid risks' is my middle name." He paused. "And it _will_ work. It always ends up working out in the end."

Bethany smiled at him before glancing back at the front of the classroom, where Mr. Tompkins was motioning with his hands to quiet down the students. "Thank you," he said, glaring at them. "Now that you're done talking, can we get started?"

Sharing another look with Kiel, she turned her attention to the lesson, running over the plan for tonight in her head. She couldn't focus, though. She could only think, and worry, and wonder if Owen was alright, and if she'd even see him tonight. Tonight seemed so foreign and far away, but soon, she'd have Owen in her arms. She wouldn't let her worries hold her back this time. The danger didn't matter, not with something this important.

If her plan worked in her favor, she'd be hugging her best friend, and it would all be worth it.

* * *

Owen wasn't sure how much time had passed or how long he'd just been laying there, barely moving as he stared off into the cloudy sky. He'd stopped crying at some point a long time ago, when he became adjusted to the unbearable pain. He was glued to the ground, unable to move or breathe or think. Through his cloud of agony, he was forced to admit the truth: there was no way he could escape from this book.

The fictional world used to be so fun, and the adventures he shared with Bethany and Kiel never seemed to end. Although Owen had learned a few hard lessons during his visits into books, there were also many times when he was just having fun: jumping in the chocolate river of _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ or running around the hills of _Narnia_ , or even the time him and Bethany jumped into _Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief_. Just like real life, there were so many things to love about the fictional world, but there were also many things to hate about it.

He used to want nothing more than to go on adventures, without a second thought about the danger that might come with it. Now, all he wanted to do was go home.

At some point, Owen managed to sit up. His body screamed in pain, but he really didn't care. He needed help, and he wasn't going to get it by laying on the ground. He gritted his teeth as a wave of heat washed over him, and the pain increased when he moved his arm. He rose his gaze to the sky, addressing Nobody instead of the readers.

"I'm my own person," he said. "No one gets to tell me how to live my life except _me_. I think I've learned my lesson, Nobody. Are you happy? You better be, because I'm getting out of here whether you want me to or not. I won't let you take my freedom away from me, and I won't let you ruin books for me either. I'm getting out of this book."

With that, Owen found the strength to rise to his feet. The dizziness that followed was so intense that he could barely take another step, but he did it anyway. He threw a glance down at his arm, which was already swelling up like a balloon, and the skin surrounding the injury had transformed into a dark red and blue color. Okay, _gross_. He cringed at the sight and decided not to look at it again, instead turning his attention to the jungle ahead of him.

"Hello?" he croaked, his voice scratchy from misuse. He cleared his throat and shouted, "Is anyone there?" Owen strained his ears for a reply, not even caring who happened to hear him, but he didn't get one. He tried one last time, desperation seeping into his tone. "Is anybody out there? I just wanna go home!" Silence, aside from the loud chirping of insects, was the only thing he heard. He let out a defeated sigh, his heart sinking in disappointment.

Holding his injured arm in his non-injured one, Owen walked through the prehistoric jungle, for once remaining unbothered by any dinosaurs. It seemed that the dinosaurs no longer cared about him, which was a relief. Being too preoccupied with his broken arm, Owen doubted he could survive another near-death experience.

As he walked, he thought about his friends. He thought about Bethany, and Kara, and Kiel, and Charm. Was there a chance he'd see them again? There had to be. It was the only thing keeping him going. Bethany still was in danger, and Kara was too. Plus, he didn't know if he could take it if he never saw Charm again. And Kiel — he was like the brother that Owen had never had. He needed to see them again.

Earth-shaking footsteps were what startled Owen from his thoughts. Confused at the uproar, he turned his head and gasped. There weren't just one or two dinosaurs — there were hundreds, all stampeding in a rush towards where Owen was standing. Another tremor shook the ground, but he could tell it wasn't from the dinosaurs this time. Still a good distance away from the stampede, Owen squinted his eyes and looked off into the distance, his eyes catching sight of the top of the volcano. Not only was lava gushing out of it, but a cloud of ash was forming in the air.

Uh oh.

Owen immediately began to sweat — more than he had been already. He leaped over a small stream, then broke out into a run as the ground shook all around him. Still holding his broken arm, Owen sprinted for his life, his heartbeat echoing in his ears as the shaking jungle floor threatened to topple him over.

The dinosaurs ran just behind him, not even paying him any attention as they fled for their lives. Adrenaline coursing through his body, Owen ran through the last set of trees and into a clearing, which was filled with yards of open grassy fields.

Various roars echoed through the field, and Owen knew he wouldn't have time to turn back. He continued running as footprints embedded themselves in the earth just behind him, and he screamed out loud as a dinosaur lunged forwards in an effort to get away from the lava, nearly landing on him in the process. The dinosaurs seemed to be gaining speed, and they were crowding all around him, surrounding him at all sides and threatening to trample him.

In his exhausted state, Owen wasn't sure how much longer he could continue running. This was one of the theories on how the dinosaur era had ended. They'd all become wiped out. Did that mean he'd be wiped out, too? No, he couldn't think about that. He would be okay. There was no way anyone could die in a _Pick The Plot_ book! He forced himself to remain hopeful, to take at least a few more steps. As long as he kept running and found a good hiding spot, maybe there was a chance —

All of the sudden, an outstretched hand appeared out of nowhere, right above his head.

Owen had no time to think. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he grabbed the hand and was immediately yanked upward. There was suddenly a very different change of scenery, and it took Owen a few seconds to realize where he was. He wasn't in _Pick The Plot_ anymore, that was for sure.

Still frightened and sweaty, Owen blinked rapidly, then looked up into the faces of the last people he ever expected to see. Owen's breath caught in his throat. He stared up at them, his expression a mix of awe, astonishment, and confusion, and his mouth dropped open. ". . . Bethany? _Kiel?_ "

Bethany let out a laugh, then leaned down and enveloped him into a hug, pulling him onto his knees. "Owen!"

_Was this real?_ He held onto her tightly with his good arm, his eyes squeezed shut. Tears flooded his eyes and fell across his cheeks, but he barely noticed them. Her face was pressed up against his, and she was rubbing his back in a comforting way. She was sniffling quietly, which gave him an indication that she might be crying, but he could barely hear her above his own quivering breaths.  
  


He was still shaking, but he didn't care. They stayed like that for almost a full minute, neither of them making the first move to let go. It had been _so_ long. _Too_ long. He almost never thought he'd see her again. He was afraid that if he let go . . . she would disappear. There was no way he could let that happen again.

Finally, Bethany pulled away, and Owen didn't get a second to breathe before Kiel swooped in for a hug. "It's really good to see you," Kiel whispered, squeezing him as if he'd never let Owen go again.

Owen beamed, resting his chin on his best friend's shoulder as they hugged. "You too, Kiel." After a few long seconds, the boy magician let go of him, and Kiel and Bethany both stared at him, a thousand emotions on their faces.

Owen sniffled, wiping his eyes with the back of his grimy hand. Then he grinned goofily at them. "You have no _idea_ how many days I've been in there. I'm so happy to see you. I was about to go extinct, just like all the dinosaurs!" He laughed a little, then looked at Bethany, his eyes brimming with tears as he searched her's. "Did you hear me? I tried contacting you every night that I could. You didn't respond, but I hoped you could somehow hear me."

Bethany nodded, her own eyes slightly wet. "I know. I saw." Her smile stretched wide as she stared at him, but she still looked sad, and almost angry. "I can't believe Nobody put you in that book. He's going to _pay_. I wish I'd realized it sooner that you've been in there for three years."

"Three years?" Owen whispered, his eyes widening. He sat up against the wall. _No._ "Wait, what? I haven't — there's _no_ way . . ."

He looked at Kiel, who held a serious expression. "I'm sorry, Owen. It's true. You've been missing for three years. There's . . . a _lot_ to talk about."

"How could I have been in there for _three years_?" Owen asked, his voice raising. He scrambled to his feet. "That can't be true. It _can't_ be. How much have I missed? Oh, god. My mom is gonna kill me!"

"Slow down!" Bethany said, grabbing his arm. "A lot of times, time feels much slower in books than it does in real life. It'll be fine —"

"Fine?" he shouted, pulling his arm away. "What part of this is fine? Nothing about this is _fine_!"

"I know you're upset — so am I! I swear if I knew you were in there, I would've gotten you out faster. I would've gotten you out the second you were thrown in there!"

"Why didn't you?" he demanded, anger radiating through him. "What could've been more important than getting me out right away? Why didn't you get me out when you had _three years_ to do it?"

"I couldn't!" she shouted, looking pained. "Nobody separated me!"

"He — he what?" Owen stared at her, flabbergasted. The anger drained from him. "Bethany . . . I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

Bethany nodded, then shook her head. "I'm fine, now. But I was separated into two halves for three years. I didn't have any memories about my half-fictional life. If I did, I would've rejoined myself _way_ sooner."

Owen shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe . . . I can't believe Nobody _separated_ you. I didn't know how much time had passed while I was in that book. My goal was to escape the book on my own and save you from being separated. I never thought I'd be too late. I never thought he'd actually do it."

Kiel shrugged. "He's done a lot of bad things. And now, he's out to destroy the fictional world. There's this white nothingness everywhere . . . changing my world into what Nobody calls 'pure possibility'. His plan is to wipe out the entire fictional world, then start over fresh and take control of the whole place."

"He is?" If Owen wasn't shocked before, he was _definitely_ shocked now. "Well, this is just fantastic. How are we going to fix this? Now we need to face Nobody again, too." He sighed. "I have so many questions. Like how did Bethany become her regular half-fictional self again? And what has happened over the past three years that I was gone? How are you here?"

Bethany held a hand up. "Okay, I promise I'm answering every single one of your questions. But do you want to get some food, first? And some water? And maybe, uh, change out of those gross clothes?"

Owen looked down, then almost laughed as he noticed the dried-up mud all over his orange jumpsuit. "Good idea. But that doesn't mean you can ignore any of my questions. Most important one being: am I really fifteen years old? And the other most important one being: how much did I miss? _Seriously?_ Nobody decided to go on and let me skip out on the most important years of my life!"

"You're definitely fifteen years-old," Kiel said with a wink, which instantly made Owen feel less panicked. "Don't worry about that part, Owen. You didn't miss as much as the rest of us. Bethany lost her memories, so she missed out on a lot, too. I was re-learning magic up until now, and I was working on a spell for three years. I didn't come here until two months ago. Really, you didn't miss a whole lot."

"Sure sounds like it," Owen said, failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He tried to shake himself out of his sour mood, so he could relish being with his best friends again. But he couldn't help feeling this way. He had missed three entire years of his _life_. What else had he missed? He dreaded seeing his mom again, who would probably ground him for the rest of time.

Bethany took out an extra shirt and sweatpants from her closet and handed it to Owen. "Here. These might fit you."

He took the clothes, feeling grateful that he would finally be clean again. He retreated to the bathroom to take a quick shower and change out of his old clothes, being extra careful to only use his good hand. Although he was much cleaner now, Owen was pretty sure that he'd never be able to get rid of the dinosaur stench from his nose. He walked back into Bethany's room; Kiel was staring out the window and Bethany was laying on the bed, her eyes on the ceiling.

"I'm all ears," Owen said, joining Bethany on the bed. "What did I miss?"

Bethany took a deep breath, fixating her eyes on him. "It all kind of started after you left my dad's comic book. You were right to warn me about the Dark, but I didn't realize who he _really_ was. He was my dad, and . . . for some reason, he didn't remember me. I tried fighting against him, but it was hard because I was surrounded by his shadows. So I transformed myself into particles of light."

His eyes widened. "But that could've _killed_ you."

She nodded. "Yeah. But I knew it would save Jupiter City. And Dad, most importantly. Next thing I knew . . . I was separated into my fictional and nonfictional halves. When I think back on it, I really loved my fictional life. I was with my dad, and I got to train as Twilight Girl, his sidekick!"

Kiel snorted. "Twilight Girl?"

Bethany glared at him. "Don't make fun of my superhero name. And you're saying it wrong." She cleared her throat, then growled, "It's _Twilight Girl._ "

This time, both Kiel and Owen cracked up.

She sighed apprehensively. "Point is, my fictional life was great. My nonfictional life was fine, I guess. It was average. I have a friend named Liz. She loves books, too." She smiled a little. "But I know that I felt incomplete when I was separated. It felt like there was always a part of me that was missing, and I didn't know what it was until I was rejoined again."

"So then . . ." Owen trailed off, looking over to Kiel. "How did you get to our world without Bethany?"

"It was hard," Kiel admitted. "You know how I went back to Magisteria to figure out who I was without magic?"

Owen nodded.

"Well, I decided to relearn magic. I'd only been doing it for a short time before Bethany — the fictional version of her — crash-landed into my world. I found out about her being separated, and long story short, I created a spell that would make a link to the nonfictional world."

Owen gaped at him. "Wha — what? How did you do that? How is that possible for a fictional character to break out of a book?"

Kiel winked. "I like to think that anything's possible. Anyway, I ended up getting captured by Nobody. I was in this prison of his — it was completely white, and I'm not sure how long I was even there."

"I was there too," Owen said, rubbing his eyelids. "Twice. Once when the Magister locked me in there, and another time when Nobody put me there. How'd you escape?"

"He didn't escape. Someone let him out," Bethany added.

"And then I went back home to finish my spell," Kiel supplied, giving Bethany a look. "It took a long time . . . a lot longer than I wanted it to. Again, long story short, the spell worked, and I spent the next two months in the nonfictional world, trying to convince Bethany to rejoin with her fictional self."

The only thing Owen could say was: "Wow! Anything else?"

"There's more details, but that's the main stuff. There was also this boy who Nobody sent after me, to stop me from rejoining Bethany. He threatened me . . . well, _a lot_. His name was Oliver Bines. I found out later that he was some high-class tracker and murderer from a mystery book." Kiel shook his head, scowling. "Now I know why you hate mysteries, Owen. He knew everything about me. It was creepy. I had to use my magic to get rid of him."

Owen frowned, noticing his friend's discomfort when he spoke of Oliver. "Why would Nobody _do that —_ to send a crazy murderer after you — just because he didn't want Bethany to be half-fictional again? He's insane. He definitely goes way above and beyond when it comes to ruining our lives."

Bethany nodded. "Which is exactly why we're going to stop him before he destroys the entire fictional world and ruins other people's lives. For good."

There was an unspoken agreement about this. Each of them had their fair share of suffering, and they were all set on defeating Nobody, the faceless man who'd put them through it. Owen shivered at the thought of facing Nobody again. Owen had tried stopping him, but Nobody had tossed him into a _Pick The Plot_ book as if he were nothing. He'd already failed to stop Nobody once, and he couldn't fail a second time. He only hoped that they wouldn't be too late when the time came.

"Also, uh, we might have a problem," Owen spoke up, suddenly remembering that his arm was twisted at a strange angle. He'd been so distracted that he had completely forgotten about his injury. It still hurt, of course, but seeing Bethany and Kiel was like Christmas morning all over again, and the euphoria of seeing them had distracted him from his pain.

Bethany paled. "Owen! Why didn't you mention that before?"

He swallowed nervously. "I don't know. I guess that I was so caught up with seeing you guys."

"This might hurt a little, but the pain will be over in a split-second," Kiel said, standing up and walking over to Owen. "Trust me, I've seen this being done before. I'll snap it back into place."

" _What_?!” Owen shouted, his eyes bulging out of his head. Not that he didn't trust Kiel, but after his horrible three years in the fictional world, he would rather go to a safe, normal hospital than allow anyone to do magic on him. "Are you crazy? _Don't_ magic my arm."

"I'm not 'magicing' your arm," Kiel said, making a face as he said it. "That's not a word anyway."

Before Owen could do anything, Kiel grabbed his broken arm. Owen quickly tore it away, pain spreading through his arm like a wildfire. " _Don'tyoutouchme!_ "

"This is definitely something we need help for. _Professional_ help. We need to take you to the hospital," Bethany said (much to Owen's relief), sliding out of her bed.

"No time," Kiel said, reaching for Owen's arm again. "We're doing this now. His arm isn't even bent that far."

"Seriously?" Bethany said, looking mildly horrified. Then, she gave in, taking a seat next to Owen. "Okay, fine. As long as it doesn't make his pain worse. No screaming, Owen. My mom might come home any minute."

"Like I can help that!" Owen responded, rolling his eyes. In agitation, he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet until Kiel pulled him back to sit on the bed.

Bethany glanced at Kiel, her hands hovering over Owen. "What should I do?"

"Just hold him steady," Kiel said, beginning to roll up his sleeves.

She nodded, grabbing his shoulder with one hand and grabbed his non-injured hand with the other. She wrapped his hand tightly around his, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "Owen. If this hurts, squeeze my hand as hard as you want. And focus on that, not on whatever Kiel's doing." Briefly, Owen nodded, clutching her hand as fear seized him.

"No!" he yelled, trying to break free as Kiel grabbed hold of him. He wrestled against them, but then stopped as Kiel forcefully twisted his arm back into place. Owen let out a guttural scream, squeezing Bethany's hand so tightly that she winced. Despite her discomfort, she held onto his hand, not letting go.

"Are you okay?" Bethany shouted in his ear. But he couldn't respond. He continued to scream, and he didn't stop screaming until about a full two minutes later.

The pain was so intense that his entire arm could be compared to fire. His stomach twisted, making him feel like throwing up. Tears welled in his eyes and spilled down his face, and he cried for the second time that night, feeling embarrassed as his friends watched. He sat there, trembling as Bethany continued holding his hand, brushing her fingers against the tops of his knuckles in a way that almost felt comforting.

"You're good as new," Kiel said with a smile, dusting himself off. He put a hand on Owen's shoulder, rubbing it affectionately. "The hard part is over, see? You're gonna be okay. But I think you need to get a cast. Your arm is definitely broken."

"You _think_?" Owen made a painful sobbing noise, letting go of Bethany's hand and falling backward onto her bed. He put a hand over his face and waited for the flood of tears to stop. He didn't speak for a full minute.

"It's getting late," Bethany said, her eyes on the clock. "Kiel, you should head home. And Owen, you _need_ to go to the hospital. Your arm is _broken_!"

"You think I don't know that?" Owen shot back, sitting up and holding his broken arm. He sighed, trying to ignore the intense pain that coursed through his arm every time he moved it. "But you're right. I need to go to the hospital . . . but I should probably stop at my house first. My mom will know what to do, as long as Kiel doesn't snap my arm again!"

Kiel frowned. "I did a great job. Would you have preferred a doctor to do it?"

"Yes! I really would've!"

Despite his obvious pain, Bethany grinned. "God, I've missed the three of us being together. It feels like normal."

Kiel smiled, nodding his agreement. "What could be better?"

"Maybe some sleep?" Owen said, making the two of them laugh. "Just kidding. You have no idea how _happy_ I am." A grin stretched across his lips, momentarily blinding him from his pain. Then, his body swayed a little, and the room spun. "Whoa, what's making the room spin? Or who?" He couldn't help but giggle.

Bethany grabbed him by the shoulders before he could fall, allowing him to lean against her as she looked at Kiel. "Okay, it's time for him to go to the hospital. His arm is really messed up. It's probably making him delirious!"

"I know," Kiel said, a frown gracing his pale features. He turned to Owen, who was slowly regaining himself. "Didn't you say you're gonna go home first?"

"Yeah," Owen murmured, the smile slipping from his face as the world stopped spinning. He pushed Bethany's hands away and walked towards the door, his friends right behind him.

The three of them drifted downstairs, all feeling mentally drained. After giving Owen some medication for pain relief, Bethany said good-bye to the two, hugging Owen for a few seconds longer than usual before she pulled away. Owen didn't mind; he hadn't seen his best friend in so long.

"Come on!" Kiel said, walking down the porch steps once they made it out of the house. Owen followed closely behind, holding his broken arm with his other hand.

"You know I could easily just walk home, right?" Owen asked, raising his eyebrows.

Kiel nodded. "I know. But your arm is broken, and the least I can do is make sure you get home in one piece. Teleporting is faster, anyway." Owen thought he heard a hint of guilt in his voice. He remembered from the books how much Kiel needed to be protecting someone.

Owen smiled, then looked down at the button in Kiel's hand. "Why don't we just teleport from inside Bethany's house?"

Kiel shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh. I was doing this out of habit, I guess. I have to be careful when I teleport. I don't want anyone to notice me and call the nonfictional police. That already happened to me a few months ago."

"Don't worry," Owen assured him. "If we do get caught, I won't voluntarily turn myself in."

Kiel laughed lightly, then grabbed his hand and teleported them to Owen's house. They reappeared on Owen's front lawn, which had a thin-layer of snow on it. Owen shivered at the sight. He took a deep breath, trying to summon his courage as he stared at the place he hadn't seen in three years. His heart ached at the sight of it, but it hurt even more when he saw that the lights were on.

"You okay?" Kiel asked, glancing at him with concern.

"My mom's home," he said quietly, swallowing hard. "I don't even know how I'll explain _this_. I'm not good at lying."

"I can walk in with you, if you want. We can tell her everything. About Nobody, about the _Pick The Plot_ book —"

Owen shook his head. "No. I need to do this alone. I can't tell her about this. If I told her about getting trapped in book, then I'd have to tell her about you, and Bethany, and her powers." He frowned, feeling nothing but dread. "I guess I'll have to come up with something. And I'll have to somehow explain how my arm is broken."

Kiel nodded, giving him a reassuring smile before teleporting back home. Owen returned his gaze to his house, then started to walk forward. He stopped in front of his door, and after a second of hesitation, he knocked. After a minute, the doorknob turned, and his mother opened the door.

Her mouth dropped open, and she looked like she wanted to cry. "Oh my god . . . _Owen_? Is that really you?"

* * *

When Kiel arrived back home, he went over the events of the past two days and suddenly couldn't stop grinning. Ever since yesterday, he hadn't been able to stop feeling hopeful. After a month of hopelessness, it was comforting to know that he'd overcome the challenges that were thrown his way.

He still couldn't believe that his plan to rejoin Bethany had not only worked, but she was herself again! A weight had lifted off his chest once the realization sunk in — everything was right again. Bethany was back to her normal half-fictional self, now with regained memories, and they'd rescued Owen. Things were resolved.

The only problem was Owen's broken arm, which Kiel assumed could easily be mended. Even so, he was both shocked and terrified that his friend had gone through such an ordeal. From what he'd read in _Pick The Plot_ , he knew Owen had suffered — both physically and emotionally. Kiel wasn't good with confrontation or dealing with sadness; he was only good at boosting others' mood.

He wanted to ease his friend's pain the best he could, but he wasn't sure how. When Kiel himself was sad, _he_ wasn't even sure how to fix or acknowledge it. He'd done the best he could by snapping Owen's arm in place . . . although he _did_ feel regret upon seeing the look on Owen's face afterwards. But hadn't it been the right thing to do? Kiel thought so. Now, Owen would at least have the hardest part done. Or so he thought.

Kiel carelessly tossed a fireball from hand to hand as he walked through his dark, empty house. After a month of living alone, he'd become slowly accustomed to Elijah not being here, but he still missed him. Since the Magister could hardly be considered a father figure for Kiel anymore, Elijah had replaced that role. Kiel hoped that wherever Elijah was, he was with his family. After being indebted to that pirate captain for thirty years, Elijah deserved to be with his family, not stuck in the nonfictional world with Kiel.

A yawn escaped his lips, and Kiel turned his weary eyes to the clock on the wall. It was ten o'clock, which wasn't normally the time he went to sleep, but he was unexpectedly exhausted. He ditched the fireball and walked over to his room, sitting down on his bed as he pealed off his snow-soaked shoes. He yawned again, and before he knew it his eyelids were already drooping.

"Alright, fine," Kiel muttered in annoyance, standing up. Seriously, why was he so tired? The more he thought about it, the more it didn't make any sense. He often stayed up late, even when there was school the next morning. Unlike Bethany, he didn't tend to fall asleep in class when he was tired, so that part wasn't a problem.

Then, he happened to look to the right, where his desk was positioned along the wall in front of his bed. The desk was a mess, with scattered papers everywhere and his spell book lying on top of it. Hanging on the end of his chair was his belt, which contained magical supplies and could store spells inside it. Along with his cape, he hadn't worn it since he was last in Magisteria.

The strange part was: it was disappearing right before his eyes. The entire belt —completely solid one second — was dissolving the next. Slowly, one end of the belt started to vanish, traveling through the rest of the belt until it was fully dissolved. Within twenty mere seconds, it had simply disappeared, no longer hanging on the end of the chair. There wasn't even a sign of where it had gone.

Kiel sucked in a gasp. What just happened? Why had his belt disappeared out of nowhere? It took him a minute to figure it out. Then, it all clicked. If his belongings were disappearing . . . it only meant one thing: the fictional world was closer than ever to extinction. This wasn't the greatest news.

If his belt had dissolved due to it being fictional, did that mean _he_ would dissolve, too?

* * *

The car ride to the hospital was filled with tension. Owen's mother had her hands tightly gripped on the wheel, and she cast irritated looks every now and then at Owen, who sat in the passenger seat in silence. After a hurried explanation that his arm was broken, his mother had started driving to the hospital, no questions asked. What at first started off as a silent ride was quickly turning into an angry lecture from his mother.

He didn't blame her for being upset. He was just as much — probably more than she was — but it wasn't like he could _tell_ her anything. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he'd been in _Pick The Plot_ for three years. It had only felt like a week. He'd missed out on three years of his life, and now he was paying the price.

"Still no explanation, huh? We've been sitting in this car for five minutes and you're _still_ not talking?" his mother said, a deep frown on her face. Her tone made him feel even worse about everything.

"I promise I'll explain all of it eventually," Owen insisted, wincing as pain shot through his arm. "Can we please talk about this after the hospital —"

"So what?" his mother demanded, cutting him off as her voice raised in hysteria. "You just show up after _three_ years of being gone, with a broken arm, no less? You have no idea how _worried_ I've been, Owen. You didn't think to call or send me a text about where you've been? You expect me to not freak out when you've been missing? I would've understood if you contacted me before you decided to run away for no reason. Where did you even _go_?"

She looked at him with pleading, angry eyes, and it was enough to make him look away. The dark window seemed a lot better of a view than the face of his mother.

"I . . ." Owen opened his mouth without knowing exactly what to say, hoping that something brilliant might fall out. Instead, he said, "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have left. I should've called. I didn't know how long I was gone. I didn't . . ." He trailed off, having no idea what else to say. What _could_ he say?

His mother let out a heavy sigh, turning back to the road. Her voice was bitter. "Yeah. You shouldn't have left. I don't know what caused you to leave home, without even telling me first. Do you know how scared I was? Probably not, because you went off to who-knows-where and didn't come back!"

"I'm really sorry, Mom. Really, I _am_ ," he choked out in a quiet voice. "I didn't mean to scare you. That's the last thing I wanted to do."

She sighed again. "It's . . . it's fine. I'm not that mad, Owen. I only want to know where you've been, that's all. I'm very thankful that you're home." She continued speaking, her eyes on the road. "You're gonna have to talk to me. I need you to tell me what's happened, sweetie. It doesn't have to be now. It doesn't have to be today. But when you're ready. Okay?"

Owen cringed, already knowing he'd have to lie about this. He didn't want to lie anymore, but he couldn't tell her the truth. She'd never believe him anyway. There was no way he could tell her he'd been trapped in a book, up until his half-fictional best friend pulled him out of it. "Okay, I'm — I'm sorry, Mom. I will."

"Good," she said. "But just know that you are _grounded_ , Owen. From now until next September."

"What? Grounded?" he almost shouted. "But —" He started to protest, then remembered she hadn't known where he'd been. "Right. That sounds completely fair."

"It _does_ sound fair. Any other parent would ground their child for _years_ — not months — after what you did. I hope you understand never to do that again," his mother said, to which he quickly muttered another apology. They sat in silence for a few minutes after that, allowing the words to sink in. As they neared the hospital, her anger had mostly steamed off, and she looked over at him with a more sympathetic expression. "You can talk to me about anything, you know that? You don't need to hide anything from me."

Owen nodded, feeling guiltier by the second. He never wanted to cause his mother or anyone else pain. "Yeah, I know. I'll tell you everything when I'm ready. Promise."

"Good," she said. "But I guess we can figure this out once we come back from the hospital, and once you give me a decent explanation. Let's just take this one step at a time."

He grimaced. He'd have to make something up. The good thing was: he'd always had an active imagination. He could easily make up a story. But he didn't want to lie, especially after putting his mother through all that.

He wished he could borrow a time bracelet and punch in the exact date he'd gone missing. He could turn back time and none of this would've ever happened. Maybe he could warn himself about getting trapped in a book to ensure it would never happen. His mother wouldn't be an emotional mess, Bethany could still be saved before the worlds were split, and Nobody might even be stopped. His arm would still be broken, but at least all the other stuff could be prevented.

Except . . . that would probably create a paradox. And then a fifteen year-old Owen would have to explain why he didn't look twelve, and there was the possibility that there would still be a twelve year-old Owen stuck in _Pick The Plot,_ having recently been thrown in by Nobody. Ugh. _This_ was why time travel never worked. What was it good for if it couldn't easily solve his problems?

They swerved into a parking spot. His mother opened the car door for him and he pushed himself out with one hand, wincing as his broken arm swung a little bit. The cold winter air washed over him, making his teeth chatter and causing goosebumps to appear on his skin. After being in a tropical climate, it felt like his body still needed to get adjusted. That, and he was only wearing the clothes he'd borrowed from Bethany, which were a thin flannel shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

Not wanting to be in the cold a moment longer, Owen ran towards the hospital's entrance, his mother a few steps behind since she was grabbing her purse. The automatic sliding glass doors could barely keep up with Owen's pace as he impatiently waited for them to open before rushing up to the front desk. It was a bit warmer inside, but not by much. Why did hospitals always need to be freezing?

As he reached the front desk, his mother fell in step right beside him, and they both stared at the receptionist with earnest, who was typing something into the computer. Then, the receptionist looked up, and her eyes fell on Owen's broken arm. She visibly paled at the sight, then quickly typed something into her computer before looking back at Owen's mother. "What is the name of your son?"

"Owen Conners."

The receptionist nodded, flashing a bright smile at Owen. "Okay, Owen. While I have your mom fill out some paperwork, we're gonna get your arm fixed up. How's that sound?"

"Good," Owen whispered.

He watched as a nurse appeared in the doorway, pushing a wheelchair and ordering him to sit in it. He obeyed, although he wasn't really sure why he needed to be carted around. That seemed like a very nonfictional thing to do when he could obviously walk just fine. But it _did_ make him feel safer, so he accepted it and closed his eyes as the nurse pushed him down the maze of hallways.

"Take a seat on the chair," the nurse said, as the wheelchair stopped moving. Owen opened his eyes to see a regular-looking hospital room, similar to the times he'd been at the doctor's office when he was sick. With the help of the nurse, he stood up, feeling slightly dizzy as he made his way over to the chair.

"Anything else I can get for you?" the nurse asked politely. Owen only shook his head, forcing a smile. She nodded and stepped out of the room, leaving the wheelchair right outside.

Several minutes later, Owen heard footsteps down the hall, coming closer and closer. A man — presumably a doctor — walked into the room, wearing a lab coat and glasses. He smiled cheerfully at Owen as he came in. "Hello, Owen! My name is Dr. Johnson. I've been hearing you have a problem with your arm."

"It's broken," Owen replied, lifting his injured arm using his hand and wiggling it to show the doctor. He wasn't even able to control it.

"Ah, ah." The man shook his head. "You may _think_ it's broken, but we'll only see if that's true once we do an x-ray. I do see a lot of swelling, but that isn't uncommon with an injury." He sat down at a rolling chair and pushed himself towards Owen. "Now. I'm going to do some examining on your arm. Let me know if you feel any pain." Gently, he picked up Owen's arm and traced his fingers lightly over it, staring intently at his arm.

Owen winced at the pressure but didn't say anything. He watched as the doctor pressed his fingers into Owen's forearm, where most of the bruising and swelling had occurred. He sucked in a gasp. "Ow!"

Dr. Johnson withdrew his hand and gently dropped Owen's arm back into his lap. He rolled his chair back towards his desk, where a computer was sitting on. "Looks like you have a serious case, Owen. The good news is: the wound isn't bleeding. That would mean the bone had broken through the skin." He glanced at his computer, then back at Owen. "So tell me, what are your symptoms? I'm seeing a lot of bruising, swelling, and tenderness. Was there any more deformity before you arrived here?"

"Um, yes," Owen said. "But my friend snapped it back into place."

" _What_?" Dr. Johnson looked horrified. His mouth dropped open. He closed it and looked away, running a hand over his face before looking back at Owen. "Okay. In the future, _never_ let anyone who isn't a licensed doctor do anything like that. There's a chance that it made your arm worse."

Owen quickly nodded, unable to prevent the blush from rising to his face. "I-I know. My friend was pretty insistent about it."

"Well, whoever your friend is, they were lucky they didn't come with you. I would've had a long discussion with them on what _not_ to do when it comes to others' health."

Owen almost laughed at that. Kiel Gnomenfoot, listening to what this guy had to say? Not likely.

"So, I'm going to ask you another question, just to get an idea for how you got your injury," the doctor said, straightening up in his chair. "Do you remember how you injured yourself?"

Owen definitely remembered. The memory was fresh in his mind, and it'd been a painful experience. He was being chased by a dinosaur for one moment, and the next, he was free-falling off a small cliff, landing hard on his arm. It wasn't pleasant to think about. "I don't . . . fully remember how it happened. But I know that I fell on my arm."

Dr. Johnson nodded, scribbling something down on a sheet of paper. "Alright. Let's move you over to the x-ray room."

Owen swallowed hard. "What are the x-rays for?"

"To determine the location and extent of the break. And we'll be able to tell if you've actually broken a bone in your arm."

"My arm is _definitely_ broken," he muttered under his breath as Dr. Johnson brought the wheelchair back into the room.

Owen rose from the hospital chair and sat back in the wheelchair, allowing the doctor to push him over to the x-ray room, where another doctor was waiting. The room was dimly lit, the lightest thing being the glowing x-ray table in the center of the room. As Owen climbed out of the wheelchair, Dr. Johnson left, leaving him and this new doctor alone in the room.

"How are you today?" the doctor asked, smiling kindly at him. "My name is Dr. Cho. You ready for a nice, fun x-ray?"

Owen shrugged. "I guess."

"Good, good," the doctor said, standing from his chair and guiding Owen over to another plastic chair, which was next to the x-ray table. "I'm just going to get a quick look at your arm, and I'll be able to see if anything's broken or out of place. Then, the other doctors will see what they can do from there."

Owen nodded, rolling up his sleeve all the way before placing his broken arm on the x-ray table. Dr. Cho walked over to the machine and pressed a few buttons on it, causing a few loud beeping noises to echo around the room. Bright lights lit up under Owen's arm, and the machine above the table passed over his arm, continuously making beeping sounds. When it was done, light underneath the table faded, and the machine powered down.

Dr. Cho walked over to the computer in the corner and typed something into it. A few seconds later, the screen was lit up with several x-rays. He peered at the pictures for a while, long enough to make Owen bored out of his mind. After nearly ten minutes of watching the doctor analyze the x-rays, Dr. Cho turned to Owen. "Looks like you've got a displaced fracture. I heard that your friend apparently set the bone back into place?"

"Yeah," Owen said, biting his lip. "Why, is it worse? And what is a displaced fracture?"

"A displaced fracture means that the bone fragments on each side of the break aren't aligned. When your friend set it back into place, it looks like it helped with most of the deformity. But your bones still aren't fully aligned. For the fractured bone to heal without any deformity, the bone fragments must be re-aligned to their normal position. So that's what we're going to do." At Owen's panicked look, the doctor smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. This won't hurt. We're going to give you medicine before the procedure."

Owen let out a breath. "Oh. Okay."

After another trip in the wheelchair, he was escorted to an operating room, which had many cabinets, machines, and a long bed with various wires hanging next to it. A nurse was already there, gathering together medical materials for the procedure.

When Owen came into the room, she looked at him and smiled with the same cheeriness that every worker here had. "Hello, Mr. Conners. I'll be performing reduction on your arm. Why don't you take a seat? Relax and make yourself comfortable."

Owen laid down on the bed, feeling jittery with nerves. Would he have to go through the same thing as an hour ago, when Kiel had painfully snapped his arm back into place? Dr. Cho said he'd be given medicine for the pain, but wouldn't it still hurt? And how long would it take? When would he leave?

"I just went over everything with your mom and I've also reviewed your medical record," the nurse said, an IV tube in her hand. "You'll be put under anesthesia. That way, you won't feel any pain, and you'll be asleep during the whole process. They are very safe, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Okay," Owen said quietly. The nurse walked over to him and wiped a disinfectant cloth on his arm, leaving a slight stinging sensation when she pulled away. Then, after getting him to relax more, she inserted the IV into his non-injured arm.

Already, he found himself feeling less anxious. His movements became more slow, and he stared up at the bright ceiling, which was getting blurrier by the second. Unable to fight the sudden tiredness off, Owen closed his eyes and was consumed by darkness. The rest of the world faded around him, and before he knew it, he was already in a deep and blissful sleep.

* * *

By the time Bethany made it to the hospital, Owen had recently been put under anesthesia for a procedure. Once her mother got home about thirty minutes after her friends had left, Bethany filled her in on the situation. Immediately, her mother agreed that they should stop by the hospital to see him. Due to traffic, it had taken another thirty minutes entirely just to reach the hospital.

When she entered the waiting room, she found that it was packed with people. Half the seats in the room were filled, but not many people were talking. There was a strange, somber silence in the room. Bethany's eyes landed on Ms. Conners, who was staring at the wall with a distressed expression. Bethany was surprised that Kiel wasn't there, but it made sense since it was very late at night and he probably didn't know where the hospital was.

"How's Owen holding up?" Bethany's mother asked as they walked over to Ms. Conners. She sat down next to her.

Owen's mother jumped, looking a bit on edge. She turned to look at them, appearing a little grateful that they were there. "Hi, Catherine. I think he'll be okay. He was put under anesthesia for reduction about twenty minutes ago."

"Reduction?" Bethany's mother repeated, her eyes widening. "Is his arm really that broken?"

"Yes," Ms. Conners said with a sigh. She looked at Bethany and gave her a strained smile. "Don't worry too much, honey. He's got a displaced fracture, but the doctors say it can be fixed. Thank you for coming. It means a lot."

"Yeah. Sorry we took so long," Bethany said, offering a small smile.

She quickly fell into a seat next to her mother. She hadn't even been here for a full minute and she was already antsy, her mind only on the safety of her best friend. Was he awake yet? Was he still in pain? Had the procedure worked? She didn't know, and there was no one to answer her questions. She wished Kiel was here, so she could express her worries to him. Anything he'd tell her would help to calm her down. Even if Gwen were here, she'd feel much better. She never failed to make Bethany feel positive about a situation.

She waited and waited, transitioning from drumming her fingers anxiously on her lap to sitting back and holding her face in her hands. The minutes seemed to seep by at the pace of a turtle. She found herself growling quietly in frustration, wanting nothing more than to see Owen, at least to assure herself that he was okay. She knew that he probably was, because it wasn't like he was in the most _serious_ condition. But once he _did_ wake up, how long would it take before he felt better?

At last, the door opened, and everyone's eyes snapped to the doctor who walked through. He looked at Ms. Conners. "Owen is now in the recovery room. He should be waking up soon if you'd like to see him."

"Thank you," Ms. Conners said, smiling wide. She glanced over at Bethany and her mother. "Can they come too?"

The doctor shrugged, waving them over with her hand. "Sure. Just don't crowd him all at once. He'll need some space when he first wakes up."

With that said, the three of them jumped from their seats and followed the doctor over to the recovery room. As they walked through the hallways, Ms. Conners fired question after question at the doctor.

"Is he going to be in much pain?" she asked. "What about medication?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes, he'll be in a lot of pain. And we'll give him some medication for that before he leaves today. I'd recommend an over-the-counter pain reliever. Since his pain is severe, I'll give him a prescription medication that contains narcotic. He can take that for a few days to reduce pain and inflammation. Once the swelling goes down, he should definitely feel less pain."

"How long will it take for the swelling to go down?"

"Should be about five to six days," the doctor said. "And we'll want to take another x-ray once the swelling goes down, just to make sure his arm is in good shape." She scratched her head. "Oh, and he'll also need physical therapy once the cast is taken off. But that won't be for another six to twelve weeks, most likely. It may take even longer than that, depending how quickly his bone heals. That is normally the amount of time it'll take for a broken arm to heal, but it varies."

"Oh god," Ms. Conners whispered, her forehead creased from worry. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and Bethany felt a large amount of sympathy for the woman. It had hardly been less than two hours ago since Owen's mother saw her son after three years of him being gone. On top of that, his arm was in a critical condition. It would be hard news for anyone.

Bethany's mother rubbed her back. "I'm sure he'll be okay. He'll get through this."

"I hope so," Ms. Conners whispered.

The doctor led through to a closed door and pulled it open, stepping aside for the others to walk through. When they entered the room, all Bethany could see at first was the end of a metal bed with a nurse sitting next to it, writing something down on a clipboard. There was only one other chair in the room, which was where Ms. Conners sat down, right next to Owen, who was laying motionlessly in the bed.

Bethany's eyes fell on her best friend, who's eyes were closed as he slowly breathed in and out. Her heart twinged at the sight of him, alive and well aside from his broken arm, which was already wrapped in a cast. He was lying underneath the covers of the hospital bed, still wearing the clothes Bethany had given him a few hours ago.

Next to the bed, his vital signs were being measured in a machine. From what she could see, it measured his oxygen saturation, his heart rate and rhythm, his blood pressure, and his temperature. She stared at line that showed his heart rate, watching as it rose and fell in jagged lines.

Bethany stood in the corner of the room, drowning out the conversation of her mother and Ms. Conners and the nurse. She stared at Owen, willing for him to wake up. As it turned out, she didn't have to wait very long. His eyes slowly fluttered open and landed on his mother, who was sitting right beside him. "Mom?"

Owen's mother breathed a sigh of relief. She placed a hand on his forehead, as if to check his temperature. "Hi, Owen. How're you feeling?"

Owen blinked, looking immensely exhausted. "Tired."

The nurse nodded. "That's normal. You'll feel groggy for a little, but by tomorrow morning you'll feel more awake. You can rest here for a little bit until that feeling started to fade, and then you can head home."

"Okay," he said, his voice quiet. His eyes traveled around the room and landed on Bethany. A tired grin appeared on his face, and she smiled back.

A few minutes later, the nurse stood from her chair. "Ma'am?" she said, addressing Ms. Conners. "Before you leave, just make sure to visit the main office. They need to go over hospital procedures, sign paperwork, and insurance. That sort of thing."

Ms. Conners nodded. "Yes. Sure thing." She glanced back at Owen. "I'll be right back." She followed the nurse out of the room, and Bethany's mother trailed behind her, their voices fading as they got further down the hallway.

Bethany slid into the seat at Owen's bedside, feeling internally grateful that she'd get to talk to him alone for the first time since he'd gone missing. They stared at each other for a few seconds before both of them broke the silence.

"Owen —" she started to say, just as Owen said, "I think —" They both laughed.

Bethany waved her hand. "You go first."

He sighed. "I . . . I think I'm done with all of this, for a while. I mean, yeah, we still need to stop Nobody. But I need to be in the real world. I was in that stupid prison for too long. The idea of an adventure used to seem so exciting, but people get hurt. _I_ got hurt. I think I'm ready for a regular, boring, quiet life. At least for now."

She nodded. "I think that sounds like a good idea. We all deserve a break, at least to figure things out. I only just rejoined myself yesterday, so it feels like I need to get used to some things, you know?" She reached over and placed her hand on his non-injured one. "Also, it wasn't your fault that you couldn't stop Nobody from splitting me into two halves. Even though you didn't succeed in that part, you're still my best friend. No matter what, don't forget that."

"Yeah, I-I know. I get it," Owen said quietly, looking down at his cast. "Hey, once I get out of the hospital, can we do normal things, like see a movie or have sleepovers? Like we used to?"

She crinkled her eyebrows. "Why wouldn't we?"

"I don't know," he said, pausing. "I guess we would. But, um, I'm really tired after the day I've had."

Bethany removed her hand. "Oh, right. Sorry, I should've expected that." She smiled. "Get some rest, okay? And don't go disappearing into another book again."

He grinned a little at that, then crossed his heart. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

She rolled her eyes. "That's not even a real pledge!"

"Um, yes it is. Harry Potter is such a popular book series that it's practically one hundred percent real."

"Ha. Not even a little bit true." Bethany stood from her chair, and turned just in time to see Ms. Conners and her mother walking back in the room.

"It's pretty late, Beth," her mother said, looking a bit irritated as she checked her watch. "Ready to go?"

Bethany glanced back at Owen, who gave her a small smile in response. That was enough confirmation for her. He'd be perfectly fine. She looked back at her mother, and was suddenly unable to prevent the smile from tugging at her lips. Things would be okay, even if they weren't right now.

“Yeah . . . I think I am."

* * *

_  
"_ _Too far away to feel you, but I can't forget your skin. Wonder what you're up to, what state of mind you're in . . ."_


	17. Our World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen, Bethany, and Kiel spend some relaxing time together to make up for the years they were apart.

_**The Best Is Yet To Come (by Sheppard)**_

_"_ _Help me understand the best is yet to come. Take me by the hand before I come undone. 'Cause all this emptiness has left me feeling numb . . ."_

* * *

After spending another extra few hours in the hospital, Owen was released to go home, given a warning to not move his arm too much and to come back in a week for a checkup appointment. He was too exhausted to do much of anything, so both him and his mother had retreated to their rooms for sleep. Despite how tired he was, though, he doubted he'd have an easy time falling asleep. Not after the crazy day he had.

As Owen had recently found out in the car ride back from the hospital, his mother had gone a bit insane while he was gone, contacting every police station and hospital within four states. Obviously, the police hadn't been able to find him. They'd set up an investigation that lasted nearly three months, but since there were no leads, the search had ended. After about a year of searching on her own, his mother ultimately gave up, hoping that he would return home. And he did, but his timing was much later than he had wanted it to be.

When he got home, Owen was hesitant to go to sleep. He hadn't been home in ages, and it felt extremely weird to be back to a normal agenda. After a week, or apparently three years, of sleeping in a cot in a prison, it was strange to be back in his comfortable bed after what he'd been through. He was having some trouble adjusting, since he'd only been home for a few hours. Everything felt different.

Much to his relief, his bedroom hadn't changed much. He still had the same Star Wars themed bedspread, the same computer on his desk and the same boxes hidden under his bed, which contains sheets of the embarrassing Kiel Gnomenfoot fanfiction he once wrote when he was ten. Every shelf in the room still overflowed with books without covers or with splitting spines, and there were even still the collections of pages held together with rubber bands. It was comforting to know that at least _one_ thing was still the same.

After a long and emotional talk with his mother, he'd been sent to bed. He had told her the best explanation he could without sounding absolutely crazy . . . so he left out the part of him being trapped in a _Pick The Plot_ book. He tried making his story sound as close to the truth as possible without giving away Bethany's identity or the fact that the fictional world was real.

In his made-up story, he was wandering around town and got very lost. His phone didn't have any reception and was running low on battery, so there was no way to contact his mother. He ended up a long way from home, and instead of finding a way to get home he decided to learn how to live on his own for a short while. A week turned into a few months, and soon he found himself living in homeless shelters and trying to scrounge for money.

Owen attempted to go home many times, but he didn't have money for a bus ticket and wasn't sure how he could walk home without directions. He wasn't even sure how long he'd been living on his own. In this scenario, he was forced to get a low-paying job and was able to make a small sum of money that would allow him to take a bus ride home.

This fake story, Owen concluded later, was very far from the truth but at least his mom believed it. She would probably never let him out of her sight again, and he didn't blame her. She was probably freaking out now that Owen was finally home, especially given the fact that he'd shown up at her doorstep with a broken arm and a complicated explanation. Once he agreed many times to never do that again, he was sent upstairs to get some sleep.

Sleep, however, didn't come. He was slightly traumatized after all that time in _Pick The Plot_ , and the memories of the past week were like a nightmare that never seemed to end. He was thankful to finally be somewhere safe and comfortable. He was even more thankful that Bethany was safe and out of harm's way; due to Nobody's selfishness, she'd been separated for some time, but now she was back to her regular half-fictional self. They'd both agreed that they wanted a break, and Owen guessed Kiel would feel the same way.

An hour or two passed, and Owen's eyelids grew heavy after a long time of watching the sky fade into darkness. As he willed for sleep to come, he thought about Kara. She had never really left his mind, but with the crazy events that happened today, his thoughts were all over the place. He wondered if she was okay, or if she was suffering. He couldn't imagine what she was going through right now. Being captured by the time agents sounded terrifying.

He wondered if he'd still be able to rescue her from the agents. Maybe he could ask Bethany to take him into Kara's book series, and then they could find her. He imagined rescuing her and bringing her back to his world, where she'd be safe from the Countess and any time agents who wished to hurt her. She would be free. Using magic, Kiel could build a house for her right down the street, so they'd be able to see each other often.

If she was here, he'd show her all the things he talked about when they were locked in the Time Security Agency together. He could show her _Star Wars_ , and board games, and normal things that she probably had never been able to enjoy, given that she was a prisoner. Of course, he'd give her real clothes to borrow, not that gross jumpsuit that all the time prisoners had to wear.

He could introduce her to snow, which he guessed she hadn’t seen before. Or maybe she had, being a time traveler and all. But he still wanted to introduce her to it. He'd take her to all the places that he used to spend time at, like Max's Scoops, where he and Bethany bought ice cream many times, and the Napoleon Bakery store, where he used to go with his mom.

Obviously, she'd also get to meet Bethany and Kiel, and they could all have a nice, short break before the time came when they had to defeat Nobody. It'd be a few weeks — maybe longer — of relaxing and having fun. And maybe Kara would try to kiss him on the cheek again, but maybe not, because everyone would see and that would be completely embarrassing. Then, Owen realized something. Why was he thinking of Kara kissing him on the cheek? It wasn't like he _liked_ her or anything, not like a crush. That would be weird.

He liked Charm, who was awesome and smart and so inexplicably _cool,_ and just the thought of her made Owen's robotic heart beat a little faster. He really wished he could see her again. Last he saw of her, she was in the comic book world, fighting with Bethany and Gwen against the Dark. He had no doubt that she was doing just fine. She was probably back in Quanterium, ruling over the people as their President. It would be great if she were here too, but she was used to such a technologically advanced lifestyle that he doubted she'd be very impressed with the nonfictional world.

Now that Owen had his first chance to relax, he thought about almost everything. There were still unanswered questions, and there were so many things he had missed over the past three years. It brought pain to his chest just to think about it. Owen had hoped something good would come out of this situation of him suddenly being fifteen years-old, so he measured his height when he got home. Instead of having a huge growth spurt like most boys do, Owen had only grown a few inches, making him shorter than majority of boys his age.

There were other changes that were weighing on him. He wondered what would happen now that he was home. Would he go to school again? It didn't sound like the most comforting idea. He _was_ also grounded, so there was that factor. Last time he'd gone to school was in seventh grade, and he wasn't even sure what grade he'd be in now. Ninth? Tenth? Eleventh? He had no clue. He'd have to ask Bethany the next time he saw her.

A small "meow" was heard from the doorway of his bedroom, and Owen turned to see Spike standing there. The cat walked over and vaulted himself at Owen's bed, landing right at his feet. After looking around for a good sleeping spot, Spike cuddled up beside Owen's outstretched leg.

He smiled, reaching over to scratch the cat’s ears. "At least _you're_ still here. You're not mad at me too, are you?"

Spike only purred in response. Owen withdrew his hand and sat back in bed, adjusting his cast. With a final look around the room, he flicked off his lamp on the table beside his bed.

For the first time in a week — or, actually _three years_ — he felt safe. He was finally home, and if it were up to him at this moment, he would never leave. He loved books too much, and eventually, he knew he would go back. But for now, he would listen to his mother. He would stay here, where there weren't any dinosaurs to eat him or villains to kill him. He would hang out with Bethany and Kiel, and for a while, he'd forget about the bad stuff.

For the first time, there was nowhere he'd rather be but here. The real world used to bore him, with school and chores and homework. Those things were still boring, but it felt good to finally have a sense of security. The fictional world might've given him excitement, and adventures — as well as fear — but there was one thing it didn't give him, and that was his _home_.

And he was more than ready to experience that again.

* * *

_Kiel pushed open the door of the upside-down tower and stepped inside right before slamming it shut behind him. He was late,_ especially _late. He hurried into the Magister's study, taking a quick scope of the room. As always, every wall had bookcases, which held an overflowing amount of books, spells, potion recipes, and other interesting objects that even Kiel never knew about._

_As he walked inside in a hurry, Alphonse flew into the air from his spot on a table, landing on the boy magician's shoulder. Kiel grinned, turning to address his winged cat. "Good morning, Alphonse."_

_  
"_ _You're late, Kiel," said a man's voice as he got to the middle of the room._

_"_ _I'm not_ that _late," Kiel said, turning around to see the Magister sitting in a chair. "Well, I am. But you never get mad at me for stuff like that, do you? I'm not worried."_

_  
"_ _You should be," the Magister said in a dangerously low tone, which made him stop in his tracks._

_Kiel gave his teacher a confused look, his blood turning cold. "What? Why?"_

_The Magister stood up, and looked away from him, his eyes only on the room around them. "It's slowly taking over everyone and everything. It consumes your very being and washes you away as if you were nothing." He turned to look at Kiel and quickly walked over to him, looking more terrified than Kiel had ever seen him. He grabbed the boy by his shoulders. "There won't be an escape from this."_

_"_ _What?" Kiel tried moving away, but the Magister dug his fingernails deep into his shoulders, and he gasped. He thrashed around, trying to get away. "What is_ wrong _with you? Stop it! You're — you're scaring me!"_

_"_ _I'm scaring_ you _?" The Magister suddenly laughed, letting go of Kiel. "Oh, my dear apprentice. At last, you admit you're afraid. You admit it, after years and years of pretending the feelings aren't there! You think I don't know how you hide all of your fears, all of your worries?" He shook his head. "What would everyone think if they knew your fear? They would laugh at you, that's what they would do. You're_ pathetic _. You know why? Because you're fictional, and you'll never be able to satisfy your friends. You can try to fit in with the nonfictional world, but your fictional-ness will catch up with you, and you'll realize that you_ never _belonged there. You think Bethany and Owen want to hear about your problems? You think they care? They don't._ I'm _the only one who truly cares about you."_

_Kiel stepped back with a scowl. His voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. "That's not true._ _I've_ changed _. You don't care about me. You don't know anything about me!"_

_"_ _You're wrong. I know everything about you. It's true, Kiel," the Magister said, looking at him with a pitying expression. "_ Everyone _is afraid now, not just you and me. But you've got it wrong: I'm not what you should fear.” He pointed to the wall behind them. “_ That _is.”_

_Kiel whipped his head around and gasped at the sight. There was a gigantic vortex, which was small at first but grew larger and larger. Half of the wall was missing, and the vortex continued to suck up everything in it's path, drawling books, tables, and even tiles on the floor toward it. Objects flew all around the room and darted straight towards the vortex like a magnet. Once they passed through the vortex — they were completely gone. The vortex was consuming everything in its path._

_“We need to stop it,” Kiel said, backing away and pulling his wand-knives out of their sheaths. He pointed his wand-knives at the vortex, his hair and clothes blowing violently in the wind. He tried to think of a spell that might get rid of the vortex, but for some reason none came to mind. He growled in frustration. Why couldn't he remember a single spell?_

_“Magic won't work on it,” the Magister said, his voice utterly calm compared to a moment ago. “This can't be stopped. It will destroy everything in its wake, and there is no stopping the pure possibility from taking over our world. It's too powerful.”_

_Pure possibility? For some reason, this seemed important to Kiel. Like something he should know. But he couldn't remember what it meant. He shook his head at the Magister. "There is_ always _a way to stop evil. There has to be some spell for this."_

_"_ _I'm sorry, my apprentice. But this cannot be stopped." The Magister walked straight into the vortex, disappearing completely. When he walked through, the vortex only seemed to grow larger and stronger, and it pulled at Kiel with all its might, who fought to stay on his feet._

_"_ _No!" the boy shouted, trying to see into the whirling vortex. "Magi, where did you go?! What am I supposed to do?"_

_Before he knew it, his feet were leaving the ground. He shouted in surprise, waving his arms around as he tried to fight against the pull. It didn't do anything to help. He was sucked towards the vortex, and he let out one final shout of terror before the darkness enveloped him, and he no longer existed._

_Suddenly, he heard a voice, but it wasn't coming from a person. It echoed all around him, and he could somehow hear it despite no longer existing. "Kiel?"_

_Kiel looked around in confusion, unsure where the voice was coming from. All that surrounded him was white nothingness, and as far as he could tell, there was no one in here with him. He wasn't even sure if he was a person still. He didn't have control over his own body, nor could he tell if he still had a body. He attempted to raise his hands, just to make sure he still had a body, but nothing happened. Hmm, so maybe he_ didn't _have a body —_

_"_ _Kiel?" the voice asked again, and he recognized it. It sounded immensely familiar, and it brought him some comfort to hear it. After the person continued repeating his name, he concluded that it was a girl. But he couldn't pinpoint who it was. Then, the world faded around_ _him, and the vortex vanished._

"Kiel. Wake up." Kiel blinked, raising his head from the desk to find himself in English class, of all places. He didn't even remember coming here! Hadn't he just been in the Magister's tower? How had he ended up here?

"Are you okay?" Bethany whispered from beside him. He realized that she was the one who'd been calling his name. He nodded, although the wink he normally would've sent her didn't come, even when he tried to force it out.

"Good to see you've joined us, Mr. Bauer," the teacher said as the other students stared at Kiel, not giggling like they normally would when Bethany fell asleep. Weirdly, they looked a little bit concerned. But why? He'd only been sleeping. He didn’t understand why it was seen as a crime to sleep in class, clearly everyone did it!

"Sorry about that," Kiel said, unsure why he had fallen asleep in the first place.

After his belt disappeared out of nowhere last night, he had given in to his exhaustion and fell asleep a few hours earlier than usual. When he woke up this morning, he felt that same groggy sensation, and he still felt it now. He didn't understand why he was so tired, but he figured that this dream had to be a sign. It was trying to tell him something, maybe that the fictionals were all in even _more_ danger than before. It was likely that they were.

Truth be told, he was growing worried. He usually never worried unless it was an extremely unsettling problem, and this certainly seemed like one. On top of being constantly tired and unfocused, he was afraid for his own safety. What would happen if more of his possessions disappeared? Soon, he might disappear along with them. Was this why he'd been so tired since last night? Was his body . . . _no_ , he couldn't think like that. There had to be some way to fix this all on his own. There would be.

The last thing he wanted to do was tell his friends, who would only worry even more than they had been already. No, they deserved a break. Owen especially, after all he'd been through. Kiel couldn't do that to them. It'd be selfish on his part. He'd fix this on his own, and if there wasn't a way to fix this . . . well, he'd still try. He wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

"I talked to Owen on the phone this morning," Bethany said later that day as they ate lunch together.

Kiel yawned at that moment, but quickly turned it into a cough. "How's he doing? Is he okay?"

"He's better than he was yesterday," she said. "He got out of the hospital a few hours after I left. But for now, he's grounded. His mom doesn't want him leaving his house under any circumstances."

"Wow," he said, shaking his head as he took a bite of his sandwich. "That's kind of rude." He put down his sandwich, turning to Bethany with a frown. "Wait, so he can't go to the library or anything?"

"No. But I'm sure his mom will let him go out once he's been here for a while. She can't keep him locked up forever, can she?"

"I don't know," Kiel muttered, blinking rapidly in an effort to wake himself up. "Hey, do you want to go over his house tonight? I doubt his mom can restrict him from seeing _me_." He grinned lazily at her. "Maybe the same couldn't be said for you —"

Bethany slapped him in the arm, laughing despite her attempt to look mad. He was laughing too. "Rude. _You_ were the one who wasn't at the hospital last night. What was that about?"

"Oh." He looked down at the table, scratching his ear. His smile faded. "Sorry, I couldn't make it. I was . . . I, um . . . I forgot."

She gave him a quizzical look. "You forgot?"

Kiel shook his head. "No. I forgot what I was going to say."

Bethany just stared at him, appearing concerned. He turned back to his sandwich and continued eating, trying his best to fight the tiredness off. It clung to him like a dark shadow, not letting go for one second. In his daze, he barely noticed her staring at him for the rest of lunch. All he heard were the loud conversations of kids around him, but somehow, the room felt quiet.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunchtime. Kiel flashed a tired smile at Liz, who'd been quietly sitting next to Bethany for the second half of lunch. He didn't notice her face turning red in response. Briefly, he wondered if Bethany had told her about Owen. She probably hadn't. Not many people knew Owen was back yet, since he'd been at home all day.

Kiel stood from the table and threw his leftovers into the trash can, Bethany right behind him. As he started walking blindly toward the cafeteria doors, she grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him back. "Seriously?"

"What?" he asked, looking over her shoulder at the table he'd just been sitting at. "I didn't forget anything, did I?"

"No." She sighed, twisting her fingers together. "Look, you've been acting weird all day. You seem really tired. There are dark circles under your eyes, and you haven't winked at me all day, which is shocking for you."

Kiel raised his eyebrows. "I'm completely fine. I'm wide awake, see? And I _can_ wink." Just to prove his point, he winked. But by the look on her face, he couldn't tell how successful his attempt was.

"What's going on?" Bethany asked, looking more concerned than anything.

"Nothing's going on," he said. "Really, I'm fine. I've never been better! Owen's back, so why _wouldn't_ I be fine?"

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "But just so you know, I'm not one-hundred percent great either. It's okay to admit if you don't feel okay, Kiel."

For a second, he thought about telling her the truth. She'd understand, wouldn't she? She was Bethany. The girl who meant far more to him than almost anyone else he knew. The girl who consumed his thoughts nearly all the time. The girl who he went on adventures with. The girl who opened his eyes to an entirely new world. She had been fictional once, so she probably had at least some idea of what could be happening.

But no, he couldn't tell her about _this_. It wasn't only the tiredness that was bothering him. Deep down, he was terrified. And these types of emotions scared him even further, because he wasn't even sure how to stop this. How _was_ he supposed to fix this? What if he disappeared? Why was he growing more and more tired with every minute that passed? There were so many questions that simply couldn't be answered.

If he opened up to her or Owen about this issue, they'd worry. They'd want to fix it, and then eventually, they'd realize that they couldn't. It was his problem, not theirs. Why should he drag them into it? They wouldn't understand, anyway. And if he told them he was afraid? Surely, they would laugh at him. He never told them about him being afraid, not verbally.

_Yeah_ , Kiel thought as he stared at Bethany. _Not worth it._

A forced smile tugged at his lips. "Sorry, Beth. I'm a little bit tired, but it's nothing I can't handle. It isn't a crime to be tired, is it?"

She rolled her eyes. "I never said it was. But it seems like something is wrong. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah!" he said, straightening his spine. "I gotta get to class, but I can meet you at Owen's tonight."

"Don't worry about meeting me there," she said, adjusting the strap on her backpack as they walked into the hallway. "It's supposed to snow tonight. I'll have my mom drive us there."

"Okay," he said as they parted ways. "But for your information, I love walking in snow! It's so unpredictable, you know? The more danger, the better."

"Even if it's a blizzard?" Bethany asked, unable to contain the small laugh that escaped her.

He couldn't help but smile; he really loved it when she laughed. Not that he loved _her_ , like Elijah claimed he did. That wasn't true at all. She was special to him, of course, but that didn't mean he felt that way about her. 

Being around her felt more like being engulfed by the sun. When she was happy, it made Kiel feel brighter. He especially loved it when she wasn't worried, when she was simply enjoying herself in the midst of danger. He wished he could take all of her worries away so that she could enjoy herself more often.

"I don't know what that is, but _yes_."

* * *

"Owen!" his mother called. "Your friends are here to see you!"

It was late in the afternoon, close to nighttime. Most of the day had been uneventful, aside from the discussion Owen had with his mother this morning. She had decided to stay home today, claiming that she needed to take care of him. But Owen knew the simple truth: she didn't trust him to stay home alone. It was obvious that she didn't.

Since Owen was grounded, he also wasn't allowed to leave the house. He should've expected this, but surprisingly, he hadn't. For some reason, he wasn't even allowed to go to the _library._ What was up with that? Eventually, he assumed his mother would trust him enough to allow him to go places. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take this separation from his beloved library. If he stayed home until September, he'd be bored out of his mind.

His mother had also decided that he would be homeschooled until the upcoming school year, which apparently would be his junior year. During the time of his grounding, he would study the subjects he had missed: math, English, history, and science. Once his mother went back to work on Monday, this would be his new schedule. He'd never been homeschooled before, but he knew one thing: this would be incredibly boring.

Owen would've preferred working at the library over studying at home. If he did that, he would be less bored, and he'd be surrounded by books. The library was his favorite place, after all. Instead of getting what he wanted, however, he would stay at home and study each day until further notice. The very idea of this aggravated him to no end. He had missed three years worth of schoolwork! Did she really expect him to learn all of this new information by next September? Adding onto that, when would he spend time with Bethany and Kiel? It was unfair!

This morning, somewhere during the time Bethany was at school, she'd called him on the phone. It wasn't _his_ phone that she called him on, since he'd lost his phone when he was back in _Pick The Plot_. Instead, she called Owen's mother, and in turn his mother let him borrow her phone. They had talked for as long as they were able until Bethany had to go to class. Bethany had mentioned something about Kiel falling asleep in their English class, but Owen hadn't really remembered the details.

Later on in the afternoon, around lunchtime, Bethany called him again about hanging out tonight. She hadn't mentioned anything about the fictional world or jumping into books. After everything that happened, neither of them had even brought it up. Them, including Kiel, needed a chance to breathe and decide exactly how to navigate this situation.

A break would be acceptable for awhile, but soon, they'd have to make a plan for defeating Nobody. Owen wasn't too optimistic about this, but he didn't want to think about that right now. The very idea of facing Nobody for a final time was enough to make him shudder. As long as his friends were with him, though, he was certain things would _maybe_ be okay. Maybe.

"Coming!" Owen shouted. He flew from his spot on the the couch, almost falling over in excitement as he raced to the door. The thought of seeing his best friends again was enough to raise his spirits to their peak. It would be nice to have a distraction from his boredom and broken arm.

His mother was already at the door, Kiel and Bethany standing in front of her. Kiel looked visibly tired, but he brightened when Owen came around the corner. Bethany had been talking to Ms. Conners when Owen walked up to them, but they stopped their conversation when he came over.

"You're here! Hi!" he said, stepping forward to hug his friends. Kiel grinned and reached over to ruffle Owen's hair before pulling him into a quick hug. When Owen pulled away, he hugged Bethany.

Much to Owen's surprise, his mother had her coat on. He tilted his head. "Uh, where are you going? I thought you were staying home all day."

"I'm about to head out," she replied. "I need to stop by the library now that you have company." She glanced at Kiel and Bethany. "Owen shouldn't be home alone at the moment, so —"

" _Mom_ ," Owen groaned. "They already know I'm grounded. We know what to do."

She gave him a look. "I'm not finished. You stay in the house and you don't leave unless I say so."

As Bethany stared at the ground in silence and Kiel shifted awkwardly between them, Owen nodded. "Will do. We'll be fine."

Before he could protest, his mom grabbed him by the shoulders and hugged him tightly. When she let go, her face softened, and she even smiled. " _Have fun_. I'll be back in a couple of hours." She moved to the door and opened it, sending a gust of frigid air inside the house.

"And don't forget to order dinner! Don't let your friends starve!" his mom shouted, right before she closed the door on her way out.

Owen let out a breath, not realizing until just then how tense his body was. _Yikes_.

"I thought we wouldn't be able to come over," Bethany said, turning to face the two. "She seems really . . . mad."

"Yeah," Kiel added with a light frown. "Wouldn't she be happier now that you're home?"

"She is," Owen said, then he sighed. "I mean, she kind of is. She's just not used to me being home, I guess. I think she's still mad."

"What did you tell her? Did you tell her about what happened?"

He shook his head. "I made up this long, elaborate story about me running away. I'm pretty sure she believes me, but now she won't let me out of her sight." At the slightly disapproving look on Kiel's face, he added, "I gotta keep this a secret. If she finds out that fictional characters have tried to kill me every time we go into a book then she's not gonna let me be your friend anymore!"

"But she's been worried sick about you," Kiel defended. "I get why _I_ needed to hide my identity, because I'm Kiel Gnomenfoot, the greatest hero of all time." Owen smiled at that. "But your mom deserves to know the truth. Same with _your_ mom, Bethany. Seriously, why can't either of you tell your parents the truth? It isn't like they're going to turn you into toads."

"I already told you about this," Bethany said, looking a little annoyed. "I don't plan on telling my mom a single thing. She'd only hold me back from jumping into books! I still need to bring Dad home, and we still need to defeat . . ." She trailed off as Owen's face blanched. "But, I'll tell her everything once my father is returned home safety."

"I _would_ tell my mom, but she wouldn't believe me," Owen said, lifting his shoulders up and down. "I'm already in trouble enough as it is."

"So you can't leave the house? Not even to go to the library?" Kiel questioned, yawning.

"Nope. I hope she'll let me go there soon, but she doesn't trust me enough right now. But I'm going to be homeschooled until the next school year, so that'll be starting next week."

Bethany gasped. "What? You _are_? You won't be coming to school?"

"Nope," Owen repeated, flinging his arm in the air.

"What's 'homeschooled'?" Kiel asked, yawning again.

"It's when kids are taught education at home instead of school," Bethany supplied. She cringed. "Wow, Owen. Your mom is more mad than I thought."

"Yeah, you have no idea," Owen breathed.

They stood in silence for a few seconds, simply staring at each other as the tension wafted out of the room. He didn't want to talk anymore about his mother or the situation with Nobody. Tonight was only about having fun, not about stress.

"So," Owen began as he trotted over to the kitchen, changing the subject. He glanced back at them every few seconds. "My mom said you guys need to leave by 9:00." He made a face. "I'd rather have you sleep over, but . . . you know. She's been kind of overprotective all day." He sat down at the kitchen table. "What do you wanna do?"

"Could we watch a movie?" Kiel requested hopefully.

Bethany laughed a little at that, looking a lot less annoyed now that they were focused on something else. "Oh, right. I forgot we watched the first Kiel Gnomenfoot movie together." She looked at Owen. "That happened a few months ago, when I didn't have my memories back."

Wait, Bethany and Kiel had watched a movie that was based off of the greatest book of all time — _without_ him? He pouted. " _Aww_. You guys saw it without me? I didn't know the movie came out yet!"

"It came out a few years ago," Bethany said. "Don't you remem—" She cut herself off before she could finish the word, but Owen knew what she was about to say. She quickly looked away. "Yeah, I think a movie sounds like a good idea. It's not like we can get into any trouble with that. Unless we jumped into one or something."

Owen's eyes widened, and he slowly started to smile. " _Can_ you jump into one? That'd be so cool! Imagine if you jumped into _Spider-Man,_ or _Star Wars_ , or any of the other movies —"

She pointed a finger at him. "Don't even think about it. I'm not going to try that."

" _Spider_ - _Man_?" Kiel asked, rubbing his eyes as he leaned against the kitchen counter. "You mean like the comics?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Owen exclaimed. "But they made movies based on it, along with all the other superheroes." An idea formed in his head, and he stood up, walking over to the living room. "Do you guys wanna watch a superhero movie?"

"Not really," Bethany muttered, loud enough for Owen to hear. But he didn't acknowledge her. She was technically a superhero, after all. It was ridiculous if she didn't want to watch a superhero movie! Why _wouldn't_ she want to watch Marvel?

"Any movie is good with me," Kiel said, following Owen into the room. "I've only seen the one based on my first book. I wouldn't recommend it, though. It looks nothing like the real version! And I'm much better-looking than that guy who was pretending to me."

"Yeah, yeah," Owen said absently, as he picked up the remote and turned the TV on. "They're all just acting. When a movie is based off a book, the actors don't usually look how they should. Like in _Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief_. That movie was terrible. Right, Twilight Girl?"

As Kiel snickered at the mention of Bethany's superhero name, Owen turned his head towards the kitchen. "Bethany?"

"I'm coming!" she said, and appeared in the room a few seconds later. She was holding a tall can that looks suspiciously like whipped cream. She smiled. "Want some? I brought it from my house."

"Yes, please _._ " Owen reached for it, and with some difficulty, he yanked the cap off. He then tilted his head back and poured it into his mouth. He opened his mouth and grinned, his teeth coated with white filling.

"Gross," Bethany muttered, but he could tell she was trying not to laugh.

She sat down on the couch and squeezed in right next to Kiel, who was already seated with his eyes glued to the TV. Owen plopped down on the other side of Kiel and handed the remote to Bethany, who would have much less trouble navigating the TV channels since she didn't have a broken arm.

"Want any?" Owen asked, tapping Kiel's arm with the can of whipped cream. Kiel crinkled his eyebrows and turned to look at it before silently shaking his head. Owen shrugged, then sprayed another dose of whipped cream into his mouth. "Suit yourself."

"Hey," Bethany spoke up, pointing at the screen. "Do you want to watch _Moana_?"

" _Moana_?" Kiel repeated, raising an eyebrow. He grinned. "What is that, another movie that's based off a book?"

"Um, _no_ ," Owen said. "It's a Disney movie, and I _love_ it. Well, I love all Disney movies, not just this one. But this one has a great soundtrack. You'll love it, Kiel." Then his eyes widened. He snapped his fingers at Bethany. "Wait! Kiel hasn't seen a movie besides _Kiel Gnomenfoot: Magic Thief_ , right?"

"Nope," she said, a subtle smile tracing her lips. " _Moana_ will be _much_ better than that one."

"I thought you said you liked my movie!" Kiel said, looking slightly offended.

Bethany snorted. "I blame that all on my nonfictional half. The movie was okay, but it wasn't as good compared to some." She glanced at Owen for confirmation. "So, we're watching _Moana_?"

Owen nodded, trying not to smile too hard as he sunk further into the couch. Once he got comfortable, he tossed a blanket across their laps for the three of them to share. "Yep!"

Bethany started the movie, and Kiel leaned forward, resting his head on his hands as he stared intently at the screen. When the first song started playing, Owen couldn't help himself. He started singing the lyrics. At first, he was only mumbling to himself. But as the song continued, he got louder, loud enough for Kiel to give him a strange look.

" _Owen_ ," Bethany groaned, simultaneously laughing as she tried to sound annoyed. "You're seriously the worst."

He laughed, cutting himself off for a second to respond to her. " _How far will you go_ to make me stop?"

"Shut up."

* * *

The rest of the evening was filled with relaxation and fun. Much to Owen's delight, they all agreed to order pizza for dinner and between the three of them, they greedily consumed an entire pizza as they watched the movie. Kiel had enjoyed the song "You're Welcome" the most, and at some point after the song finished playing, he had fallen asleep. His head had been resting on Bethany's shoulder for the past hour, but if she noticed, she didn't say anything.

After watching _Moana_ , Bethany and Owen decided to watch _Newsies_ , given the fact that Bethany had never seen it and Owen loved musicals. The ending credits had just begun rolling when the sound of the front door opening was heard down the hall. Owen perked his head up, quickly consuming another mouthful of whipped cream before his mother came over and saw.

"Owen!" his mother called, sounding a little bit frantic as she rushed down the hallway and appeared in the living room. She exhaled slowly when she saw him, the tension leaving her shoulders. She walked over to them and glanced over at the TV. "What movie did you watch?"

" _Moana_ ," Owen said. "And then we watched _Newsies_."

"Sounds fun," she said. She then looked at Kiel, who was resting comfortably against Bethany. "Oh, you should wake him up. Bethany's mom will be here soon."

"Okay, Ms. Conners," Bethany said, her smile suddenly mischievous. As Owen's mother walked into the kitchen, she tore the can of whipped cream from Owen's fingers.

"Hey!" he shouted, reaching over to grab it back, only for her to hold it far out of his reach. "Give it back! What are you —" Then, he saw the way she was looking at Kiel, and realization struck him. " _Oh_. Ohhhh. So you're saying we should —"

"Shh!" Bethany said, raising a finger to her lips as she tried not to laugh. Gently, she lifted Kiel's head from her shoulder, repositioning him on the couch. He didn't even stir. He continued to sleep, his snoring barely audible. As Owen tried not to loose it, she held the bottle above his head and pressed down on the button, sending a flurry of whipped cream all in his hair.

"Do his face!" Owen whispered, holding a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from bursting into a fit of giggles. Bethany's grin widened. She sprayed more whipped cream, this time all over Kiel's face; it covered everywhere except for his nose and eyes, which they figured would've been cruel to put whipped cream on.

When their work was finished, Bethany sat back, placing the cap back over the can. She rubbed her hands together as they both stared at their sleeping friend. Owen frowned, standing up and nudging Kiel with his foot. "Huh. He's still not waking up."

"Why don't we try slapping him on the face?" she suggested.

"No." Owen shook his head. "There has to be a less boring way to do it."

"Any way we wake him up won't be boring. And slapping him _is_ funny," Bethany said, crossing her arms. "What's a better way to do it?"

"Watch and learn," he said. Before she could stop him, he leaned forward and screamed at the top of his lungs, straight into Kiel's ear.

Right away, the boy magician shrieked, sitting straight up and putting a hand to his face. When he pulled his hand away, a pile of whipped cream was on top of it. His eyes widened, and he ran his hands all along his face, which smeared the whipped cream even more.

He glared at them, but it was hard to take him seriously with whipped cream covering his face, parts of his shirt, and his hair. "What did you put on my face?"

"Not . . . just . . . your face," Bethany said in-between fits of laughter. Owen was on the floor; he was laughing so hard that he had nearly slammed his cast into the wall.

Kiel reached up to feel his hair, then pulled away with a scowl. His look of disgust quickly turned into a more mischievous grin, and before Owen knew what was happening, Kiel lunged forward. He placed both of his whipped cream-covered hands all over Owen's hair, causing whipped cream to fall all over the place.

"Hey!" Owen shouted, laughing as he blindly held up a hand to defend himself. He scrambled away, watching with amusement as Kiel advanced on Bethany.

She slowly backed away, her hands in front of her. " _No_ ," she said as Kiel suddenly ran towards her. _"_ No! Kiel, _don't you dare_!"

Ten minutes later, the three of them were standing in front of the kitchen sink, attempting to wash the mess they'd made off their clothes, face, and hair. After a prolonged fight that resulted in whipped cream all over the floor, Owen's mom had caught them and told them (more specifically, Owen) to clean it up immediately.

Kiel had just finished rinsing his hair underneath the faucet of the sink, taking the longest to get all of the whipped cream off given the amount that had been on him. As he rubbed a towel over his head, Bethany jokingly commented, "You should've kept the whipped cream in your hair, Kiel. It made you look cute."

Kiel stopped what he was doing and stared at her, clearly caught off-guard. The slightest tinge of pink formed on his cheeks. "Of course it did! I mean, yes. Thanks."

Owen smiled in disbelief. Wait, Kiel didn't have a crush on _Bethany,_ did he? He wasn't even sure if the idea was possible; they'd always just been close friends! But the more Owen thought about it, the more it actually started to make sense. There were all those times Bethany and Kiel had jumped into books without him. And that time when Bethany was in danger of drowning; Kiel had been so quiet that whole day.

His best friend most likely had a crush on his other best friend, and it surprisingly didn't make Owen feel a twinge of jealousy in any way. He had already suspected it when they were twelve, and it was obvious that even three years later Kiel still had feelings for Bethany. But now, at least judging from the expression on Kiel's face, they appeared to be much stronger. He wasn't sure about Bethany's side of it, but he wouldn't be surprised if Bethany liked Kiel back.

A knock was heard at the door, and the sounds of Owen's mother rushing down the hallway came a moment after. Bethany visibly wilted when they heard the door opening, and Mrs. Sanderson's voice rung out through the house.

"Owen!" Ms. Conners yelled, after they'd been talking for a minute. "Bethany's mom is here!"

Owen sighed, realizing that their blissful time together was over. He readjusted the cast on his broken arm before walking over to the front of the house, his friends beside him. When Bethany's mom saw them, she gasped, looking mostly at Kiel, who's hair was soaked. "What happened? Your hair is wet!"

Kiel winked. "Things got a little crazy. There was a fight with that white cream."

"Whipped cream," Owen corrected under his breath.

"Things weren't _too_ crazy," Bethany added, her hand pressed against Owen's shoulder.

"Well, I see you've had fun," Mrs. Sanderson said. She looked at Owen. "How's your arm, Owen? And how are you? I've been meaning to ask since you just got home."

Owen's smile faded. He felt everyone's eyes on him, and he cast his eyes to the ground, feeling ashamed at the mention of his situation. It was only a reminder that he was pretty much useless. "It's fine. I'm still getting used to the cast."

"I hope it feels better soon," Bethany's mother said. "Ready to go, Beth? And Kiel?"

"Yes," Kiel said, and at the same time Bethany nodded. Mrs. Sanderson gave them a small wave before saying wishing them goodnight and walking out of the room.

As Owen's mother walked back upstairs, Kiel turned to Owen and gave him a hug. Undeniably, Owen noticed that Kiel was much taller than him. This little detail was slightly irritating, but he brushed it off and wrapped his non-injured arm around the boy magician, hugging him back the best he could.

Kiel stepped back, dropping his arms before glancing at Bethany. "I'm gonna go to the car."

"I'll be there in a second," she said.

Kiel nodded and walked outside into the cold, dark night. Bethany stared at Owen for a few seconds in silence, thinly veiling her disappointment. She sighed, then threw her arms around Owen's neck. He closed his eyes, standing slightly on his toes so that he could rest his head on her shoulder. Saying goodbye for the second time wasn't that easy, especially when he'd just reunited with her yesterday.

"Oh, I just remembered something!" Bethany said suddenly, jumping out of the hug much too soon. "I joined the school book club about a year ago and they always have meetings on Saturday mornings. It's held at the school. Do you want to come with me?"

"Wait, you're at a book club?" Owen asked, perking up.

"Yeah. So do you wanna go?"

"Um." He chewed the inside of his lip. "Okay, yeah. I _really_ do. I've always wanted to go to a book club! That's been my dream since forever!" Then his smile faded as he realized something. "But . . . I'm grounded. I don't know if my mom will let me go."

Bethany crossed her arms. "Why wouldn't she? She's known me for years! She can't just keep you locked in your house all the time. She's gotta let you out at _some_ point."

"I know," he said. "But I don't really blame her. She's probably afraid I'll try to run away again."

"Maybe you can sneak out," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper.

He gasped. " _Bethany_! I've never — I've never snuck out before! I'm not supposed to leave the house."

"You'll be fine. I've done it before. If your mom is working at the library tomorrow, meet me at my house. We can get a ride from my mom and she'll take us there."

"But . . . but I _really_ don't want to stress my mom out more than she already is," Owen said. "What if she comes home and I'm not there? I don't like this idea at all."

"Just think about it, okay?" She patted him on the shoulder, then gave him a smug smile. "If you're too scared that you're going to get caught, then you don't have to come."

He scowled. "I'm not scared!"

"Good." She moved to the door and pulled on her coat. "Then come to the book club! I promise you won't regret it."

Then, she went outside, leaving him with his thoughts. Owen knew that he really, _really_ wanted to go to this book club. Ever since middle school, he'd always wanted to be in one. The thought of talking for hours about books, his favorite thing in the world, was enough to get him excited. But the cons of this situation were much worse. If he got caught, his mother would surely kill him. _Oh boy._ Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

* * *

On Saturday morning, Owen was eating breakfast, his nerves high with the knowledge of what he was about to do. All throughout his life, he had never gotten into trouble. He never disobeyed his mother, skipped class, or yelled at teachers. Aside from his proneness to daydreaming, he'd always been a great student and son. Up until now, his record had been completely clean. He had just come home two days ago, and since his mother was still wary and cautious around him, she forbid him from going anywhere out of the house.

Now, here he was, about to do the exact opposite of what he was told.

While she went to work, he was going to sneak out. _Sneak out!_ The very idea of it was terrifying, but he couldn't help feeling a little rush of excitement about all of this. For the first time, he was purposely breaking the rules. He'd never done anything like this before, but he knew it would be worth it. If he didn't go, he'd never get to attend the book club! This was one of his lifelong dreams, and he would regret it if he never got to go to a book club.

His mother watched with amusement as he ate piece after piece, his stomach a bottomless pit due to his nerves. "We aren't going to run out of toast, Owen."

He smiled nervously, taking another bite. "I know. Just hungry."

"You might want to stop eating then, because with what I'm about to tell you, you won't be able to eat anything else."

Owen immediately set his half-eaten piece of toast down, eagerly leaning forward in his chair. He finished chewing. "Okay, I'm ready. What is it?”

His mother placed her mug of coffee on the table. "I was thinking how much you've wanted a dog all your life, and I thought 'why not?' So do you want to get one?"

"A dog?" he asked. A grin slowly formed into his face. "A dog! Really?"

Owen's mom nodded, smiling. "We can go get one after work today."

"What made you change your mind?" he asked, nearly shaking with excitement.

She shrugged, leaning forward against the countertop. "Just because you've asked for one for so long. And now that you're home, I feel like you deserve one.”

Owen had always wanted a dog. Probably his entire life. But after visiting his fictional self and discovering that Fowen had a cat named Spike, he decided to take Spike as a pet. Now that he was getting a dog, though, that changed everything. He felt _so_ happy. After years of begging for a dog, he'd finally gotten one.

The only thing that dimmed his excitement, however, was the fact that his mother was getting this as a guilt present. And somehow, that made him feel worse.

"You don't need to get one," he said quickly. Then added, "Not if you don't want one. I know you prefer cats."

His mother smiled, then walked over and ruffled his hair. "Owen, don't try to make me change my mind. You've always wanted a dog, so we're getting a dog."

"We can still keep Spike, right?"

She nodded. "Of course. If you promise to feed both of them. And you'll need to train our dog when I'm at work.”

Owen nodded vigorously. "That I can do. I promise I'll take care of both of them."

"Okay." She smiled again, then picked up her purse and walked to the door. "Have a nice day!"

"You too!" Owen shouted as he heard the sound of the door closing. He couldn't _believe_ his luck. A real dog! He couldn't wait to walk it everywhere, and feed it, and clean it, and play with it —

Just then, his fictional cat, Spike, leaped onto the kitchen table, knocking over Owen's glass of milk.

"Hey!" he yelled, and his heart nearly stopped beating as he watched the glass fall to the ground. Only for it to stop in midair.

"Uh?" Owen blinked, then laughed when he realized his time powers must've kicked in without him realizing it. He snatched the glass from the air and set it back on the table, releasing his hold on time.

"Bad cat," he said, glaring at Spike. The cat only stared, then turned around and hopped off the table.

"I'm not going to ignore you once we get a dog, if that's what your mad about!" Owen called after the cat. He sighed and turned back to eating his meal. Once he was done, he put his dishes in the sink and raced up to his room, changing out of his pajamas.

It took him several minutes longer than usual to find a descent pair of clothes, given the fact that all the clothes he currently owned were too small for him. So far, he'd been borrowing his mother's clothes. It was embarrassing, but at least his mother had some clothes that were unisex. Luckily, she said she would take him shopping tomorrow for new clothes, so there was that.

Once he found a good pair of jeans and a long-sleeved sweater that looked as boyish as possible, Owen ran downstairs and threw open the door, slamming it behind him. He stepped outside. He looked left, then right, then left again, searching for any sign that his mother or a neighbor could be watching him. If he got caught, he was going to get into _so_ much trouble. He would never get to leave the house ever again if that happened.

Double-checking to make sure his mother's car wasn't in the driveway, Owen quickly walked away from his house, humming the _Mission Impossible_ theme song under his breath for dramatic effect. A bitter wind tore into his clothes as he made his way to Bethany's house, his teeth chattering and his hands shaking from the cold. He buried his good hand into his pocket for warmth, his broken arm dangling helplessly at his side.

Just as his body started to feel slightly frozen, Bethany's house was in sight. He jogged the rest of the way and didn't stop to knock, instead opening the door and heading inside. He blew air from his lungs, still shivering in the much warmer house. He heard voices coming from upstairs, so he walked to the bottom of the stairs, placing his hand on the railing.

"Bethany! I'm here!"

"Owen?" Mrs. Sanderson's voice rang out. She appeared at the top of the stairs. "I'm glad to see you could make it! I didn't know you'd be coming."

"Yeah," Owen said, trying to play it cool. "My mom let me go."

"That's great," Bethany's mother exclaimed. She turned her head. "Bethany, Owen is here! We're going to be late if we don't leave soon!" The carpeted steps creaked slightly as Mrs. Sanderson, followed a few seconds later by Bethany, came downstairs. After greeting each other, they hopped in the car and began their fifteen minute ride to the school.

"So nothing bad happened?" Bethany asked, leaning over to whisper in his ear. Both of them were in the backseat of the car, discussing Owen's sneaking-out-fiasco, unbeknownst to Bethany's mother. "Your mom didn't see you leaving?"

"Nope," Owen whispered back, feeling jittery. "She thinks I'm home. She just went to work, so hopefully she won't even notice I'm gone!" He was mostly just trying to assure himself that everything would be fine. He was half-expecting his mother to appear out of nowhere, ready to drag him away from Bethany and back into the confinement of his house.

"She won't," Bethany said. "She'll probably be at work all day, just like she usually is."

"'Probably'?"

"I'm ninety percent sure, Owen," she said, looking at him. "And if she _does_ catch you, it isn't like she can ground you even more."

"Um, yes she can," Owen pressed. "She can prevent me from seeing you and Kiel!"

Her expression changed, and she sat back into her chair, running her hands over her face. "I didn't think of that."

"Yeah, you didn't," he muttered, then shrugged, turning to the window. His voice got louder as he spoke next. "Well, it's too late to turn back now. I'm going to attend this book club if it _kills_ me!"

"I like the enthusiasm! Bethany isn't usually this excited when she goes to the book club, are you Bethany?" Bethany's mother said from the drivers seat, chuckling to herself.

Without having to look, Owen already knew Bethany must've been sending him an alarmed look. If they were alone, she probably would've yelled at him for talking too loud, an action that could've gotten them both into trouble. At least Mrs. Sanderson hadn't heard their whole conversation.

They turned into the high school's parking lot, which was mostly empty aside from a few cars. As they got out of the car, Owen couldn't help gaping at the sight of the school — practically five times bigger than the middle school. He couldn't imagine going here next year. He had missed so much, including his freshman year of high school, which was supposed to be a transition year. Would he ever get used to these changes? There were so many things that were different, and it made him feel a little queasy.

"C'mon," Bethany said, leading him over to front doors at the entrance of the school.

He followed right behind, feeling lost. They walked inside, their shoes squeaking loudly against the floor. The halls were eerily silent and impossibly huge as they walked for a few minutes through the empty building. There were trophies in glass cases and paintings on the walls, along with dozens of posters for various clubs. Hundreds of lockers lined the walls, an amount much greater than Owen remembered from middle school. Finally, they made it to the library, which had two double wooden doors.

Bethany opened the door, holding it ajar for him so he could walk through. Only then did he feel some sense of comfort. Although it wasn't _his_ library, anywhere filled with books was enough to make him feel better. He felt more in his element with he was in a library.

Six girls were seated in a circle of beanbag chairs, all talking to each other in loud voices. An elderly woman was sitting on her own beanbag chair, holding a few books in her hand. As him and Bethany approached, they all looked over, most of them appearing a bit surprised. They fell silent, simply staring at Owen.

"This is my friend, Owen," Bethany spoke up, after a few awkward seconds passed. "It's okay if he's here today, right?"

Owen's eyes shifted to the old woman, who nodded, smiling at him kindly. "Yes, please join us! It's nice to have a new addition to the group."

"O-Okay," Owen said, nearly tripping over his own feet as he sank into the nearest chair. Bethany sat next to him, offering him a smile. Hesitantly, he smiled back, still feeling nervous among the group. He hadn't expected the group to be only girls, and he didn't recognize any of them, which made him more nervous.

"Your name is Owen? Owen Conners?" a girl asked, tilting her head. He nodded. "Aren't you that boy who ran away?"

"Um, uh . . ." he began, not really sure how to respond. His face heated up as he tried thinking of what to say, everyone's eyes on him.

Luckily, Bethany came to his rescue. She gave the girl a look. "Those are just rumors. You shouldn't listen to everything you hear. He didn't run away. He only went to a new school."

"Okay, geez," the girl muttered, sitting back in her chair. Owen gave Bethany a grateful look, and she winked at him.

A blonde girl, who was sitting on the other side of him, smiled. "I'm Bethany's friend. My name is Liz."

"Liz?" Owen said. He vaguely remembered Bethany mentioning a girl named Liz who her nonfictional self had been friends with. He didn't know anything about her, only that she liked books. "Oh!" he said, putting a face to Bethany's description. "I-I'm Owen. So you like books? Do you like Harry Potter?"

She nodded. "Yeah! Who doesn't?"

He grinned at that. Before he could respond, a voice drew his attention back to the group. The old woman in the center stood up, walking in slow movements around the circle. "Now that we've finished reading our book from last week, _The Giver_ , we're going to start reading a classic. This one came out in 1937. It's a story about a great adventure that you might be familiar with. Can anyone tell me what book it is?"

Owen looked around the room, awaiting an answer. None of the others seemed to have any recollection as to what book it was. He looked to Bethany, who was staring at the ground. He raised his hand, feeling a bit proud that he was the only one who knew the answer. " _The Hobbit_!"

The old woman laughed a little. "Very good! And do you know who wrote it?

Once again, he looked at the rest of the group. None of them seemed to know what the answer was, so he said, "J.R.R Tolkien."

"Good," she said, picking up a copy of _The Hobbit_ from her chair and showing it to the group. "This book shouldn't be a long read. It's only three-hundred and ten pages —"

" _Only_?" a brown-haired girl whispered, shaking her head.

"So it should only take you a week or two if you read consistently." She paused, surveying them. "Does anyone know what this story is about?"

Owen raised his hand again, unable to stop smiling. "Well, it's about a hobbit —" He cut himself off to look at the others. "A hobbit is a really small species similar to humans — and his name is Bilbo Baggins. A wizard named Gandalf and a bunch of dwarves invite him on this huge adventure. There's a lot that happens, but Bilbo finds that magic ring from _Lord Of The Rings_. You know, the 'one ring to rule them all'?" He glanced around at the group, who all were looking at him with slight fascination and confusion.

"Thank you, Owen," the old woman said kindly. "You didn't need to explain the whole story, but I'm sure it was helpful for these girls, who have never read it before."

Owen nodded, his face burning a little as he turned to Bethany. "You've read _The Hobbit_ , right? I thought you did."

"Not exactly," she said, and he knew she was referring to her jumping into it. A new idea popped into his head: after their relaxing break from the fictional world, what if Bethany jumped him into _The Hobbit_? Or better yet, the _Lord Of The Rings_? Technically, they were in the same world, so he assumed he'd only have to jump into one. As long as he avoided the danger, that would be _really_ cool.

"Stop smiling like that," she whispered, leaning towards him. "You're creeping people out."

Undeterred, Owen said, "I can't! I'm happy! Plus, I don't no one looks creeped out to me. I think you're making things up."

"No, I'm not. But okay, _fine_. Ignore me. But if you keep looking like a crazy person, I'm not going to bring you to the next one."

He deflated a little. "Really?"

"No, not really," she said, snorting. "Honestly, I'd rather have you here for these things. I'm not friends with any of these girls, aside from Liz. You're my best friend. You should be here from now on."

He blushed at that, a genuine smile blossoming on his face. "Thanks."

The rest of the book club meeting seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. They had a long discussion about _The Hobbit_ that later turned into which mythological creature they'd be, which Owen was enthralled with. He loved talking about books in general, and the club was the perfect opportunity to do it.

Even in middle school, he never met many people who wanted to talk about books. The people in this book club obviously weren't huge book-lovers like him and Bethany, but at least they were willing to talk about it, which was enough for him. He could only hope that he'd be able to attend more of these in the future.

* * *

_"_ _Take me to a different place where love is not illusion based, and fear is just a word they can define . . ."_

> O

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is definitely my least scary, most happy chapter to write haha. I miss simple moments of Bethany/Owen/Kiel having fun together so I wanted to add more of that!


	18. Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bethany unravels some things about her past. Owen struggles to adjust to a normal life, and Kiel contemplates telling his friends the truth.

**_La Lune (by Madeon)_ **

_"So we stay awake like we always do, and we try to recreate. And though nothing's changed and I'm next to you, it doesn't feel the same . . ."_

* * *

Bethany sat in front of the computer in the library, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor as she grasped for the right words to fill her paper with. For English class, she was assigned to write a three-page paper about the theme of change, and how it was shown throughout the characters and places in the story. She'd already written one page, but two was the amount she'd been asked to write.

In an attempt to clarify the theme of change, she looked up the definition on the internet. _To make or become different,_ it said. She knew all about changes, and differences, and alterations. Her whole life had been changed drastically at one point, then stayed the same for a while before changing again. It was a never-ending theme in her life.

Change was an unspoken thing, Bethany could tell. She'd felt it when she had rejoined herself, and at that time, she had felt like a stranger in her own body. She felt it when her father was taken from her for nearly a decade, only for her to find him again. She felt it when she finally reunited with her best friend.

Change was a reflection of her entire life, including her friends' lives. She saw it in herself, when she didn't feel a pang of sadness anymore when she thought of her father. She saw it in Kiel, who had grown so much, yet now he seemed to be worn out lately. She saw it in Owen, her greatest friend, who had suffered the most.

Long after Bethany and Owen parted ways from the book club meeting, Bethany had returned home and spent the entire day working on the homework she'd missed. After the past three crazy days, it was no surprise that she hadn't found the time to do homework. It had been an exhausting few days; she had rejoined herself and saved Owen all in that time. It was astonishing to remember that only a day before she rejoined herself, her nonfictional half hadn't talked to Kiel for a month. Things could really change within the blink of an eye.

She hadn't talked to Kiel or Owen for the rest of the day, instead taking time to herself to be alone and get all of her homework done. She thought about calling Owen once or twice, just to see how he was doing, but she went against it. He didn't have a phone yet, so it was too risky. She wasn't even sure if his mother had caught him or not. She hoped he hadn't gotten into trouble, but seeing the excited look on his face was worth it. After what he'd gone through in _Pick The Plot_ , he deserved to be happy.

Currently, however, all thoughts about Owen slipped her mind. She'd already finished her paper, and she had returned home after an afternoon spent at the library. Now, It was thirty minutes past midnight, and Bethany was restless.

Sometimes, it felt as though her two halves couldn't agree. Part of her felt comfortable here, in the nonfictional world. But the other part, the more demanding side of her, wanted nothing more than to jump into a book. She was considering it, but she didn't want to get into any unnecessary danger right now. Even still, she wanted to jump into _Goodnight Moon_ to spend the night among the stars,or better yet, she could jump into _EarthGirl_ to see Gwen.

Giving up with the struggle to fall asleep, Bethany threw the covers off of her and walked out of the room, pacing back and forth down the hallway. Then, an idea occurred to her, and she poked her head into her mother's room. She peered through the darkness. From here, she could barely make out the frame of the bed, along with the desk and closet which were closest to the door. Moonlight cast a faint glow on the floor next to the window, not giving light to much else.

Using her skills from her days as Twilight Girl, Bethany soundlessly crept into the room, keeping her hands outstretched to avoid bumping into anything. She made it to her bedside table and carefully slid her hand across it, feeling around. Her hand came in contact with various objects, but they weren't what Bethany was hoping for. Dissatisfied, she backed away and turned her head to the dresser, where her mother kept some of her private things hidden away.

Private things, like the photo album Bethany had recently discovered a few months ago, which had pictures of her family — her _whole_ family — together. It was strange that her mother would keep that hidden away, but then again, she didn't want to encourage Bethany to look for her father. Her mother was always uncomfortable about the idea of Bethany jumping into books, although she believed that Bethany hadn't jumped into one since she was little. If her mother wanted to hide anything from Bethany, it would be the Doc Twilight comic book. It had to be in her room. If it wasn't, where else would it be?

She kneeled down in front of the dresser and curled her hand around the knob of the drawer, opening it as slowly as she could. She cringed at the way it creaked, but luckily, her mother didn't wake up. After opening it the rest of the way, she dove her hands in and took out the first book. She hurried over to the window and held it up against the light. She could hardly see, but the huge, grainy words at the top of the book were hard to miss: _Doc Twilight_.

Bethany grinned. She found it!

Just for good measure, she tucked the book underneath her shirt and walked back to the drawer, quickly sliding it shut. As it made contact with the dresser, it made a louder noise than Bethany had anticipated. She slapped a hand over her mouth, then shot up from the floor and started towards her room, not wanting to spend another second sneaking around.

Before she could make it, however, a voice said her name. "Beth?"

Bethany froze, her heart nearly stopping right then and there. Feeling dread, she turned around. Her mother was awake and was slowly starting to sit up in bed, rubbing her eyes. "What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night."

"I'm — I was just walking around." Seriously? _That_ was what she had to say? She bit her tongue hard to prevent herself from saying anything else. That was the worst excuse she'd ever come up with. It was easier to lie about jumping into books, but how could she make up an easy lie about this?

Bethany's mother yawned. "You were walking around . . . in my room? If you want to walk around, you should do it outside, Beth."

"I-I know. I'll do that."

"Are you okay?" her mother inquired. "Can you not sleep?"

"No, I can. I just felt like walking around." Ugh. _That_ was the excuse she had to keep going with?

"Okay. Go to bed. It's almost 1:00, and you need to go to sleep!"

Bethany nodded, crossing her arms over her chest to hold her book into place. "I know. I'll go to sleep right now." That was another lie, but she had to keep doing it. If she told her mother the truth, she'd tell her something along the lines of "I was sneaking around your room because I was looking for Dad's book! And now that I have it, I'm going to read the entire thing. I probably won't go to sleep until 3:00 am."

"Yeah, go do that," Bethany's mother said, resting her head back against the pillow. "Good night."

Without bothering to reply, Bethany stepped out of the room and let out the breath she'd been holding, resting her back against the wall as disbelief coursed through her. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest, daring to jump right out and fall to the floor. Since when had talking to her mother become so stressful? The more she hid things, the more it felt like a boulder was pressing itself against her shoulders. Kiel was right: she couldn't keep doing this. But she had to, and she would continue to do so until she got Dad back.

On top of that, there was also Nobody to deal with. The thought of the faceless man made her want to punch something, over and over again. It also made her more nervous than anything, and maybe even afraid. Soon, she would have to face him, and she would have to defeat him somehow. The knowledge of that was terrifying. He had already split her in half once. Would he do it again? He would, most likely. He was ruthless, and he would do anything to take over the fictional world.

It wasn't only her that Nobody had to power to hurt, though. He'd hurt Kiel, he'd hurt Gwen, and he'd hurt all of her fictional friends with his pure possibility, whatever that meant. And then he'd make Owen, her best friend, suffer more than he already had been. Bethany couldn't even think about that without a fit of nerves consuming her.

Her friends could _not_ get hurt because of her, and they certainly weren't in the best shape right now to fight Nobody. It just wasn't the right time. They couldn't just leave and run off on an adventure without some type of backup and a plan. There were consequences to their actions, now, and Bethany could see that.

For a week or two, or maybe even longer, they'd have time to relax. But how long could they relax before things went bad again? How could Bethany relax when she was thinking about this all the time? It made her head hurt. She only wanted her friends to be safe, but she knew they never would be. Because of her, they hadn't been. Wasn't all of this Nobody stuff _her_ fault? Jumping into books had never exactly benefited anyone. Bethany had tried using strict rules to keep herself safe, but that route had obviously failed.

Okay, maybe it wasn't _all_ her fault, but a part of it definitely was. Majority of it was, actually. If she hadn't been jumping into books all the time, this wouldn't have even happened. Nobody wouldn't have been able to split her in half, and the worlds wouldn't be split. Owen wouldn't have been in danger.

She also wouldn't have met Kiel, but the only reason she met him was because the Magister had escaped from his book. That part was mainly Owen's fault, but it was still _technically_ her fault for continuously jumping into books. But then again, it was the only thing she could do to find her father. And she _did_ find him, but he wasn't where she expected him to be.

One thing she knew, though, was that she needed to stop overthinking all the time. It would be helpful at least for now, while she and her friends were taking it easy. The past three days had been really nice so far, and spending time with Owen and Kiel made her almost forget about her own problems. Now wasn't the time to think about the inevitable.

Forget her overbearing worry, forget this Nobody problem, forget everything else. In the end, it didn't matter. None of it did. Not if she brought her father home.

Slowly pulling her book out of her shirt, Bethany walked back to her bedroom and tossed her father's book on the bed. She tugged on fuzzy blue socks over her bare feet, along with a pair of pajamas. She sat on her bed and flicked on her bedroom light, then placed _Doc Twilight_ in her lap. Seeing it now, she fully recognized the costume her father wore. He was standing with his hands on his hips, a mask covering his eyes as his long purple cape blew in the wind behind him.

She wondered if he truly was happier in Jupiter City. That place was his life, after all. He'd always been a superhero. Living with him for those three years felt like paradise, and now that she had her memories back she realized just how great it was.

Sure, she hadn't remembered Owen or her mother or the nonfictional world, but she had some really awesome powers, and she got to spend time with her father. She wasn't worried about Nobody, so all she did was fight crime, which was both fun and rewarding. Not only that, but she was training to be a real-life superhero, right alongside Kid Twilight (his real name was Orion, but Bethany liked to be professional when she was fighting).

As far as the fictional Bethany knew, she had been living with her father for her entire life, and Orion hadn't come into the picture until she was twelve. He irritated her to no end, but she grew close to him, close enough to consider him as an adopted brother. Her, Orion, and her father had been a family. But those were fake memories, not real ones. She had to find out what had actually happened over those years that her father had been missing. There were things that her parents hadn't told her, things she deserved to know.

It was time to learn her own secret origin.

* * *

Owen had come home to an empty house. He had only been gone for about an hour and a half, but he'd been dreading the moment he came home ever since he left. He had an incredibly nice time at the book club meeting, but getting caught by his mother would quickly take that feeling away.

Apparently his mother had been at work, because there hadn't been a car in the driveway, nor were there angry shouts when he walked inside his house. Upon finding that the house was empty (aside from Spike), he'd been so relieved that his robotic heart had nearly stopped beating. Everything had worked out!

It was Sunday morning, and his mother had left for work a few hours ago. She did longer shifts now, sometimes in the mornings and sometimes during the night. After eating breakfast, Owen ran upstairs to his room, taking two stairs at a time. So far, his mother hadn't mentioned anything about him sneaking out, which was an enormous relief. Owen didn't even know how he'd handle it if she confronted him about that.

Just to give himself something to do, he began jumping up and down on his bed until his arm started throbbing, and he had to get off. He fell the rest of the way to his bed and sat on it, glaring down at his broken arm.

So far, his arm was hurting twenty-four-seven, refusing to give him any breaks. He'd been taking medication to reduce the swelling and pain, as the doctor had ordered. The swelling had gone down considerably, Owen could tell, but the pain stayed glued to his arm. There wasn't much he could do to distract himself from it. He wasn't sure when the pain would end, or when he'd be able to use his arm regularly again.

He sighed and pushed himself off the bed, then wandered aimlessly around his bedroom. He ran his hand along the destroyed books that were propped on shelves, his chest hurting a little at the familiarity of it. The entire Kiel Gnomenfoot series was still stacked in a pile on his desk, something that his mother didn't approve of and had ordered him to store in his closet before he and Bethany had left to save Doc Twilight. Being here in his room made it almost feel nothing had changed, even though everything had.

He was stuck at home, unable to leave. He felt like a prisoner in his own house; he couldn't leave unless his mother told him was uncomfortably similar to being trapped in the time prison. In both places, he couldn't escape. Not that his mother's punishment was similar in any way to the horrors he went through in the time prison. At least he wasn't being hunted by dinosaurs here.

But since he was alone, he wasn't really enjoying himself, either. There was always the option of sneaking out, but once was enough for now. He didn't want to risk things again unless he knew he wouldn't get caught.

It'd been four days since he was rescued, and he still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he'd missed three entire years of his life. No wonder his mother was acting crazy! Three years was an awfully long time. All that time he'd spent in _Pick The Plot_ . . . he'd missed three birthdays. Three! Not only that, but he'd missed practically a lifetime supply of presents, both from birthdays _and_ Christmas. Stupid Nobody. Why did he have to ruin everything?

After amusing himself by spinning around in his desk chair for far longer than was probably necessary, he got to his feet. He was still a bit dizzy as he walked back downstairs and into the kitchen. What he saw made him do a double-take. Sitting on the kitchen table was a stack of large hardcover textbooks. Tentatively, he approached the pile and looked at the first book at the top, which was labeled _Algebra I and II_.

Uh oh. Owen's eyes darted to a yellow sticky note that was taped to the book, which was in his mother's handwriting.

_Owen_ , the note said. _I talked to Bethany's school and these are the books they suggested. They all cover what you would've learned if you were here from seventh to tenth grade. Start studying these! We can go to the dog adoption center when I get home._

Right, the dog adoption center! In his excitement at not getting caught, he'd nearly forgotten about that. Since his mother had come home late last night, she had postponed their trip to the adoption center, claiming that she was too tired to go. After Owen complained about it several times, she finally gave in, saying they'd go on Sunday. He couldn't wait to get a dog, which was something he'd patiently awaited since his sixth birthday. He loved Spike, but he'd never really been a cat person.

He returned his attention to the schoolbooks that loomed before him on the table, hoping and praying that this was all a dream. He already knew he was going to be homeschooled, but he didn't know the books would be so . . . _big_! The math book on it's own was wider than Spike! Owen mumbled a few choice insults about school under his breath, then pushed the math book aside, letting it fall soundly off the pile.

Underneath it was a U.S history book, which Owen figured would be much simpler compared to math. It took a lot of effort to pick the book up with only one hand, but he managed to get a good grip underneath it before lifting it up. He tucked the book underneath his armpit and walked over to the living room, then sat down on the couch to begin studying. Knowing his mother, she'd probably be able to tell if he didn't do his schoolwork. No matter how swamped she was from work, she'd notice if he hadn't studied the books, and she'd make him do it anyway.

Most of what he saw in the history book were things he already knew, but there were also plenty of things that he'd never learned before. History was so complicated and long! He'd never been very interested in it, so the process of reading every single event in the American revolution took a lot longer than he would've liked. After a while, he assumed he would get used to this routine of studying, but for now, it was plenty less exciting when there was no one to teach the material to him.

Reading schoolbooks was boring, but in reality, Owen was glad that he didn't have to go back to school yet. He was still in a bit of a culture shock, and it felt weird to be back here after so long. Despite the part about being homeschooled and grounded, he had definitely missed being home. He was momentarily safe from all danger, and he got to hang out with his friends if his mother allowed it. But that didn't mean he was completely satisfied and happy with his life.

Although he kept it to himself, there was a certain feeling that hung in the air when he was with others, a feeling that he couldn't quite identify. He didn't like it at all, but he knew what it meant and how to describe it. Every time he was with his friends or family, he felt pressured to make up for so much lost time. He assumed that he'd never be able to make up for _all_ of it, but it didn't hurt to try.

He wondered how much things had changed. Sometimes it seemed like everything had changed, while other times it felt like no time had passed at all. One thing was clear: it didn't feel the same, because it _wasn't_ , and it never would be the way it used to.

Several hours later, the sound of the doorbell ringing startled Owen from his reading, and he instinctively flinched. He'd been so focused on the history book that he hadn't moved from his spot on the couch since he'd first sat down, which was unusual for him. The doorbell ringed several times again, which made him come to his senses. He pushed the heavy textbook off his lap, then jumped up and walked to the door, stretching his tired legs as he went.

He slowly swung the door open without bothering to check who it was. "Okay, you don't need to ring —"

Before he could finish his sentence, a hand yanked the door the rest of the way open, and Bethany was standing there.

"Owen!" she said, straightening up. "Your mom isn't home, is she?"

"What?" Bewildered, Owen stuck his head outside and peered out into the driveway, which was still empty. "No, she isn't. Is something wrong?"

Without giving him an answer, she pushed past him in the doorway, shrugging off her blue coat and throwing it on the floor. "Look at this!"

"Look at wha—" he started to say, but she tossed something at him, and he barely had the time to catch it. Judging from the material, it was unmistakably a comic book. Frowning, he turned it over in his hands to see the cover. It was a . . . Doc Twilight book? He'd already seen this before. Why was Bethany giving it to him?

"I don't see anything," Owen said, shaking his head. He looked up to see her untying the laces on her snow boots before pulling them off. "We already know it's your dad's comic book."

"That's not what I'm showing you," she said, her voice laced with irritation. She placed her boots next to the door, then motioned for him to follow. He struggled to keep up as she raced up the stairs and into his room.

"Seriously, Bethany," Owen said, _Doc Twilight_ in his hand as he entered his room, only to find her searching his desk drawers. "Hey! What are you _doing_? There are private things in there!"

"Looking for a marker," she said distractedly, then muttered a "Ah-ha" as she pulled a marker out of the cluttered mess in his drawer. She turned back to him and took the comic book from him, then sat on the floor and started flipping through the pages. "I was reading this last night for the first time, just to see if I could find out anything about Dad. Or me."

Owen sat down next to her, watching her with interest. "Oh yeah! Actually, I forgot to tell you about that. Unless you already know, but I found out some stuff about your dad and mom, like how they met. You probably don't wanna read that part. It's kinda gross and sappy. Your dad was like, completely flirting with her. Not something I'd want to see again. And then I found out some other things, too. Like about Nobody, who, get this: came from a comic book world! Can you believe that? It almost makes sense, because he's the classic trickster character! I also learned about his creator, this guy named —"

"Mason Black," Bethany finished, meeting his eyes with a surprised look. "That's what I was going to show you! How did you _know_ all of that?"

"When I was in Jupiter City, remember how I vanished after Charm gave me my time powers?" he asked. She nodded. "That's when I appeared in this boring white room — Nobody's prison. There was this huge comic book there, and that's how I was able to talk to you through your thoughts. I could see everything that was happening as if it were a real comic book, which it is. So I flipped to the back and read Doc Twilight's backstory, and that's how I found out all that stuff about Nobody and the creators of the comics."

"I can't believe Nobody is from my dad's world," Bethany said, her hand clenched tightly around the marker. "That's how they knew each other! Nobody was some stupid — some stupid _henchman_! I fought dozens of them when I was in Jupiter City! He was a villain right from the start. Nobody obviously had something against my dad, so he turned him into the Dark. And then he went as far to take my dad's _memories_. My dad didn't remember me and my mom, all because of Nobody. I don't even know what Nobody had against my dad." She took a deep breath, trying to let some of her anger out. "But it isn't just that. I found something else."

"What?" Owen asked, not really wanting to know the answer. She uncapped the marker and circled something, then handed it to him. It took him a few seconds to realize what it said, and when he did, he gasped.

The panel she had circled showed none other than Mrs. Sanderson, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked at Doc Twilight, Bethany's father. They were in Doc Twilight's study, where he worked as an astrologist.

"The fictional world, it's too much,” Bethany’s mom was saying. “After Bethany's fourth birthday, that's it. She's in too much danger when she's in the fictional world. She can't grow up like this, as a superhero! That isn't the right way to raise a child!"

"Why can't she grow up here?" Bethany's dad asked, frowning. "Honey, we can't deprive her of her powers. She loves it here."

"No, we can't," Bethany's mom said, shaking her head. "But you need to stop taking her to Jupiter City. I won't allow it. She's too young for this."

"I grew up there," Bethany's dad protested. "So can she. We should let her decide what she wants to do. We don't even know if what Mason Black said was true. If this is about what he said —"

"No, this isn't about what he said. You aren't taking this seriously, Christian. We can't allow her to grow up in Jupiter City. Remember what Mason warned us about? If we take Bethany back to Jupiter City — or anywhere in the fictional world, for that matter — she's going to be in grave danger. If she keeps jumping into books like this, Mason said, 'An evil will rise, and there's a chance it could kill her.' I don't want to know what that means, but I _won't_ allow her to get hurt. I don't want her jumping into books anymore. You shouldn't either."

She turned around and left the study, leaving Mr. Sanderson to stare after her with a pained expression.

* * *

Kiel woke up late that morning, feeling glad that he was slightly less tired then before. Ever since this new problem occurred, he'd been going to bed much earlier than he normally would. That hadn't given him much of a solution, so he dove into his spell book for answers. There were millions of spells that were useful, and there were a select few that would give him specifically what he needed. But unfortunately, using magic only made him more tired than he already was.

So instead, he turned to a nonfictional solution. Those weren't always his preferred way to solve things, but if it helped, that was what mattered.

Since he discovered this drink brand called 5-Hour Energy, he'd been drinking that every day. He happened upon it by chance yesterday morning when he was wandering around town with the small amount of money he'd borrowed from Bethany.

He had found it in a store called CVS . . . he had no idea what the C, V, and S stood for, but he hadn't questioned that part too much. Seeing nonfictional logos that didn't make sense weren't unusual. What mattered is that this 5-Hour Energy drink claimed to give him a large amount of energy every time he drank it! Given his situation, what could be better? The caption on the bottle said it would give him exactly what he needed, and it did.

It boosted his energy unlike any spell he'd tried, and although there was still that underlying fatigue he sometimes felt, it was considerably less. Despite the exhaustion that had overcome him yesterday in the middle of the day, it seemed to be working. He wasn't tired anymore, except for the time after those five hours. There was still the threat of him disappearing, but at least he had it under control. It seemed he wouldn't have to worry Owen or Bethany after all, which was a relief considering everything that had been going on lately.

"Two cups," Kiel muttered to himself, wrinkling his nose as he poured himself a cup of the energy drink. It didn't taste very good, so he tended to hold his nose during the process of drinking it. So far, two cups of 5-Hour-Energy had done the trick of giving him the energy he needed. This way, he could focus less on himself and more on what mattered: the fictional world and his friends.

After he was done, he put the bottle back into the fridge and walked across the hallway to his small bedroom, shaking slightly as the drink started to seep into his veins. During the five hours he felt energetic, he'd feel this same strange, jittery feeling. It was a bit uncomfortable, but he was good at hiding it. It definitely was better than being exhausted all the time. He almost felt back to his normal, energetic self. Almost.

He wasn't sure if he could keep this up forever, but he would try. Drinking this stuff wasn't going to kill him, was it? As long as it kept giving him the energy he needed, he was sure there'd be nothing to worry about . . . besides him possibly disappearing along with the rest of his possessions. That day wasn't today however, so for now he had at least one part of his problem — his fatigue — fixed. He really hoped that the time wouldn't come where he felt worse or even started to disappear. The very idea of himself disappearing, only to leave his friends behind, left a hole in his stomach that was hard to ignore.

The last resort, the _very_ last, would be to tell his friends or ask them for help. That obviously wasn't an option, because the last thing he wanted to do was make them worry. This was a weakness that he didn't want to show. And if he started feeling much better, then there'd be no point in telling them. He would keep this as a secret for as long as he could, and hopefully things wouldn't get worse. He only wanted things to get better, especially for the sake of his friends.

If it weren't for his jitteriness, the morning would've felt calm and peaceful. Sunlight crept in through the windows of his house, brightening the rooms and giving Kiel a more cheery vibe. One thing he hadn't seen much of during the cold winter was the sun, and even though Magisteria's sun was different it still gave him some comfort to see it. The day was also slightly warmer than usual, and it hadn't snowed in nearly two weeks, which was a good sign for Kiel. He preferred the warmer, more comfortable weather over the frigid three months of cold that he'd gotten used to.

Kiel pulled on the gray, wool coat that he'd owned since he came here several months ago, along with his favorite pair of black boots for the sake of normalcy. He was extremely tempted to throw on his cape, no matter what anyone said. It was his favorite accessory, and he hadn't been able to wear it for three months. He felt incomplete without it. Every time he looked in a mirror now, he was reminded less of himself and more of a stranger. The only thing that he was able to keep the same to avoid unwanted attention was his undeniably charming looks, along with his black clothing.

He went outside, leaving his spell book and wand-knives behind since there wasn't a serious threat looming over his head. The roads were crowded for the most part at this time of day, filled with cars that were stuck in a standstill. Sometimes, Kiel didn't understand the purpose of cars. Spaceships were so much easier to get around, and even easier than that was teleportation.

The nonfictional world was surprisingly un-advanced compared to his hometown. If these authors wrote books about these places, why were they writing about something they didn't have? Magisteria had it's magic, which proved very useful to Kiel, and Quanterium had their advanced science and their endless buildings devoted to research and experiments. The nonfictional world was without magic or highly technical science weapons, and yet they seemed to be getting by fine.

Still, wouldn't a spaceship make it easier to get around? If Charm were here, she'd think so wholeheartedly. That was another thing that made the nonfictional world tough to live in, even if he _had_ been slowly getting used to it. He was with his best friends, yes, but he hadn't seen Charm — his companion in the quests for the keys — in years.

Kiel wondered how she was, and if she was trying to stop Nobody or the pure possibility wave. Or maybe she was in Quanterium, still serving as their president. Both were likely. She had never been very nice to him, but he _did_ consider her his friend, even though she didn't seem to feel the same way.

Deep down, he knew she probably had mostly good feelings about him, but she chose to hide it underneath a facade of meanness. It was hard to tell with her. Kiel wasn't the best at reading people. The only person that was easy for him to read was Owen, because that boy showed his emotions clearly. Owen expressed himself through his words and many facial expressions, so it was easy to tell what he was feeling.

After walking down the sidewalk along the road for some time, Kiel made it to the library, which was his usual spot to hang out with Bethany. Unfortunately, it seemed that Owen was still grounded, because he was nowhere to be seen in the building. As always, Ms. Conners was there, and she barely acknowledged Kiel since she was running around with too much to do.

Even with Owen being home, Owen's mother still seemed stressed. Kiel could tell that a weight had lifted from her shoulders, but he knew firsthand that it was hard to come back from something like that. After three years of her son being missing, he had returned merely four days ago. She probably needed some adjusting to that, just like he'd needed adjusting to living in the nonfictional world instead of Magisteria.

Kiel partly understood why she wanted to keep Owen safe by keeping him at home, but he wished she'd let Owen go out. He hadn't seen him since Friday night, when him and Bethany had stayed at his house to watch movies. Even then, Ms. Conners had seemed a bit distrusting of them. But Kiel didn't understand that. She'd known him and Bethany forever; why would she be distrusting at all towards them? It just didn't make sense.

Kiel didn't know why she wouldn't allow her son to at least visit the library. Owen loved books, and he loved his mother's library. That was all he ever talked about. Why shouldn't he be able to go there? The library was the least dangerous place Owen spent time at, unless what lay within the books were taken into consideration. Not that books were very dangerous. Most of them were, but Kiel _loved_ danger, so that was never much of a concern for him. But simply sitting around in the library, rather than jumping into books? That was the safest thing Kiel could think of.

Truthfully, he wished they'd start jumping into books again, but that was the last thing Bethany and Owen felt like doing right now. Even if they didn't want to, they needed to get going with this fight against Nobody, since the fictional world was in more danger with every passing second. It made Kiel's skin crawl at the thought of it, but his friends wanted a short, relaxing break before their quest to save the fictional world. He didn't blame them; he needed a break just as much as they did. The past few months had been trying, both mentally and physically.

But no matter how much he needed this break, he knew that this couldn't wait if things got worse. If they got worse, that was that. Their peace would be broken, and they'd have to face the real world with all its problems and duties. The fictional world was already in major trouble with Nobody's pure possibility spreading everywhere. Kiel had heard stories about it, but never had he seen it happening in person.

If it were up to him, he'd go to the fictional world right away, but he wasn't completely sure if he was ready for a fight. He hated to admit it, but he was currently fighting his own grueling battles. If he didn't win this one, there was the chance that he'd disappear forever. Then again, he probably wouldn't. He was supposed to die in _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source of Magic_ after his quest for the seventh key,but now? No way.

He knew he could handle this, but there was a small voice at the back of his head, which told him the hard truth: there was a possibility that he could disappear forever, and he wouldn't be able to stop it. He really, _really_ hoped that wouldn't happen. He liked enjoying life, not fearing it. What was the point if he wasn't having fun? Given this situation, however, it was hard to look at the bright side. It was easier to ignore the problem, to push it away and tell himself that he would be okay.

He knew it had something to do with him being fictional, but the situation confused him altogether. It frightened him, but it made him even more determined to stop it from progressing further. Giving into fear wasn't an option. If there was a way to fix it — which there would be — he'd find it. He was a hero, and he'd faced multiple near-death experiences. He was Kiel Gnomenfoot, hero and savior to all of Magisteria. He'd fought villains and won, lost his magic and gained it back, and created the most powerful spell ever made. There wasn't a single thing he couldn't do.

He was already finding temporary solutions for his continuous exhaustion, so if that worked, then something else could too! It was only a matter of time before he put a stop to this, so Bethany and Owen would never know, and they'd never have to worry. It would be a win-win situation.

Kiel didn't like to show his weaknesses to anyone besides himself, so as long as he could hide it behind a wink and a grin, he was sure that everything would be okay. There wasn't a single thing he couldn't handle. So long as he embraced the impossible, everything _would_ work out. It always did for him, from his dangerous quests for the lost keys to almost dying because of Dr. Verity. He'd survived everything life threw at him, so he could survive this, too.

Plus, having his friends with him elevated his happiness, so it should be easy to hide his worries underneath a mask of confidence. He'd done it before and he could do it again. He wouldn't even have to fake his joy, because being around his friends gave him more of that feeling. He felt bad about lying to them, but there wasn't another way to do it. Listening to his problems was the last thing they'd want.

If he did end up telling them someday, how would they react? Badly, obviously. He already knew that Bethany would get mad if he told her what was happening, since that was her reaction to most things that stressed her out. Both of his friends would be saddened by the news. Especially Owen, who thought of Kiel as a hero. How could Kiel tell him he was in danger of dying, and was already beginning to feel the side effects? He couldn't do that to Owen. It would crush him.

Kiel rubbed his slightly bloodshot eyes before shuffling over to the children's section, where Bethany normally was after school and on weekends. Today, she was nowhere to be seen. That made sense. It was still the morning, and she wasn't always here when it was this early. If she wasn't here now, she'd probably come later.

He walked over to the one of the isles and looked through the books that lined the shelves, searching for his own series. At the end of the isle, he saw the Kiel Gnomenfoot books, all seven of them in a row. He ran his hand along them, staring at the cursive font as a feeling of longing entered him. It was at times like this that he missed being home. He loved adventures and exploring new worlds as much as the next person, but he still missed his former world.

At that moment, Owen's mom came around the corner, carrying a tall pile of books. 

"Hello Kiel!" she said, sounding surprised. She took two books out of the pile and slid them onto different spots on the shelf. "Are you looking for a book?"

Kiel shrugged, dropping his hand. "Not exactly. I just like looking around at all the books."

"So does Owen," Ms. Conners said, smiling a little. "Oh, speaking of Owen, we're going to the dog adoption center tonight. You can come if you want."

"That'd be great!" he exclaimed, although he was a bit unsure what to expect at this dog place. Ever since he'd been introduced to dogs when he was twelve, they'd quickly become his favorite animals. There weren't many animals back on Magisteria, and none of them were like dogs. "What time would that be?"

"Once I get off from my shift at work," she said. "So around 7:00 tonight."

"Okay! I'll definitely go. Do you know if Bethany is going?"

Ms. Conners shook her head. "I'm not sure if she is. I haven't seen her yet. If you see her, you should tell her. Owen doesn't have a phone yet, so until I'm able to give him one he can't contact his friends."

He nodded, smiling. "I will. Thanks for inviting me."

As she walked past him to the other side of the children's section, he wondered again why she hadn't allowed Owen to have some freedom. He still didn't quite understand the concept of "grounding". From what he'd heard, he thought it meant Owen wasn't allowed to leave the house. However, they were going to this dog adoption center tonight, so maybe things were looking up for his friend?

Kiel hoped so, and he really hoped Bethany would be there too. Life was always filled with fun when the three of them were together, and if they were going to a place that included tons of dogs, which were his second favorite animal (his first favorite being dragons)? Even better.

* * *

Huh? Owen blinked, his mind utterly blank. Bethany's mother had said that, and this was _before_ her father went missing? Had he read that right?

He looked at Bethany, who was staring at him expectantly. When he said nothing, she huffed and grabbed the book back from him, looking much angrier than she had a moment ago. "This proves everything, Owen. I can't believe her. I always thought she had some weird hatred for books after my dad left, but she _never_ liked the fictional world even _before_ he left! Family is meant to support you for your abilities, not tear them down! She was going to stop me from jumping into books either way, without letting me having a say in what I'd want to do! Did she ever think about asking her own daughter?"

"I think she only said that because of Mason," Owen said carefully, finally grappling his thoughts. "From what I read when I was stuck in that comic book world, Nobody said something about taking responsibility for your power. I'm sure Mason knew something about that before he got captured by Nobody, so he warned your mom. She must've had a good reason for wanting to keep you safe. I don't think she'd try to keep you from the fictional world unless it was dangerous."

"Yeah, she might've had a reason for saying that, but I still can't believe her. There's no evidence that Mason even convinced her of that. She was always against me jumping into books, even before my dad got taken away from me. Jumping into books is my _life_! And she always wanted to take that away from me, even when my dad didn't?" Her voice raised as she got angrier. "My dad knew what was best for me. He wanted me to keep going into fictional worlds, and he wanted me to grow up in Jupiter City. _He_ knew what was best for me, he always did. My mom kept me from it, and she kept me from finding my dad." She let out a frustrated sigh. "There's no way I'm telling her anything now. She just doesn't understand me."

As she ranted, Owen stared at the ground, nodding every so often as she let all of her anger out. He didn't want to say anything that might make her even angrier, so he kept quiet. He never understood why Bethany's mother didn't want Bethany jumping into books, since her father was fictional himself.

It just seemed that Mrs. Sanderson didn't trust the fictional world, which didn't make sense at all. Jumping into books was awesome! It was the reason Owen had become friends with Bethany in the first place. Okay, yes, he'd used her so he could save the Magister from Dr. Verity. But all that was behind them now. Him and Bethany were best friends, and they always would be.

Books were dangerous, he'd learned that especially from his time spent in _Pick The Plot_. But that didn't mean they weren't worth loving. There were so many things to love about them, like the magic and the adventures and getting to meet all your favorite characters. He could never imagine why Bethany's mother hated them the way she did. Maybe she was just afraid of losing her daughter in the same way she'd lost her husband, or maybe she simply preferred the safety of the real world.

"Wait." Bethany frowned, capturing Owen's attention again. "He got captured by Nobody, right?"

"Who?"

"Mason Black."

"Oh! Right, yeah! He did. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just wondering . . ." Bethany bit her lip, wearing an expression that he'd seen many times when she was thinking about a plan that would probably get them in trouble. "Did he ever come back?"

Owen shook his head; he didn't know. Last he'd seen, Mason Black was captured by Nobody when he refused to rewrite Jupiter City. He wasn't even sure how long ago that'd been. Nobody had to have returned the author to the nonfictional world at some point, right?

Bethany stood up, still holding _Doc Twilight_ as she looked around Owen's room. She extended a hand towards Owen, helping him off the ground. "I think I'm going to try talking to Murray Chase. Maybe this afternoon, or someday this week after school."

Despite himself, Owen grinned. "You mean the same guy who you thought was a serial killer?"

"I had it on good authority that he was, because he was watching my house!" Bethany defended. "You'd feel the exact same way if some creep was watching _your_ house. I had a right to be cautious. Anyway, that's behind us. Now I know that he was a friend of my father's, and he was even trying to bring him back when he was the Dark. Obviously he knows a lot about my life and my parents' lives, so I can talk to him."

"Why?" Owen asked. "I mean, you've already read a lot about your parents in the Doc Twilight book. And you could always talk to your mom about stuff . . ." She gave him a look, and he quickly kept talking. "I mean, I-I think you should if you want to know why she thinks that about the fictional world. It doesn't hurt to ask."

"I'd rather talk to Murray about it," she said, stubborn as always. She narrowed her eyes. "He can answer my questions. And maybe he knows what happened to Mason."

"He could," Owen said, shrugging. "I don't think they were good friends, though. They didn't totally agree about a lot of things when it came to writing."

"He'll know what I need to hear," Bethany said. She leaned against the wall, crossing her legs as she stared at Owen. "So, what's been going on with you? Did your mom say anything about letting you out of your house?"

He sighed. "Nope. I'm still stuck here. She's forcing me to start studying these boring textbooks that she borrowed from your school. So that's what I've been doing today, and that's what I'll be doing _every_ day." He made a face. "But here's some good news: I'm going to the dog adoption center tonight." A grin formed on his face. "Did I tell you I'm getting a dog?"

Her mouth dropped open. "Wait, what? You are?"

"Yeah! I can't believe it either! I've wanted one for years and years . . . and _years_!"

"Huh. So you're grounded but you're still allowed to get a dog," she said, shaking her head with a smile. "I've wanted to get a dog, but my mom would never let me. She's allergic."

"Yeah," Owen said, pictures of what types of dogs he might see in his mind. "Honestly, I thought I might've imagined our whole conversation. But hearing my mom say it again made me remember it was real! I'm _actually_ getting one. Not that I want to get rid of Spike. I love cats, but dogs are just . . . them!"

Bethany laughed. "I really hope you don't name it something stupid. What are you going to name it, Kiel Gnomenfoot junior?"

"Ha-ha," he said, rolling his eyes. "But no, I was thinking something along the lines of a _different_ fictional character. I haven't decided yet. I'll decide on a name once I get the dog." He paused. "Oh, do you want to come with me to the dog adoption place?"

"I would, but I can't," Bethany said, sighing as she pulled away from the wall. "Let me know when you get one, though. I'll try to come over sometime this week after school."

He smiled. "Thanks. Um, have you seen Kiel lately?"

She looked away towards the window. "Last time I saw him was Friday, when we all went to your house. Other than that? No. He's been kinda tired lately."

"I've been tired too," Owen said, not really noticing the concern in her tone. "This whole day has been completely boring. All I've been doing is studying history." He scrunched his nose. "It'd be better if I could jump into a book and learn everything from there . . ."

"That's definitely a no," Bethany countered. "Most of everything in history books is the bad stuff, like the first and second World Wars, the American Revolution, the Civil War, the —"

"Alright, I get it." Owen held a hand up, to which she gave him an _I told you so_ look. "But wouldn't it be easier to interact with it than read it from a textbook?"

"It'd still be hard," she replied. "Trust me, I jumped into a history book once. It wasn't fun. I landed right in the middle of the ocean, on some navy war ship. It was crazy. I had to jump out right away." She shuddered.

"So none of it was cool?"

"Nope!"

"What about if I jumped in just to see, you know, Hamilton?" Owen asked, remembering the time him and his mother had seen the show _Hamilton_ on Broadway when he was twelve. The experience had been pretty cool, and after that he'd listened to the soundtrack for months after. If he could have the chance to see the real Alexander Hamilton . . . that'd be massive. All things considered, asking for his autograph would be at the top of his list.

"We wouldn't go just to get some guy's autograph! That'd be even worse, because we'd be messing up _history_ , not just a book," Bethany scoffed. "And you're only saying that because you saw _Hamilton_ on Broadway."

Owen's face turned bright red. "Uh, no, Bethany! No! That's — that's not the reason why."

"Uh-huh." He glared at her, only to see her trying to hold back a grin. Then, her phone buzzed in her pocket, and her smile faded as she reached in to grab it. She held the screen up to her face for a few seconds, then looked back at him. "That was Liz. She wants to meet at the library to study for this English test we have tomorrow."

Owen raised an eyebrow. "Really? What's it about?"

"This book called _Frankenstein_. I swear, we've been reading it for the past three months. We finished the book a week ago, but my teacher is giving us a test on Monday. Oh yeah, and Kiel's in that class too. But I doubt he even knows there's a test."

"I still need to hear the full story about that." Owen chuckled. "I can't believe Kiel's willingly at _school_. If I had the option to stay away from anything school-related, I would."

"He had to be there, so that he could talk to my nonfictional self. I didn't remember him back then." She moved to the door. "It's a really, _really_ long story. I'll have to tell you the whole thing soon. It'd probably be easier if Kiel were with us."

"True," Owen muttered as he watched her move towards the stairs. "Oh, wait!" He ran after her, then quickly hugged her at the top of the staircase. It'd become a habit of his to hug her every time he saw her. It made him feel a bit better about everything, honestly. He pulled away, both of them smiling at one another. "See you later?"

"Yeah." Bethany nodded, starting to walk downstairs with her father's comic book in hand. He watched her go, feeling a little saddened at her departure. He wished she'd be able to hang out longer, but for now it seemed that wasn't much of an option. It felt comforting to know that he'd see her and Kiel all the time now.

Neither of them were going anywhere, and Nobody destroying the fictional world wasn't going to change that. At least, Owen hoped it wouldn't. For now, things seemed to be peaceful. But eventually, he knew they'd have to go back to the fictional world, which was in danger from Nobody. The thought of doing that made him a little uneasy. Last time he'd spent there, he was getting chased by hundreds of dinosaurs, a flow of lava, and clouds of ash from an erupting volcano. Not exactly a great memory.

With his broken arm and whatnot, he didn't feel very motivated to go back to the fictional world to fight against the faceless humanoid creature who'd effortlessly thrown him into a _Pick The Plot_ book. He knew it had to be done, though. He couldn't leave those worlds to Nobody's control, not any of them. He loved books too much to ever let that happen, and some of his greatest friends were included in those stories. If the fictional world got wiped out . . . he'd never see them again.

The only thing that kept him willing to face Nobody again was to guarantee the safety of his fictional friends. Owen couldn't even imagine what the faceless man was doing right now, which was unusual given the fact that he'd always had a big imagination. From what he'd heard from Kiel, things weren't looking good for the fictional world. Nobody was most likely destroying everything in his path, now that Bethany and Owen hadn't had to chance to stop him for three years.

When the time came for it, Owen wondered what he _could_ do to contribute saving the fictional world. Was there anything Owen could do, besides using his time powers? And how exactly would that benefit anyone? No one, not even Bethany had been able to stop Nobody yet. What could he, a normal boy, possibly do to reconnect the worlds? He couldn't beat Nobody, that was clear. He'd lost that fight already. After all, he was just a nonfictional kid with a broken arm, which wasn't any use against someone who could rewrite themselves to be whatever they wanted.

Okay, yes, maybe some planning ahead would be useful on Owen's part. He knew this was coming, but Bethany had failed to mention much about it, and she hadn't said a single thing about _Pick The Plot_. . . probably so she wouldn't hurt his feelings. But it'd help if they talked about this. Between the two of them and Kiel, they had to come up with a plan for when they went to the fictional world.

Knowing Bethany, she'd probably try pulling fictional characters out of books left and right, which wouldn't exactly help them. He'd have to think this through . . . maybe they could benefit from grouping their friends together, like the Avengers. That'd be cool. Having their friends with them would be a great idea, one that Owen was totally on board with, but it wouldn't mean anything unless they had a clue of how to stop Nobody. Really, Owen didn't know how his friends — much less him — would have the power to stop the faceless man. So far he seemed to be unbeatable.

But maybe they'd come up with a great plan, and the hope wouldn't be lost! Just like when they'd fought the Dark, Owen had come up with the idea of giving them superpowers, so they'd had a chance of defeating him. It had worked, so maybe they could do something similar? He didn't know. He'd figure that out once the time actually came.

When would the time come, anyway? As much as he wanted to save the fictional world, he also wanted some more time to relax. It was nice to be at home, just doing regular things and not being in danger at every second. For now, he'd rather just watch movies, hang out with his best friends, and read books without jumping into them. And if his arm could miraculously heal within the next few weeks, that'd be great too. Not likely, but great.

* * *

Kiel decided that there was a big difference between seeing one dog versus seeing fifty.

Upon walking into the room, the barking of dogs filled his ears, almost making him jump in surprise. His wide-eyed stare trailed around the room, taking everything in. He was hardly able to concentrate on just one thing, which might've been a side-effect of the 5-Hour-Energy drink, but he blamed it on the dogs. There were dogs everywhere; each sat in their own cage, which were filled with an assortment of blankets, food, and toys.

He loved it here as much as Owen did, which was saying something. From pointing at every dog they came across — to bending down to stick his hand through the cage — to making _aww_ ing noises every time a dog looked at him — to even barking back at some dogs. After just watching him in amusement for some time, Kiel joined in, sticking his hand through the cages and petting the dogs' soft fur.

He'd never seen so many in one place, and he certainly had never seen any in Magisteria before. It shocked him that so many were in cages like this, waiting for someone to adopt them. Kiel was about ready to throw all the cages open and take every single dog home with him. He knew how it felt to not have a home. He'd lived on the streets for some time before he luckily found a place to live. Why shouldn't they?

"Which one are you thinking, Owen?" Ms. Conners asked from behind them as they walked through the room. She seemed to be enjoying this far less than her son, but at least she wasn't dragging them home.

"I don't know." Owen shook his head. "I can't just _make up my mind_. There are so many!"

Kiel nodded his agreement. "Good luck with that. I really have no idea how you're going to choose. If I were you, I'd take all of them."

At Kiel's statement, Owen looked hopefully at his mother. "Which we don't have the money for," Ms. Conners reminded them with a grimace, rubbing his shoulder.

"Right," Owen muttered, sighing. "I'll keep looking for only _one_ , then."

"Good. Let me know if you find anything." His mother smiled, then walked over to the other side of the room to look at another cluster of dogs.

"I still can't believe you were faking being _German_ ," Owen said with a laugh, continuing the conversation they'd started in the car ride to the dog adoption center. Since the ride was long, Kiel had told him everything from start to finish — in more detail than he'd been able to on the night they'd rescued Owen. Of course, they'd shared all of this information through whispers, to prevent Owen's mother from hearing.

"I have to say, I made a pretty amazing German exchange student," Kiel said, winking at him. "And I still have to keep faking it whenever I'm at school. There are times when I've completely forgotten about it, and once I almost replied to someone without the accent!"

Owen's eyes went wide. "Can you do the accent right now?"

"Sure." Kiel shrugged, then cleared his throat. In the best German accent he could muster, he said, "I'm Kiel Gnomenfoot, savior of Magisteria and hero to everyone!"

"Whoa," Owen said, his voice suddenly quiet. "You really _do_ sound German. And you learned all of that . . . just from watching YouTube videos?"

"Pretty much," the boy magician said. "It got easier once I kept practicing. You don't wanna know how many videos I watched. Too many to count."

"Boys!" Ms. Conners called from several feet away. "Are you just talking or are you going to look at dogs?"

"Sorry! We'll keep looking!" Owen shouted, exchanging a look with Kiel before turning back to the dogs. He bent down at one of the cages, where a small dog was energetically wagging it's tail.

Kiel observed the surrounding dogs, all of which stared at the two boys with excited expressions. It would be easy for him to release them with magic, but he knew there was no way he could take all of them home. He wasn't exactly the most responsible person, which was something he'd accepted long ago about himself.

He might be able to take care of one dog, maybe two, but he'd rather not take his chances with the problems he was currently facing. He barely understood anything about them, other than the fact that they were nonfictional, and were commonly used as pets. The only thing he could do was help Owen find the dog he most wanted.

Eventually, they did a lap around the entire adoption center, stopping at nearly every cage along the way. At last, Owen settled on one; it was a female dog with long, fluffy ears, formally known as a Cocker Spaniel. Once Owen's mother agreed to his selection, she bought the dog, spending more time than was necessary on paperwork before they left.

When all was said and done, they drove back to Owen's house, the new dog wedged between Owen and Kiel in the backseat. At first, she seemed nervous around them, but she warmed up quickly. She was now wagging her tail as Owen pet her, a huge smile on his face.

"Any ideas on what to name her?" Owen's mother asked from the driver's seat. "We should look through that baby names website when we get home. There are tons of girl names that are commonly used for dogs —"

"Wait, wait, wait," Owen interjected. "I'm not naming her some random name. I'm going to name her after a fictional character." He threw Kiel an apologetic look. "I've been trying to think of names all day."

"What about that movie you like?" Kiel asked, racking his brain for the right name. There were many he'd heard about, but it was hard to remember it since he'd never seen it. "What is it called? Star fights? No — _Star Wars_."

"That's a great idea!" Owen's mother said. "Maybe we could call her Leia, like Princess Leia?"

Owen shook his head. "I wanna do something creative. Something no one's ever thought of before. How about . . . oh, I know!" He looked at Kiel, a grin on his face. "Bark Vader!"

"Oh, boy," Ms. Conners murmured, not looking to happy with his choice.

"Bark Vader?" Kiel said, feeling confused. He didn't remember _that_ character. "Oh, like that villain Darth Vader! That's perfect!"

"I know," Owen said, petting his dog on the top of her head. "How's that sound? Bark Vader sound good to you?" The dog didn't answer, but she licked Owen's face, which seemed a response in itself. "Okay. Bark Vader it is. Oh . . . and we can call her Vadie for short!"

* * *

**Flashback**

_"_ _Ready to see your first dragon?" Bethany's father asked, his hand gripped around the small three year-old's._

_This was Bethany's tenth trip into the world beyond the books, which her parents called the fictional world. At first, the trips had been frightening, but she got used to them the more she went on them. The good part was: she was never alone. Everywhere she went, her father came with her, holding tightly onto her hand. She liked how different each world was, and how each place brought new and exciting things. She'd never been able to experience that in the real world, the world she lived in when she wasn't "jumping into books", as her mother called it._

_"_ _I think so," Bethany murmured, looking up from the ground and into her father's face, who smiled reassuringly at her, as if there was nothing to worry about. Her slight nervousness at seeing a real-life dragon subsided, and she smiled back._

_"_ _Alright, let's go," he said, dramatically waving their joined hands._

_Both of them leaped into the open book at their feet, but not before Bethany's mother shouted, "Be safe!"  
  
_

_Bethany giggled as the world changed around her, and a warm sensation went all throughout her body as they dived into the book. She tried to imagine what her father had shown her, that her body was forming into words now that she was apart of a book._

_Before she could think of anything else, they landed in the story. A picturesque scene of floating mountains filled Bethany's vision, and beyond that was a beautiful red and gold sunset. She cried out in delight upon seeing it. Everywhere she looked, there were dragons flying around, people riding on their backs and making joyful noises._

_"_ _Daddy, look!" Bethany shouted, pointing as a dragon spun in the air, only to straighten itself out as it collided with another flying dragon. Next to her, her father laughed. His laugh was long and loud, and it echoed across the horizon. Hearing him like that always made Bethany laugh too.  
  
_

_She watched, mesmerized as dragons of all colors flew around, barely taking notice of them. She loved how some of them were bigger than even her father, with huge, bat-like wings, and others were too tiny for a person to sit on one. She wanted desperately to ride one, but she doubted either of her parents would allow her to do that. So she continued to simply observe, pointing out dragons here and there to her father, who silently soaked up her words, grinning from ear to ear._

_Then, just as the sun set, something terrifying happened. The loudest noise Bethany had ever heard echoed through the sky, and all of the other dragons scattered. A dragon as wide as a house flew into view, it's enormous wings sending little tornados into them and it's mouth opened wide, firing spewing out of it. Bethany screamed, and her father grabbed ahold of her, tugging upward._

_Before she knew it, she was back at home. Her father let go of her hand, stepping back and rubbing a hand over his face. "That was a bad idea," he muttered._

_Bethany stared at the book they'd just come out of with wide, frightened eyes. She could still hear the dragon's loud roars in her ears, nearly blowing her eardrums to their capacity. She could still see it's beady eyes as it stared her down, making her feel as small as an ant. Her face crumbled, and she began to whimper as hot tears fell from her eyes, streaming down her cheeks in an endless flow._

_"_ _Oh, no. What's the matter, sweetie?" her father asked, looking at her in surprise and putting his hands on her shoulders.  
_

_She tried to respond, but her throat got choked up, making it feel like a rock had wedged itself there. As she continued to cry, her breathing became more labored, and she sucked in short, quick inhales of breath. Her eyes darted around the room, at anywhere but her father. With the tears, it became harder to breathe, and her body shook all over._

_"_ _It's okay, it's okay," her father whispered, his brows furrowed in concern as he stared at her. "It was only a dragon. You're okay now, Beth. You're okay now."  
  
_

_"_ _Christian?" Bethany's mother walked into the room, looking confused. Then, her eyes landed on Bethany, and she sighed. "Oh dear. What happened, honey? Are you okay?"_

_"_ _She saw a dragon," Bethany's father said quietly, focused on Bethany. Her mother hurried over to her, standing from a short distance away as her father put his hand on Bethany's face. "Hey, hey. Look at me." When she finally did, he said, "Take short deep breaths. Here, I'll show you." To demonstrate, he slowly breathed in and out through his nose, inhaling for several seconds and exhaling for the same amount. "Now you try. Breathe, honey. Just breathe. Breathe for me, okay?"  
_

_Bethany tried to nod, her body still shaking as she breathed in and out through her nose, mirroring his movements. The tears stopped, making it easier to focus on her breaths. She forced herself to take shaky breaths — in and out — staring with wide eyes at her father._

_"_ _That's it," he said as she continued to breathe slowly, in the same way he'd done. "There you go. Keep breathing, you're doing great." He smiled and reached down to squeeze her hands. "There's nothing to be afraid of, see? It was only a dragon. There's nothing to be afraid of."  
  
_

_"_ _Only a dragon," Bethany repeated, feeling worn out and a little dizzy from all the crying. She took another deep, slow breath, and her pounding heart became less painful against her chest._

_"_ _Yeah. Only a dragon," he said, nodding._

_Her mother released the breath she'd been holding and threw her arms around the both of them, enveloping them into a hug. Bethany closed her eyes, her father's comforting words running in circles through her head. He was her hero, he was always right about everything.  
_

_If he said there was nothing to be afraid of, then there was nothing to be afraid of._

* * *

_  
"_ _Doesn't matter if we change, doesn't matter at all. Don't you worry about me, friend. Don't you worry if it doesn't feel the same . . ."_


	19. The Math War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen continues sneaking out. Kiel’s condition grows worse.

**_Hometown (by Sheppard)_ **

_"_ _You are my hometown. Where I can slow down. We got it good, we got it all figured out . . ."_

* * *

  
It was a full week since Owen had returned home, and he was once again working on schoolwork, just like he'd been doing for the past four days. During three out of those days, he'd been able to sneak out to attend the book club with Bethany on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. After the hour long meetings, he, Bethany and Kiel would hang out at Bethany's house for a few hours.

At first, Owen had been reluctant to sneak out after his trip to the book club on Saturday. But he'd learned his mother's work schedule pretty well, so she normally either worked in the afternoons or the mornings. It depended on the day, which was why Owen had to keep a careful watch on his mother when she left for work.

He always did some studying as well as re-reading his favorite books in the mornings, and in the afternoons he'd walk and play with Bark Vader, his new dog. Once Bethany came up with the idea to meet at her house after school, that became something Owen could look forward to. He also loved the book club meetings, because he got to talk about books, which were his favorite thing in the entire world.

He didn't understand why Bethany didn't fully express her love for the meetings as much as Owen did. Maybe because she wasn't friends with any of the other kids, aside from the girl named Liz. He wasn't friends with any of them either, but all awkwardness faded away when he got to talk about books, so he hoped he was making a good impression.

He knew he wasn't supposed to go out without asking his mother, but it was becoming easier to sneak out and he never got caught. Since he didn't fully trust Bark Vader to stay home alone with supervision, he brought the dog along to Bethany's house. He also suspected Spike might be plotting against Bark Vader, so he wasn't one-hundred percent comfortable with leaving his two pets by themselves. Also, both Bethany and Kiel loved Owen's new dog, so they weren't against the extra company.

During the three times Owen, Bethany, and Kiel had hung out this week after school at Bethany's house, they'd spent majority of the time either sharing stories, playing with Bark Vader, watching funny videos on the Internet, playing board games, or — in Bethany and Owen's case — reading books together. It was the most fun Owen had in a while.

They hadn't been able to go anywhere else besides Bethany's house, since they didn't have much time after school and places like the movies or the mall would have to wait until the weekend. Owen desperately wanted to go to the library, but that was the last place he'd be able to go, given the fact that his mother would be there.

Today was another day that his mother worked an afternoon shift, which meant she'd was helping Owen during the morning with his studies. When she wasn't at work, that was normally what she did, only because he tended to get bored when he was studying alone. There was plenty of school he'd missed, and he hardly understood many of the harder, more advanced subjects. The only thing that made sense was English, which didn't have much to study from anyway.

He sat at the kitchen table, longingly staring out the window as his mother helped him with eighth grade level math. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't focus on his work. Raindrops splattered in heaps against the window's glass, forming different shapes and making it easy for Owen's imagination to run wild. Currently, he was imagining the raindrops as birds, flying from tree to tree as it slid down the window.

Then, he imagined himself as a bird, free to go where he pleased without anything holding him back. If he could fly, he'd go to all the places that he'd never been, like tropical islands or the tallest mountains. He'd fly as high as he could, high enough to be surrounded by the white, fluffy clouds that he loved staring at. What would his wings look like? What type of bird would he be, and what color? Would he be yellow or blue, or maybe red or green? There were so many possibilities!

"Owen," his mother said, releasing a frustrated sigh. "Are you listening to what I'm saying?"

"What?" Owen said, pulling his head out of his hands and turning to look at his mother. "Yeah, of course I am. What do you think I've _been_ doing?"

"Daydreaming," she replied, raising her eyebrows at him. Well, she wasn't wrong. That was exactly what he'd been doing.

She put her finger on the math problem they'd been working on. "Focus on _this_ , not the window. I'm only a librarian. I know just as much as you do about math."

Owen fought the urge to roll his eyes, since math always annoyed him. He scooted his chair closer to the table and picked his pencil up before staring down at the math problem. He'd just recently started learning Algebra I, so it was difficult to figure out some things. The textbook explained much of the material and gave instructions on how to do it, but he still had problems understanding.

Math had never been his favorite subject, that was clear. His brain simply didn't understand it, and trying to learn it was like trying to push an elephant with two hands; it was impossible. Math wasn't _impossible_ , of course, but most times it felt like it was. How would math benefit him when he got a career of his own in the future, where he already figured he'd become an author? Math was also one of the most boring things Owen could think of, so that made learning it harder. He knew seventh grade math, but that was it. It only seemed to get harder and more strenuous from there.

"I have an idea," Owen's mother said, scratching her head. "We can start off with the easiest problems — like the ones you learned in Pre-Algebra — and then we can eventually work our way up to the harder ones. It'll be like a game!"

Owen wasn't sure how math could ever be considered a game, but he nodded anyway. "Okay, yeah."

This couldn't get any worse, right? As long as there weren't nearly as many fractions as there'd been in Mr. Barberry's class, he hoped things would get easier.

After three more hours of practicing the math problems in his workbook, Owen took a break to eat lunch. His mother had just left for work, leaving him alone in the house. If it was possible for someone's brain to hurt, that was exactly what he was feeling. Especially since it was math he was dealing with, which was particularly his hardest subject. As he ate his meal, Bark Vader sat on the floor next to the table, staring directly at the food as Owen consumed it.

"You know what Mom said," Owen said, setting down his ham and cheese sandwich for a moment to look at the dog at the foot of his chair. "I'm not supposed to feed you anything other than _your_ food."

Bark Vader continued to stare from him to the food with huge, pleading eyes, her tongue lazily hanging out of her mouth. Anything she did made Owen's heart melt from the cuteness, and this was no exception. It was close to impossible to ignore her, but he had to listen to his mother.

As soon as they got Bark Vader, they'd traveled to the pet store to pick up the necessary supplies, such as food, a collar and leash, and toys. His mother had thoroughly searched on the Internet for the healthiest food alternatives to avoid accidentally poisoning their dogs, and it was then that she'd made the rule that they couldn't feed Bark Vader any human food. It was off-limits.

Owen doubted that a small piece of cheese or ham could kill anyone, let alone his dog, but his mother had made him promise not to feed the dog anything besides real dog food. He'd become accustomed to obeying her rules, so he listened, not wanting to get into any more trouble than he'd already been in. He was proud of himself for not breaking any of her rules so far —

Aside from the staying at home part, but . . . c'mon! It was unfair of her to think he could ever stay cooped up in one place. She was only allowing him to see Bethany and Kiel on the weekends and not on the weekdays, which just didn't seem plausible. He deserved to be with his friends all the time, not only two days of the week. That was the main reason he snuck out, because he was certain that he'd die of boredom if he only stayed at home.

Other than that one rule, he was being a perfect son. He was handling his responsibilities well, and soon, maybe his mother would lift his grounding and allow him to work at the library again! He felt a lot of guilt whenever he sneaked out, but it made him feel slightly better that she hadn't caught him in the act. His mother didn't know anything about him sneaking out, and hopefully she never would.

Owen smiled, leaning down to scratch Bark Vader around her incredibly fluffy ears. "I'm not giving you any food, okay? You just had your breakfast two hours ago."

The dog made a noise of protest, drool already threatening to pour out of her mouth. She got to her feet and nudged her head into Owen's leg a few times before sitting back down again to stare at his food.

He laughed. "No way, Vadie. Sorry. Rules are rules, and I plan on following them!"

He slid out of his chair, taking the remains of his sandwich and dumping it in the trash. He turned back to the dog, who had followed him as he'd walked across the room. "But since I've been studying all morning, we can go upstairs and read some comic books. That sound good?"

Bark Vader didn't respond like Owen hoped she would; she only stuck her tongue out in response and turned her gaze to the trash can, as if hoping for more food. Just like he'd done with Spike in the past, he had tried to get Bark Vader to speak. He always suspected (well, hoped) that animals could actually talk, but they chose not to. It'd been his lifelong goal to make this a reality, but Bethany highly doubted it could ever happen. Her loss. She was always skeptical about his theories.

After flipping through one of his favorites, X-Men comics, for a couple of hours, Owen dropped the comic book he'd been holding to the floor and receded downstairs. Bark Vader stayed in Owen's room, not bothering to move from her spot on the bed as she gnawed at a stuffed lizard toy.

The rain had let up by afternoon and Owen decided it would do him some good to get fresh air. It proved very difficult to pick up both his science and history books with only one hand, but he managed to finally get a good grip and not lose his balance as he walked to the front porch. He slid his heavy schoolbooks out of his hand, letting them clatter loudly to the floor.

He adjusted his cast, then sat down beside his schoolbooks and took a moment to stare at the outside world. Drops of rain fell from the roof, splattering the ground every so often. Surprisingly, the porch was completely dry. The air was still heavy with moisture and the sky was overcast, making the world look gray and dull. Despite this, the weather was warmer, which was a strange but welcome contrast to the previous weeks' cold.

He sighed, wishing he was doing something exciting like hanging out with his friends or jumping into _Narnia_ or the Harry Potter books right now. Even saving the world from Nobody was preferable to this. It was hard to distract himself from the pain in his arm and studying for hours upon end really didn't help. Daydreaming helped a little, since he'd started doing that more often after he'd come home. What he really needed was his best friends; they always helped him through things even when they didn't realize it.

He wished he could attend school right now instead of waiting until his junior year. Not because of the boring classes and strenuous work, but because he'd see his friends all the time. Staying at home with no one to talk to — with the exception of Spike and Bark Vader — only made him lonely.

His mother was gone half the day, and there were only so many activities he could do before the loneliness took over. Of course, it wasn't an uncommon feeling for Owen. Back in sixth grade, he'd gotten used to sitting alone and spending all of his time reading and obsessing over books. The difference was: he'd been able to go to the library after school, which was always a source of comfort. Now, he couldn't do that.

The afternoons that he got to spend at Bethany's house and the book club took that feeling away entirely, and it gave him a few hours of fun and socialization. But he wished he didn't have to sneak out to enjoy himself. He still had fun by himself, because he got to play with his pets, eat all the snacks of his choosing, and read the books he already owned. But eventually, he knew he'd go crazy if he stayed in his house all of the time. Could "grounded" be another word for "prison"? Maybe it was!

He drifted off into another daydream, and this time, he imagined himself in the fictional world, wielding a futuristic weapon as he kicked down Science Soldiers left and right with ease. Bethany and Kiel were at the sidelines, cheering him on as he shot a laser beam straight through another Science Soldier's chest. Kiel then winked, and Owen winked back in a totally awesome way, making Bethany cheer even louder.

"Great job, Owen!" Charm said, appearing into view once he'd finished off the rest of the villains.

Owen brushed her off, trying to act nonchalant about her compliment. Sunglasses appeared in his hand, and he put them on. "It was nothing. All in a day's work for Owen Conners."

She smiled. "I'm impressed. You've become so good at fighting, even better than all the heroes in the entire world! _And_ I heard you've been nominated for five Emmys and three Oscars! You're so amazing! I wish you would date me, Owen."

"I have no problem with that," Owen whispered, grinning from ear to ear. "I've been hoping you'd say that. For a while, actually."

She fit her hand into his, then leaned towards him and kissed him lightly on the cheek, making him blush. "That sounds perfect. Let's make everyone jealous of us. Especially Bethany and Kiel, who you think have crushes on each other."

Except when Charm pulled away, it wasn't her anymore. For some reason, Charm had morphed into Kara Dox, who was now holding his hand with an enormous smile on her face. She glanced down at their joined hands before looking back up into Owen's eyes, making him feel warm and bubbly all over, as if he'd just drank hot chocolate.

"I miss you," she said quietly, her smile fading.

"I'm right here," he replied. "How could you miss me?"

"You promised you'd come back for me. Why haven't you come yet?"

Wait, what? His daydreams never went like _this_ before. A lot of them were of Charm, because he'd dreamed about them being a couple several times. But never had he daydreamed about _Kara,_ of all people.

Ripping himself from his storyline of thoughts, Owen blinked rapidly, tuning back into reality. He heard his mother's voice in his head, scolding him about not doing his schoolwork like he was supposed to.

Sighing again, he pulled his science book onto his lap and opened it, not feeling any motivation to do work. Unfortunately, he knew that he really didn't have a choice in the matter. This was what he was supposed to do, and it was the only thing he _could_ do. Being homeschooled meant he had to set aside time for studying his work. He wasn't on a strict schedule for when to do it, but he preferred to get bits of his studying done in the morning and early afternoon before he saw his friends.

The time when he'd hang out with Bethany and Kiel during the late afternoon couldn't come soon enough. Studying made the time pass even slower, making everything feel as though it were in slow motion. The moment he'd get to see Bethany and Kiel again felt like a billion lightyears away.

* * *

"Sara, what is the answer to question 19?" the math teacher asked, based on the homework the class had been assigned the night before.

The girl named Sara looked over her workbook. "Um . . . x equals 61?"

The teacher shook his head. "That's incorrect. Anyone else? Josh?"

"I got ten million," came the reply, which made many of the students laugh.

The teacher sighed, looking vaguely annoyed as he tapped his pencil against his desk. "What about . . . Bethany?"

Bethany abruptly sat up straighter in her chair, having been slumped over and nonrespondent for the majority of class. She felt a familiar wash of uncomfortableness at the sensation of everyone's eyes on her, but she managed to get the answer out. "X equals . . . 23."

"Finally!" the teacher shouted, startling everyone from their dazes. "A correct answer!" He gave the class a grin, which none of them returned because they were either sleep-deprived, scrolling on their phones, bored, or all of the above.

In Bethany's case, she was always bored in math class but nonetheless forced herself to pay attention so she'd get good grades. She didn't particularly like school, but she knew it was necessary to at least put in some effort. She hadn't had much time to study the material since she hung out with Owen and Kiel nearly every afternoon, which was definitely more important than homework. She still found the time to do homework during the day, though, and she luckily wasn't having much trouble catching up.

"What about question 20?" the teacher asked. "Did anyone get the answer?"

A boy raised his hand. "I got 2 for my answer."

"Correct," the teacher said. "Let's go to question 21. I know this one was a bit tricky, so I'll go over it on the white board." He picked up a marker and started re-writing the math problem on the board.

It was then that Bethany zoned out and spent the rest of class staring blankly at the wall, not wanting to spend another second restrained in this room. It wasn't until twenty minutes later that the bell rang, releasing the students to their next class. Bethany joined the group of students barreling out the door, all looking reasonably happy that math class had finished.

Bethany was walking down the crowded hallway, her hands on the straps of her backpack. At times like these when the students were rushing to class, it could sometimes be chaotic and she was often unintentionally shoved around. Today was no different, which was why she stuck to the very middle of the hallway to avoid getting trampled. Many of the kids didn't even apologize if they pushed her; they just continued walking.

Owen was very lucky to not be at school. Sure, he was grounded, but that was far better than being here. School mostly irritated Bethany. It made her even more irritated that she couldn't just escape into a book like she used to. She knew it was already starting to drive her crazy to stay here in the nonfictional world. She'd jump into books in a heartbeat, but she was so busy with everything that she wasn't sure if she had the time. That was the excuse she'd created, at least.

She wasn't even sure if she'd be ready to go back to the fictional world again, after everything she and her friends had gone through. She missed the fictional world so much that it made her heart ache to be separated from it, but sometimes there were breaks that needed to be had. Being away from the fictional world felt like the opposite of normal. Most nights she could hardly get to sleep, since her mind was always racing. She used to spend every night inside a book, but for now she wasn't doing that anymore.

Jumping into books had always been a huge part of her life, which made not jumping into them even stranger, but it was important for her and her friends to stray away from the fictional world for a little while — for Owen's sake. It seemed to be working, too.

Things had just started to feel safe again, and that was enough for her . . . even if a huge part of her really wanted to jump into books for the sake of an adventure. Truthfully, that was all she wanted to do. It was starting to make her feel a bit restless after only a week of keeping herself in the real world. But that was the right, safe thing to do. Especially with Nobody lurking around. She could hold off a bit longer.

She reminded herself that soon, they'd go back to jumping into books. She felt a rush of excitement — and an equal amount of fear — when she thought of it. There was a lot to take care of, but it wasn't like the fictional world was dying off at this moment, right? Another week spent in the nonfictional world didn't sound crazy to her, since her friends were enjoying themselves and she finally had some time to relax . . . as far as relaxing for her could go.

It wasn't like she'd sworn off jumping into books forever. Books would always be there, no matter what. So would her father. He'd always be there, waiting in Jupiter City. And when the time came that she'd face Nobody for the final time, she'd bring him home.

"Do you know what you're wearing to Prom?" Liz asked, suddenly appearing next to Bethany. "I was thinking of getting a long dress, but Mariam says I should go knee length."

"What?" Bethany asked, shaking herself out of her daze. She looked over at Liz, feeling surprised at the question. Prom hadn't even crossed her mind. "Oh. I don't know. I think you should go short."

"But I don't know if I should," Liz said, wrinkling her nose. "I have to impress people, you know? And if Kiel's going, I need to wear something that looks nice."

"Anything you wear will look nice," Bethany replied, channeling her inner Gwen. While her nonfictional self had accepted this, she felt a little weirded-out that Liz still had a huge crush on Kiel. The reason behind it? She didn't know.

Not only did it make her uncomfortable, but it made her feel regret, because there was no way Kiel would ever like Liz. Kiel was him, and Liz was just . . . bubbly and romance-obsessed. She doubted Kiel even talked to her about anything other than school.

"Not true!" Liz scoffed. "That's why I need to pick out a dress months beforehand." She sighed. "I guess it doesn't matter too much." Then she looked at Bethany. "Wait, I forgot to ask! Are _you_ going to Prom?"

Bethany frowned. "I don't know. I never thought of it." She shrugged. "I guess I'll go. Maybe. If I do, we'll both have to wear the long dress." She grinned a little. "There's no way I'd wear anything too short."

"You're going?" her friend exclaimed with glee, making Bethany quickly shake her head in protest, but she couldn't get a word in. "Did a boy ask you? Ooh — I bet it was that boy from the book club. What's his name? Owen."

Bethany only stared for a moment, too shocked to say anything. Then she laughed, harder and harder. All the while, Liz gave her a perplexed look until she redeemed herself. " _What_? You're serious? You think Owen, and _me_ —" She burst out into another fit of laughter.

"Well, what _else_ was I supposed to think?" Liz asked. "You bring this boy to the book club — who's really cute, by the way — and then you're always whispering to each other. You barely even talk to me during it. You're always talking to your boyfriend."

Bethany bit her lip to keep herself from laughing more. "Um, okay. _No_. Owen's not my boyfriend. He's my best friend. We've been best friends for years. That could never, ever, _ever_ happen. Ever."

"Oh," Liz said, nodding. "So what about Kiel? I hate to say it, but I don't think he likes me. I can't really tell. But you know, if he doesn't go with me and . . ."

Bethany's smile vanished, and she raised her eyebrows. " _What_? Kiel? Oh, no. We're just friends. Plus, I thought you liked him."

"Yeah, well I kind of still do. I don't know. Not as much as I used to." Liz shrugged, giving Bethany a small smile. "But you seem to be better friends than I am with him. You're always talking to each other, like, all the time."

"So?" Bethany said, her face turning red. "Can't I just be friends with boys without any romance involved?"

"Yeah, of course!" Liz said quickly. "Just sayin'. All the good ones'll be gone . . . and by 'good ones,' I mean the few people at this school who would definitely ask you to Prom. And of all the people at this school, I would say Kiel or Owen is your best bet. Not that you have to go with either of them. Because I still kind of like Kiel. But I don't think he'll ask me, so maybe he'll ask you!"

Bethany fought the strong urge to glare at her. "That's not encouraging at all."

"It's the truth and you know it, Bethany," Liz told her. "A ton of boys — or girls — would ask you to Prom if you opened yourself up more and stopped worrying."

She rolled her eyes, but sometimes it was better not to fight Liz on things like this. Although she didn't consider her a best friend, Liz was still her friend and knew a lot about Bethany. Since she also had her fair share of romance and dances combined, Liz took school dances very seriously.

Liz was definitely a little . . . overly obsessed with other people's love lives — most specifically her own. It was most likely from the wide variety of romance novels she had read. And that meant she took every chance she had to counsel Bethany on the do's and dont's with romance — not that Bethany herself had ever even dated anyone, nor did she really need advice right now. She could handle that on her own when she was ready for it.

"I don't worry _that_ much," Bethany began, earning a look from her friend. "Fine, I do. But that has nothing to do with who I'd go with to Prom. Seriously, it doesn't. For now, I probably won't even go, so I won't have to worry about that."

"Are you sure?" Liz asked. "We could go dress shopping. You don't even have to go with anyone if you don't want. A lot of people go as groups."

"No thanks." Bethany smiled. "I'll decide later if I want to go. Isn't it in May, anyway?"

"Yeah. But everyone picks out their dresses months ahead of time."

_Why bother?_ Bethany thought. If she wanted to grab a dress for Prom, she'd save herself the money and would borrow something from _The Great Gatsby_. There were plenty of fancy dresses in that book, weren't there? She'd never jumped into it, so she didn't really know.

As they parted ways to their separate classes, Bethany wondered what a school dance would be like. She'd never gone to one before, and she never had any intention of going. But maybe it _would_ be fun, if she went with Owen and Kiel and her other fictional friends. She just wouldn't know if she'd enjoy it. She wasn't the type of girl to wear a dress or makeup or spend five hours curling their hair. It just seemed so foreign to her.

With the threat of Nobody destroying the fictional world, she wasn't even sure if she'd make it to Prom. It simply hadn't crossed her mind, but now that it had, she wondered what it'd be like if she attended in three months. Hypothetically, what if she _did_ defeat Nobody, saving the fictional world in the process? What would life be like when she was no longer in danger anymore, when she was free to be half-fictional and her father would be with her all the time? It was almost unimaginable.

Just as she pulled out her notebook to prepare for Latin class, Principal Dunlap's voice rang out over the loudspeaker. "Kiel Bauer, please report to the principal's office immediately.”

Bethany's eyes widened, both from surprise and genuine fear for her friend. What had Kiel done, and why was he being sent to the principals office?

* * *

**One hour earlier**

Kiel knew that he'd gone too far today.

This morning had brought another warning, one that sent shivers down his spine. His cape ( _his cape!_ ) had disappeared as well, right before he'd left for school. At its absence, he felt a cold, numb feeling. Before he knew it, he was pouring four glasses of 5-Hour-Energy, determined to gain control of something as everything derailed around him. Thinking back on it now, that wasn't the smartest idea.

He was unable to stop moving. Sitting still in his desk just wasn't an option, and he had to constantly move his legs and hands. The jittery feeling he always felt had intensified, making his heart pound and his body shake relentlessly. He was barely able to focus in his classes, and he'd fumbled with his pencil more than once when he tried to write notes. More than a few people had asked him if he was okay, making him wonder if he was really being that obvious.

It didn't get better throughout the day, but he remained positive, telling himself that he could handle anything. He'd get through this, just like he'd gotten through everything else. Unless things careened out of control, there wasn't a single thing to worry about. And so far, he was handling it fine. He was afraid, but he believed that he could get through this. He always did.

As it turned out, gym class wasn't a good combination with what he was feeling. The t-shirts and shorts that the boys had to wear were always tight against Kiel's skin, making him sweat every time he wore it. He thought that gym class would be a good idea, because running around would burn off his hyperness and extra energy. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.

The students were playing a game of soccer, something that Kiel had always looked forward to ever since he learned about it. Kicking a ball around seemed much more fun than sitting at a desk. They were split into teams, and each person was stationed at their own spot. Someone threw the ball into the court, and the game began.

Kiel jumped into action, running alongside his teammates as the opposing team kicked the ball towards their goal. It took a few seconds to figure out who had the ball. Once he spotted the girl who was kicking it, he ran straight towards her. He rolled in what he hoped was an impressive way, then leaped up and kicked the ball with the side of his foot, sending it flying in the other direction.

A grin formed on his face, and his body almost seemed to vibrate as he made contact with the ball again and ran towards the other team's goal, shoving others out of the way as they tried to stop him. His legs seemed to run faster than he ever had, giving him the sensation that he was flying. With one final kick, he sent the ball falling into the net. An array of cheers and groans were heard behind him, and someone slapped him encouragingly on the back.

A whistle blowed, and the coach jogged over to them. "Nice hit, Kiel! I'm impressed! In all my time working here, I've never seen anyone roll on the ground before hitting the ball. In America, that's called showing off." Some of the class laughed.

"Thanks. I _am_ pretty impressive," Kiel said, earning a few more laughs.

The couch smiled. "Maybe you should consider joining the soccer team if you'll be here next year!"

"Maybe," he said with a wink, not having any intention to attend school anymore after he was done here.

The couch nodded, seemingly satisfied, then clapped her hands as she walked back to the sidelines. "Everyone, get back to your places!"

"We're doing this again?" Kiel asked, bouncing from foot to foot. He wiped his sweaty palms against his shorts, unsure why he was sweating more than usual. He was still shaking uncontrollably, but if anyone noticed, they didn't comment.

"Yeah, it's a soccer game," a boy named Logan, who was on the opposite team, said with a snort. He peered closer at Kiel. "Uh, do you need to go to the bathroom, or something?"

Kiel scoffed. "No. What makes you say that?"

"No reason. I know _exactly_ what you're doing," the boy said, imitating Kiel by exaggerating a wink. Kiel rolled his eyes. Whenever other people winked it didn't look nearly as cool as when _he_ did it.

He followed the others back to their original spots, then shifted around impatiently as he waited for the ball to be tossed into the court. As soon as the ball landed, everybody scattered, chasing after whoever was kicking the ball. Kiel beamed when he realized it was his team, and the student made it to the opposite team's side, kicking the ball into the net and scoring another point for their team.

The rest of the game went by quickly, since majority of the kids weren't too invested in playing soccer, or became tired after playing for several minutes. Kiel enjoyed all of it, and he even managed to get the ball and score his team a few more points, which he was quite proud of. It was the first time he'd been truly distracted from his current situation, which was a plus.

He seemed to be learning new things every day about the nonfictional world, and things that included danger were at the top of his list. Not that soccer was very dangerous, but surely it could be. If he ever found the time, maybe he could start a soccer team of his own when he lived in Magisteria again. Even better — the soccer ball could be set on fire while they played. It would certainly make the game more exciting.

Once it was over, it seemed to have heightened his adrenaline, making him even more jittery. As he walked to the boy's locker room, a powerful energy coursed through his veins, making his skin feel uncomfortably itchy for some reason. He pushed open the door, then sat down and tore his shirt off, not wanting to spend another second in his sweaty clothes.

The other boys filed into the room, talking to each other in loud voices. He didn't pay much attention to them. Since there was also a shower, he was able to quickly rinse himself off before he changed into his normal clothes. Thanks to his renewed energy, he'd been much quicker at this task than he usually was, making him one of the first boys to finish getting ready.

As Kiel headed to the door, someone stepped in his way, blocking his path to the exit. It was the boy from earlier, Logan, who was also now dressed in normal clothes. In a hushed voice, he said, "Are you aware how bad drugs are for you? I get it, you're German. Drugs might be cool in your country, and they're popular in America. But I'm going to have to report you to the principal's office. It's illegal." He paused, his eyes shifting to the other few boys who were starting to walk into the room. "So where are you hiding them, anyway? You'd better get rid of them."

"What are you talking about?" Kiel asked, feeling only confusion. "Whatever you're talking about, I don't have it."

"It seems like you do," Logan responded, frowning. "Drugs are _not_ a joke. Millions of people die every year, many of them being teenagers!" He sighed loudly. "Whatever. You don't have to tell me where you've hidden them. I'll leave you alone once I tell the principal. Where'd you get them from, anyway? You're German! Did your host family give you some?"

"Seriously, I have no clue what you're talking about," Kiel whispered. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll pretend like I do! Yeah, I have drugs. I'm not sure what those are, but I've got them." He winked.

Logan smiled thinly. "Great. And now that I think about it, you should hand them over to the authorities unless you're throwing them out. They're terrible for your health." He walked over to the lockers that lined the wall. "See you at chemistry class. Or _not_."

". . . How do you know I have chemistry?"

"Because I'm in your class."

"Oh, right. I knew that," Kiel said, feeling slightly guilty that he hardly remembered even talking to this boy before. But he didn't care about that, because this boy was kind of a creep. He reminded him of Oliver Bines, honestly. What were drugs, anyway? And what did Logan want from Kiel?

Kiel forced a smile, then threw open the door and waltzed out into the hallway. He was so confused. What was going on? What were drugs, and how on Magisteria was he supposed to have them? He definitely didn't have whatever Logan was talking about. He didn't even know what they were.

This boy was obviously trying to get Kiel into trouble, but that method would never work. How could he get in trouble for something he never did? Kiel wasn't going to waste his time worrying about this or trying to learn what drugs were. There weren't any compelling reasons that came to mind, so he dropped the issue. It definitely wasn't something he wanted to get involved in.

And if Logan called the principal, so be it. That was the last of Kiel's worries anyway. He really couldn't care less about this entire situation, whatever was going on.

During chemistry class, Kiel spent the time learning about the periodic table and the elements that were written on it. He tapped his feet repeatedly against the floor, hiding his shaking hands underneath the desk. He tried his best to focus, but as always, his mind wandered to other things.

Science never failed to deeply confuse him, which made him appreciate the fact that he grew up on Magisteria instead of Quanterium. He could never imagine himself as Dr. Verity, who he was a clone of. Was that really who he would be in the future? Was his future set in stone, or could he change it now that Nobody had created pure possibility? Or maybe he wouldn't have a future to begin with, since he could disappear at any moment.

For the first time, Kiel stopped denying it for a second to look at the facts. The idea wasn't very encouraging at all, but it was a possible outcome that he might face, sooner rather than later. He hoped that if it _did_ happen, it would be much later. He was only fifteen years-old. He had years and years ahead of him, and he didn't want that to be taken from him. If he disappeared now, how would he save the fictional world from Nobody?

No, he _wouldn't_ disappear. He would never leave his friends, and he would never leave his home defenseless under any circumstances. He already had some things under control, so he knew he could defeat this problem. This was simply a malfunction, but it would pass in time. There was no way he'd disappear, right? He'd be fine!

He was Kiel Gnomenfoot, and he tackled everything life threw at him. That part of him would never change. Dr. Verity hadn't been able to beat him, and neither had Oliver Bines. Neither could a bomb that was going to destroy his entire world, as well as anyone who'd ever used magic. He was a survivor.

He would not disappear if he could do something about it, and he certainly wouldn't tell his friends, since it wasn't _that_ serious. He would fix this on his own, without any help. He'd find a way to stop himself from disappearing, somehow. He could do it. He believed that he could.

When the bell finally rang, Kiel jumped from his seat and grabbed his bag, placing the strap over his shoulder. As he walked out of the classroom and made his way to his final class of the day, something pegged at the back of his mind, but he couldn't remember what it was. What was he forgetting? Deciding that it didn't matter, Kiel walked the rest of the way to his next class and sat down.

He hadn't even taken out his notebook and pencil before a voice was heard over the loudspeaker, making everyone cringe. "Kiel Bauer, please report to the principal's office immediately."

Everyone turned to look at him. Kiel blinked, too shocked to say anything. He looked at the faces around him, checking for any sign that this was a joke, but they all stared back at him with serious expressions. Ah, okay. So this _wasn't_ a joke.

Flashing a wink and a grin at the class, Kiel stood up and confidently walked out of the room. Acting as if he was confident — even when he wasn't — seemed to always get him out of trouble. Of course, that'd been in the fictional world, but this would be no different. How threatening could a nonfictional person be? It wasn't like the principal was going to eat him.

Despite his confident facade, however, he found himself growing nervous as he neared the principal's office. What was the principal going to say, and would he be mad? What was he in trouble for, anyway? Was this about what Logan said? And if it was, what were drugs? Principal Dunlap seemed nice enough, and he'd helped Kiel get to his first class on his first day of school. Maybe it wasn't that serious.

Kiel let out a breath, telling himself to not be so nervous. He was a hero; he wasn't supposed to be nervous, and he definitely wasn't supposed to show it. The after-effects of the 5-Hour-Energy drink really weren't helping his attempts to seem calm. He couldn't even _pretend_ to be calm; his heart was racing, his entire body was still vibrating, and his head pounded. The only thing he could do was try to hide it.

He walked through the door of the principal's office, which was hanging open. Principal Dunlap was sitting at his desk, typing something on his computer. When he finished, he looked up at Kiel and folded his hands together. "Why don't you take a seat?"

"I'd rather stand," Kiel said.

The principal gestured to the comfy chair in front of his desk. "I'd rather you sit."

"Can I stand?"

"Sit. Down," he said in a low, warning tone. Kiel swallowed hard, then slowly lowered himself into the chair. He kept his eyes on the principal, who was staring at him in the same annoyed way that many adults had. "Do you know why you're here, Kiel?"

"I was hoping you'd tell _me_ ," Kiel said, frowning. "You don't know either?"

The principal clenched his jaw, somehow looking angrier. "No, I know why you're here. I guess I'll cut right to it, since you're not admitting anything. I've heard some disturbing news about you, which is a shame since you're our only German exchange student. I heard from an anonymous student that you're taking . . . drugs. Is this true? I mean, just looking at you I can tell you're not yourself. You're shaking all over. These are some signs of drug use. As we speak, some of our janitors are looking in your locker for drugs. And if you _are_ using drugs, we'll need to have a long talk about whether you are still allowed at this school or not."

* * *

_Owen kicked open the heavy iron door of the temporary time prison, knocking over several guards in the process. It was dark enough that it made it hard to see, but that wasn't a problem for Owen, since he wore night vision glasses. He scanned the hallway that he'd entered, which was empty aside from the jail cells that lined the walls. He raced down the impossibly long hallway, glancing in the jail cells, which held prisoners individually._

_Just as he was about to give up, his night vision picked up a bright pink from somewhere to the right. He grinned in triumph, tore his glasses off, then ran up to her jail cell. It was locked, but he wrote himself to have super strength, which gave him the ability to tear the barred door off its hinges. He tossed the door to the ground, then stepped inside, coming face to face with Kara._

_"_ _Owen?" she said in disbelief, rubbing her eyes._

_"_ _I'm here!" he shouted happily, smiling back at her. "Kara, you have no idea how long it took, but I've found you!"_

_"_ _I can't believe it's you!" Kara said. A smile formed on her face, and she reached out to grab him by the shoulders, as if making sure it was truly him._

_"_ _You can come to my world now," Owen said. "You can leave the time prison for good. You're free!"_

_"_ _I can't believe it! Thank you, Owen! Thank you thank you thank you!" she exclaimed, looking just as happy. She wrapped her arms around him, and he did the same, pride swelling in his chest. He was finally playing the hero, and he'd rescued her from confinement. He didn't have to wonder if she was okay anymore, because now she was!_

Owen stopped writing. He sat at his computer, absently scratching his cat's stomach as he read over what he had written. _Ugh._ As far as writing went, his was still pretty terrible. Good thing that no one was here to read this except him. It'd be incredibly embarrassing if his mother ever found his stash of fan fiction he'd written over the years.

He glanced at Spike. "Think I'll ever see her again?"

The cat slightly shook his head, almost as if to say, _not like this_. Although Spike didn't actually say those words, he was right. The next time Owen saw her wouldn't be this way. It'd be different, but he didn't know how much.

He wondered if he'd even see Kara at all. He wasn't sure where he'd begin to look for her, given the fact that the time agents had taken her somewhere unknown. He hoped he'd be able to see her again someday, when he went back to the fictional world with Bethany and Kiel. He couldn't take it if he was left in suspense, wondering how she was doing and if she was missing him too. He needed to know if she was okay.

Suddenly, a thought popped in Owen's head. Last time he'd written a story, Nobody had appeared, saying that he was manipulating the lives of fictional people. Did that mean . . .

Owen brought his hand back to the keyboard and typed, _Owen Conners defeats Nobody. The fictional world is saved._

He lifted his eyes to the computer screen and waited with baited breath. Nothing happened, and not even a message was sent from the faceless man. Huh. Maybe it _hadn't_ worked? He started to turn away from the computer, but something caught his eye.

There were new words underneath what he'd typed. He gasped aloud, quickly leaning forward in his desk chair as he stared eagerly at the screen. Spike stopped what he was doing and scrambled off Owen's lap to hide underneath the bed, which wasn't unusual.

_"_ _Nowen," said a boy with the same features as Owen. "I'm only going to tell you this once: don't come to the fictional world. You won't be able to stop Nobody's plans, whether you're here or not."_

". . . Fowen?" Owen whispered, barely able to conceal his shock, along with his growing horror. "Why _shouldn't_ I go to the fictional world? Give me _one_ good reason why I shouldn't. My friends are there, and all of the worlds are in danger! It's your world, too. You should be just as concerned."

_"_ _Oh, I am," Fowen said. "That's why I'm telling you to stay away. The pure possibility is going to wipe out everything, me included. But Nobody promised he'd rewrite me, so I'm not worried about that part. You and your friends could try to stop Nobody, but it won't work. He knows that you've escaped from your book, and he knows that Bethany has been rejoined. Trust me, he's_ angry _. If you come here, you'll ruin everything, just like you always do. You can pass the message along to Bethany. She's going to get us all killed if she comes to the fictional world. You won't survive either."_

Owen sat back in his chair, registering this information. Fowen had lied to him many times before. How could he trust him? Fowen burned down his mother's beloved library, nearly drowned Bethany, and stole Kiel's magic. He would go great lengths to hurt his friends, and a person like that — fictional twin or not — just couldn't be trusted.

"I'm going to the fictional world," Owen decided. "You're not going to stop me _or_ my friends from going, not by threatening me here or in person. Trust me on that."

There was no response, maybe because he'd said all that he needed to. Owen waited a couple of minutes, his heart pounding as he watched the computer screen for any other messages. When nothing else happened, he highlighted the word document and pressed the delete button, erasing the conversation he'd had with Fowen along with his badly-written story.

Owen felt a little regretful about deleting the story with him and Kara, but he knew it was for the best. He didn't want to manipulate Kara in any way, and he'd prefer to reunite with her in real life instead of just in writing. Also, since Nobody could travel between stories, Owen didn't want him to interfere with anything else in his life. Who knew what Nobody would do now if he knew that Owen was writing stories about his friends?

He ran a hand through his tousled hair, still pretty shaken up by Fowen's message. He'd already been afraid to return to the fictional world, but now he was even more so. What did he mean by Bethany getting everyone killed? Would that really happen, or was that another lie? There was no way that could be true. They were going to save the fictional world from Nobody, not destroy it.

Owen let out a shaky breath, sliding out of his chair. Okay, that wasn't so bad. He talked to Fowen. Really, nothing terrible had happened aside from the grim warning he'd received. He hadn't been thrown back into a book, so that was good news. He could go back to having fun with Bethany and Kiel, and they'd come up with the perfect plan that would ensure they'd never do anything that Fowen said . . . hopefully.

He backed away from his desk, then glanced over at the alarm clock on his bedside table, which read 3:09 pm. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. The book club started at 3:45, and it always took a little while to get to Bethany's house by walking. Since she usually got home around 3:15, he always made sure to leave a bit early so he could reach her house at that time. He should've checked the time sooner!

He flew downstairs, not bothering to bring Bark Vader since he was in a hurry. He threw on his coat and yelled bye to his pets before running out the door. He had already ran halfway down the street before his arm starting cramping up in pain, and he had to stop. He gritted his teeth as pain shot through his arm, but there wasn't much he could do about it. The doctor had warned him not to run around too much, as that could ruin the healing process of his arm.

As he cradled his broken arm, a brilliant thought came to mind. He could use his time powers! Why hadn't he thought of it before?

Owen concentrated, speeding up time for himself. The world came to a halt, freezing everything from the previously-moving cars on the street to the birds in the sky. His heart beat faster and faster, hammering against his chest in a way that would've made anyone else become worried. He started walking again, taking his time now that he wasn't in a rush.

As he walked to Bethany's house, he felt the tiniest pressure in his chest. For some reason, the pressure grew as he continued walking, but not enough to be painful. He wondered what it was from. Did this have something to do with his time powers, or was it just heartburn? And _could_ he get heartburn, since he had a robotic heart? Was that possible?

Once he came around the corner and caught sight of Bethany's house in the distance, he released his hold on time. Immediately, the small amount of pressure on his chest went away. He sighed in relief, then walked the rest of the way to her house, knowing he now had more than enough time to make it there.

"Bethany!" Owen shouted once he'd reached the front door, rapping his knuckles soundly against it. "I'm here!"

The door swung open, and Bethany was there, her shoes untied and one half of her coat put on. "Sorry, I just got home," she explained, shrugging her coat on the rest of the way. "You won't believe what happened today. Kiel got called to the principal's office!"

" _What_?" Owen said, his mouth hanging open. He walked inside the house, closing the door behind him. "He did? Why?"

"That's the thing, I don't know," she said. "I haven't seen him since lunch. I hope it wasn't anything _too_ bad, but knowing Kiel, it could be anything. We'll have to ask him about it after we get back from the book club."

"Yeah," he said. "I wonder what he could've gotten in trouble for! Where is he now? Is he in detention or something?"

"Who knows." Bethany shrugged. He watched her tie her shoes the rest of the way, feeling more and more inclined to tell her what happened.

"Fowen contacted me!" Owen blurted out, unable to hold it in any longer.

She looked up, her eyes widening. "What? Are you joking? How did he — _how_ —"

"I don't really know," he said quickly. "I was, um, writing, and these sentences started appearing on the page. Fowen was talking to me through there."

"Well?" Bethany asked. When he said nothing else, she gave him a suspicious look. "C'mon, tell me! What did he say? Don't leave me in suspense, Owen Conners!"

" _This_ is why I didn't want to tell you." He groaned. "You might get mad, and even if you don't you're definitely not going to like this . . ."

"I don't care! This is important. Just tell me anyway!"

Owen frowned. "But it isn't good news. I know we've been taking a break and everything, and this is probably the last thing you'd want to hear. It's stuff about Nobody. I can always tell you later. I know it's been hard on you, not jumping into books for so long."

"Yes," she said. "It's been three years since I've jumped into one. Now come _on_ and tell me!"

"But —"

" _Owen_." She threw her hands up, clearly frustrated. "Just tell me already! You _have_ to tell me. I'm your best friend."

"Fine." He sighed. Great, she'd even used the "best friend" card on him. Every time she used it, it always worked. Unfortunately, she usually used it in situations that often got them into trouble.

With some reluctance, he gave her a summary of what Fowen had said. When he was finished, she stood there in silence, her brows furrowed. "I can't _believe_ Fowen. Who does he think he is, telling us not to go into the fictional world? He's a complete liar. And he makes up lies about me now, too? There's no way I'm listening to what he says. Of course we're going!"

"I thought the same exact thing," Owen told her. "But what do you think he meant by . . . us ruining the fictional world? That can't be true. We're going to save it, not destroy it."

Bethany nodded. "Exactly. We _are_ going to save it. Nobody is the one destroying it, not us. Fowen is just trying to scare us into not coming. He's on Nobody's side, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," he said, feeling a little uncomfortable at the thought of his fictional twin being on Nobody's side. When he'd first met Fowen, Owen thought he was so cool. As it turned out, he was a villain, and he only cared about making himself look good. "What if he _is_ right, though?"

"He isn't," Bethany said, rolling her eyes. "Don't listen to him. He'll do anything to foil our plans. We're going to be fine as long as we make a good plan, which we'll definitely have to. And it isn't like we have to make one right away."

Owen smiled, feeling more hopeful at her words. "Okay, yeah! We _will_ be fine." He checked his watch. "Oh, should we get going? The walk usually takes a good thirty minutes."

"Yeah, we probably should," Bethany said, flashing Owen a smile as she grabbed _The Hobbit_ from a nearby table. She opened the front door, ushering him outside. "It doesn't really matter if we're late, though. We're not on a strict schedule." He walked through the door, and she locked it before looking back at him. "You excited for the book club meeting?"

"More than I can even say," Owen said in a quiet voice, holding his own book close.

His nerves about Fowen faded away, and he focused on today instead of what could happen in the future. All of that stuff he said most likely wasn't even true, except for the part about Nobody being angry. Just like Bethany had said, Fowen was a liar. He was only trying to scare them so they wouldn't go to the fictional world.

But that would never happen, because Owen and his friends were completely set on getting rid of the faceless man. He loved books too much to ever let the fictional world fade away, and a message from his evil fictional twin wasn't going to stop that.

* * *

On weekdays, the book club went from 3:45 to 4:20, making it nearly an hour long. While the book club meetings used to be somewhat entertaining, they were now much better, since Owen was here. Normally, Bethany would've gone straight to the library once her book club was over, where she'd do homework before she went home to eat dinner. This week was different since Owen was with her.

Instead of going to the library, they went to Bethany's house, where Kiel would meet them shortly after. For as long as they were able, they spent time simply enjoying each other's company and doing fun activities. As it turned out, she didn't need to only jump into books to enjoy herself. Their hangouts led to many occurrences of Bethany doing homework late at night, but she didn't really care. She got to hang out with her best friends all the time, and that was much better than homework.

When Kiel opened the door fifteen minutes after Owen and Bethany had arrived at her house, the two of them rushed to their friend's side.

Bethany fired question after question, her voice rising after each one. "Are you okay? What happened? Why'd you get called to the principal's office, and what did you do?"

"Good to see you too," Kiel said, smiling at her. "The principal thought I was hiding drugs, whatever _those_ are. Do you know what they are?"

Owen grinned. "Wait, are you _kidding_? The principal thought you were hiding drugs? Wow." He struggled to hold in his laughter. Bethany crossed her arms, feeling vaguely annoyed at his reaction while Kiel just stared in confusion.

"Is anyone going to tell me what drugs are?" Kiel asked with an annoyed expression, setting his bag on the ground. "Are they bad?"

"They're definitely bad," Bethany told him. "It's hard to explain, but they can have . . . certain effects on your body. We had to learn about them in health class. Probably to scare everyone enough that they wouldn't do it." She looked at him curiously, noticing the way he clenched and unclenched his fists. Had he always done that?

Before she could ask him, he nodded, laughing lightly. "Oh, okay. I had no clue what they were talking about."

"Why did the school think you had drugs, then?" Owen asked. "Did they find some and think it was yours?"

Kiel shrugged. "I don't know. This kid from my school thought I had some, so he told the principal. Jokes on him, because there weren't any drugs to be found and I didn't get into any trouble."

Bethany grinned. "Remind me to throw that kid into a math book if I ever see him."

He winked. "Sure thing."

They traveled over to the living room, where they spent the rest of the afternoon talking. Bethany and Owen had updated Kiel on what they'd heard from Fowen, which seemed to make the boy magician as uncomfortable as Bethany and Owen had been. After discussing that for a while, they'd moved on to other topics. The TV was playing some crime show in the background, which they only half-payed attention to. By dinnertime, it was time for Owen to go home, since his mother tended to arrive home a few hours after he got back.

"Bye, Owen!" Bethany waved him off, Kiel standing beside her. "Don't do anything too crazy."

Owen laughed, stepping out of the house. "I won't. See you guys!"

"Bye!" Kiel said, smiling as they watched their friend leave. When the door closed, Kiel grabbed his own coat from where it hung in the laundry room. She noticed that his hands were shaking slightly as he buttoned it up.

He gave her a smile. "I guess that's my cue. See you at school, book-girl.” He brushed a hand against her shoulder, and her heart fluttered at his touch. “Have a good night!"

Bethany smiled. "You too."

She followed him out to the doorway. Once he put on his shoes, he walked outside into the cold air. The sky was already starting to darken, but not by much. She didn't know why he chose to walk home all the time when he could easily use magic to teleport there. It didn't make much sense.

He clambered down the porch steps and waved lazily at her before making his way across the lawn. She watched him for a second longer, then stepped back inside, shutting the door behind her. A sick feeling entered her gut, and she frowned. As if pulled by some unseen force, she moved to the window and rubbed her palm against the glass, clearing the fog away. What she saw made her mouth go dry.

Kiel was walking in the middle of the street, his back facing her. Without warning, his legs buckled, and his body swayed to the side. He collapsed to the ground. Bethany couldn't tell if she had screamed or not. She was utterly frozen, cold fear going through her veins as she stared at the boy magician lying in the street. Panic bubbled to the surface, but for once she was rooted to the ground, too shocked to move.

". . . Kiel?" she whispered.

* * *

Owen took the familiar trip from Bethany's house to his, his body shaking as small gusts of cold wind blew into him. He barely remembered the walk home since he was so deep in his thoughts. This afternoon, the book club had been joyous as always. They'd spent the hour-long meeting talking about _The_ _Hobbit_ , since they were already several chapters in. It brought no stress to Owen; he loved any chance he got to talk about books, and he didn't need to read the book since he'd already read it twice.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something off going on. He noticed that Kiel was acting slightly different than normal, but he couldn't decipher why. Maybe it was all in his head, since he had a huge imagination. He wasn't the most observant person, so seeing details about others weren't his strong suite. Still, he suspected there might be something deeper going on, something he wasn't seeing.

Before he knew it, he was back in his neighborhood. The sky was beginning to fade into a twilight color, resembling the color of Doc Twilight's cape. Owen marched up to his house, then saw something that made his eyes go wide.

His mother's car was in the driveway.

Uh oh. Owen quickly looked around before crouching low and sprinting to the front door, his shoes squeaking against the damp ground. He turned the doorknob as quietly as he could and stepped inside. Bark Vader's persistent barking greeted him at the door, and he put a finger to his lips, his heart racing.

" _Vadie!_ _Shh!_ "

He held his breath and put his hands over the dog's snout, finally managing to calm her down enough that she stopped barking. He threw a glance down the hallway, which hadn't been as bright the last time he'd been here. From the living room, he heard that the TV was on, playing some sort of comedy show.

Owen kicked off his shoes before tiptoeing up the stairs, avoiding the creaky stair out of habit. Ducking low like a ninja, he looked left and right, surveying the hallway. It was dark, which gave him an indication that his mother wouldn't be up here. If she was, he'd never see the sun again. He crept over to his room and opened the door at a snail's pace before walking inside. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment. He put a hand over his heart, which was pounding like crazy. Whew!

"What do you think you're doing?" demanded a voice, and Owen screamed, opening his eyes to see his mother sitting in his desk chair. She looked furious. "Where have you _been_ , Owen? You think you can just leave the house without my permission?" She scoffed. "I've been worried enough about you as it is. You think _I_ want to come home to see you're not there? You've broken the _one_ rule I gave you, Owen. Only one rule!"

Owen winced. He started talking a mile a minute, and his apology rolled out of his mouth. "I'm sorry! Bethany made me and I wanted to go to the book club but I knew you'd never let me so I went anyway and now I know I shouldn't have done that but I still kept going to the meetings and I also went over her house a few times without asking you, but trust me it was her and Kiel's idea in the first place!"

His mother sucked in a gasp. "You went to . . . _a_ _book_ _club_?!"

Owen smiled guiltily, completely filled with dread and shame and regret all at once. His face burned as his mother stared at him, a deep scowl on her face. "I'm very disappointed in your actions. I can't _believe_ you! I can't take off work to watch you twenty-four-seven!"

"I'm sorry, you don't have to —"

"You can't be trusted to stay home by yourself," she said. "As it seems that you have no respect for me either, I'm going to have to punish you. From now on, you're going to be working at the library from the early afternoons to late at night. You can't be sneaking off anymore, and if you want to see your friends then you need to ask _me_ first. Do you understand?"

He nodded several times, his head cast low in embarrassment. "Good," she said with a sigh, some of her anger fading. Now, she only looked at him with a deep disappointment in her eyes. "Just . . . get yourself ready for dinner. While you're doing that, I want you to think long and hard about your actions, and the consequences that come with them. I hope you'll act like my son again by the time dinners ready."

* * *

_"_ _You are my hometown, let there be no town. We understood it's where I should be now . . ."_


	20. Dragon Breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiel finally tells the truth to Bethany. While working at the library again, Owen prepares for his very first author party.

_**Africa (by Toto)** _

_"_ _It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you. There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do . . ."_

* * *

For a moment, there was utter silence.

Seeing Kiel Gnomenfoot laying there made Bethany sick to her stomach, and she couldn't say anything. For a beat, she could only stare at her friend, her eyes wide with fear. She couldn't hear anything aside from the blood pounding in her ears. Her heart was beating hard and fast against her chest, but she barely noticed it. Staring at him laying right there, she forgot how to breathe. There was ice in her veins, and her lungs seemed to have stopped working.

Breaking out of her reverie, she finally got her brain to work properly and forced her legs into action. Her movements felt as though they were doused in honey as she slowly opened the door. Her brain caught up with the rest of her a second too late, and before she knew it, she was sprinting towards Kiel. Once she made it to the street, she skidded to a halt and sunk to her knees, quickly lifting his head and placing it in her lap.

"Kiel!" she shouted, frantically shaking him by the shoulders. When his eyes didn't open right away, she started to hyperventilate. She'd had panic attacks before, usually when her mother had almost found all her hidden books beneath her bed. But this was entirely different. "Kiel, wake up! _Wake up_!"

Kiel's eyes slowly started to flutter open, and Bethany heaved a sigh of relief. She brought her hand to his face, checking for any sign of a fever. Weirdly, he was freezing cold. The only indication that he might be sick was the fact that he was shaking uncontrollably. What was going on? Why had he fainted? Was he okay?

"Oh, hey, Beth," Kiel whispered in a weak voice, his face much paler than usual. "How did I end up on the ground?"

She glared at him. "You just fainted, Kiel."

"Did I?" He tried to sit up, only for his eyes to go wide, and he fell back onto her lap. "I seem to be very dizzy for some reason. I must've been using magic. I don't remember." He smiled a little, but the clear fear in his eyes gave him away. "Remember how I always get tired after a huge spell in your world? I'm sure I used one. I told you I'm impressive. Now I'm impressive _and_ tired. Magic sure is exhausting!"

"You've been tired for the past week. I don't think it's your magic," Bethany said quietly. "And you don't either, do you."

"No," he whispered, swallowing hard. "It was only my magic. It was a powerful spell, which is saying something for _me_ , since I'm a powerful magician, and I —"

"Don't try to deny it," she snapped. "I didn't see you use any magic. You almost died in the middle of the street. That's not normal! We need to talk about this. Just tell me what —" She made a frustrated noise. "Just . . . please tell me what's been going on."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Nothing? Really, is _that_ why you're laying on the ground right now?" He lifted his gaze to the sky, not responding. She bit her lip, anger and fear and confusion swirling in her. "How long have you been hiding this, whatever 'this' is?"

"Beth, can we please not talk about it —"

" _How long_?"

He let out a long sigh before looking back at her, a defeated expression on his face. "One week."

It was then that she saw through his facade. He lacked the light in his eyes, and it made her heart hurt at the sight of him like this. He probably had never wanted her — or Owen — to see him this way.

"One week," Bethany repeated. "Okay. So what is it? What's so bad that it made you faint?"

"It's nothing. You don't need to worry about me," Kiel said weakly, as if that offered any explanation to what was going on with him. His voice was barely a whisper as he stared up at her, tilting his head in her lap.

"Oh, I can worry all I want," Bethany said in a low voice, leaning towards him. "You have no _idea_ how much more I can worry about."

He cracked a smile, a real one. "I don't doubt that." He yawned, then started to blink very slowly, somehow looking more exhausted than before. "I'm just tired, that's all . . ."

"I'm still waiting for that explanation," she said. "Do you want me to slap you?"

Kiel slowly shook his head, his eyes fluttering closed. His long, dark lashes brushed against his pale face, and he was breathing softly, which made him look like some kind of angel. Wait, _what_? Bethany was very glad she hadn't said that aloud. What was she thinking? Kiel wasn't — she didn't —

Before she could acknowledge her own confusing thoughts, she came to her senses and forcefully made contact with the side of Kiel's cheek. His eyes flew open, and he lifted his hand to his face. " _Ow!_ You can't just _slap_ me like that."

"Feel better?"

"No. I'm still tired. Need . . . sleep." His eyes started to close again, and Bethany soundly smacked her hands together in front of his face.

He groaned. "You really _are_ pure evil, aren't you. Stop making loud noises."

"No way. Not until you wake up, German boy."

He laughed softly. "Ha. I don't miss pretending to be that."

"You _are_ still pretending to be that," Bethany reminded him with a smile of her own, but she quickly replaced it with a serious look. She raised her eyebrows, giving him a pointed look as she waited for him to talk first.

He gathered himself for more than a few seconds, looking uncomfortable with the entire situation. He took a deep breath, looking almost in pain as he said his next words. "I need . . . _help_. I guess I've needed it for a while, but I thought I could handle things on my own. I can't really hide it anymore, can I? That didn't really work out for me."

"Kiel Gnomenfoot, are you asking _me_ for help?" Bethany tried to seem nonchalant but couldn't fight the grin off her face.

Kiel rolled his eyes. "What, I'm not allowed to?"

"No, you're allowed to. I'm just not used to it." She slid her knees out from under his head, gently setting him on the pavement. "Let's get you up. We can go to my house, I'll get you some water, and then you can tell me everything."

"Sounds good to me," he muttered, not looking too happy with it but accepted it nonetheless. She helped him to his feet. Once he was standing, he swayed like he was about to faint again. Bethany quickly grabbed his arm, steadying him. He looked completely winded.

"Come on," she said gently, both arms wrapped around him as she struggled to hold him in place. "My house is right across the street. Think you can make it?"

"I can do anything," he shot back, sounding almost angry. He started to walk forward but stumbled, nearly falling to the ground again.

Bethany hooked her arm around his waist, grunting from the effort. He never looked heavy before, but it was different when you were actually trying to _carry_ someone. "Slow down. This isn't a race. You need to take your time, Kiel. You're super weak right now."

"No, I'm not."

"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just keep walking." When he tried walking too abruptly again, she said, " _Slowly_."

They crept towards her house, Kiel leaning against her. It took a while, but they made it to the front door without another incident. Since the door was still hanging open, Bethany walked straight through, still holding tightly onto Kiel. She maneuvered around the living room, making sure not to accidentally bump into anything before lowering him to the couch, where he sat down. He leaned his head back against the pillows, looking utterly exhausted.

"I'm going to get you some water," she said once he was settled. She walked into the dark kitchen and flicked on the light. As she grabbed a cup and began filling it up, her mind ran in circles. Something terrible was happening to Kiel, and he'd obviously been hiding it. What _had_ he been hiding, anyway? She hoped there was something she could do to help him. He looked barely alive right now.

Once she was done getting the water ready, she drifted back into the living room and held the cup in front of Kiel's face. "Here. I got you some water."

He opened his eyes. "Thanks." He took the cup from her, his hand trembling as he raised it to his lips. When he was done, he handed it back to her, and she set it on the table in front of the couch.

Bethany took a seat beside him, propping her legs up and placing her hands on her knees. "What's going on?" she asked, her breath catching in her throat.

He averted his gaze, staring at the ground as he talked. "It kind of all started on the night we got Owen back. I started feeling tired for no reason, and my . . ." He sighed. "My belt — the one that holds some of my spells and other magical items — disappeared.”

"What do you mean 'disappeared'?" she asked, frowning.

  
"It was like magic. One second, it was there. And the next, it wasn't. At first I had no idea what was happening. But then I started to get tired . . . _really_ tired. I constantly felt like I'd run a marathon, and I started to feel weak. That's why I turned to, um, _nonfictional_ things that could help me. You know, to gain energy since I had none."

Bethany gulped. "What kind of nonfictional things?"

"I found this drink called 5-Hour-Energy at the CVS store, and —"

Her mouth dropped open. "You went to _CVS_? When? And how did you find that drink? That could be really bad for you, Kiel!"

He brushed her off. "I went sometime last week. I'm not sure when. Anyways, I started drinking this 5-Hour-Energy drink. It helped a lot with my energy, but I still felt . . . _off_. I thought it would fix things, but it didn't. My stuff kept disappearing —"

"Wait, _more_ of your things disappeared?" Bethany felt shocked. "What else?"

"One of my wand-knives, as well as my cape," he replied, his face pained. "If all of my things keep disappearing . . . I think that _I_ might disappear, too, since I'm fictional."

"Why did you wait so long to tell me?" she asked, her voice quiet.

He looked down. "I didn't want to worry anyone. We were having such a fun time this week, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin everyone's mood. I didn't want to drag anyone else into my problems. Like I said, I thought I could handle it."

"But you couldn't," she pointed out.

He glared at her. "But I _thought_ I could."

"Yeah, you _thought_. It's pretty clear that you couldn't do it all on your own, though. Not for something this dangerous."

"Normally, I can handle anything that life throws at me, and I figured I could handle this too. I realize now that my thinking was probably narrow, and I _do_ need help. I won't try to deny it." He sighed. "But really, I thought I could fix it. I tried so many ways to solve it, and they just didn't work. I didn't think I'd have to tell you or Owen. I thought it'd be fixed by now, and I certainly didn't think it'd get worse." When she continued to stare fearfully at him, he quickly added, "But don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks."

"It looks pretty bad to me!" she exclaimed, furrowing her eyebrows. "I knew there was something going on with you, but I didn't know what it was. You aren't yourself anymore. I bet this has something to do with Nobody or the fictional world. I just don't understand . . . why are your things disappearing? You've been in my world before and this has never happened. I don't fully understand Nobody's plans, but I figured the fictional world would be fine for a short while, since it clearly hasn't been destroyed yet. Is there something worse going on?"

He nodded. "I think so. Remember the pure possibility I told you about? That's Nobody's big plan to take over the fictional world. I learned about it when I was back in Magisteria, and when Nobody kidnapped me. The pure possibility is supposed to engulf the entire fictional world, swallow it up whole. He thought that would mean the universe could start fresh, without any interference from nonfictional people." Kiel wrinkled his nose. "I guess that means the fictional world is weakening from it over time, and since _I'm_ separated from my own world . . . it's taking a toll on me, too. I don't know how much longer I have. I don't know how to stop this."

What had she been thinking? She'd been so clueless this whole time. She thought taking a break would give her friends some peace, but it did the opposite for Kiel. By delaying their trip into the fictional world, she'd unknowingly wasted more time of Kiel's precious life. She should've been more responsible when she noticed something was wrong. He could've disappeared and she wouldn't have even known it!

"We have to get you back to the fictional world," Bethany decided, firmly nodding her head. "That's how we can save you. Being here in the nonfictional world will only make things worse. It might not be for a few days — not until we know what we're doing — but I'm sure I can find some fictional medicine that'll hold you off until then. I'm not going to let you _die."_

"Trust me, I don't plan on it," he said, winking at her. "It's gonna take a lot to get rid of me. I'm sticking around for as long as I can, and some pure possibility isn't going to stop me from fighting. I'm not going anywhere, and I'm definitely not going to miss a fight against Nobody. I'm long overdue for one."

She laughed a little. "Me too. I've wanted to punch him in the face for a week now. Could I even punch him in the face if he technically doesn't have one?"

He snorted. "I guess you could. I never really thought of it before." His smile faded, and he regarded her seriously. "Just . . . please don't tell Owen about this, okay? I want to be the one to tell him."

"You can't expect me to keep this a secret," Bethany said, shaking her head. "He's our best friend, and he probably knows more solutions than I do. Your situation is _huge_ , Kiel. Your life is at stake here."

"I'm going to tell him soon," Kiel said, sighing again. "Honestly, I don't know how I'll do it. Owen thinks of me as a brother, you know? I think of him the same way, and I don't want to upset him."

"He won't be any more upset than I am," she told him. "But fine, I won't tell him."

He smiled, looking relieved. "Thank you. In the meantime, do you know of anything that might help?"

"I'll have to look through the library tomorrow," she said. "I don't have anything right now, aside from the books that are hidden under my bed. But none of them include anything about medicine. I'll find some books tomorrow that can help you. It might only be a temporary solution, but I plan on only delaying this a day or two. Maybe it can even stop you from disappearing."

"Great." He sat up a little straighter, more color in his face now that he'd drunken water. "The more renewed I'll feel, the better."

She smiled, feeling a small wash of relief that he sounded like himself again. Despite this, her heart continued to pound from fear. Nothing would be solved by talking. She needed to _do_ something, and that something would be to go to the fictional world, whether she wanted to or not. Kiel's life depended on it. The rest of the fictional world depended on it. They couldn't delay this fight against Nobody any longer, not with him causing chaos to all of the fictional people. Their time was up. She had to do this immediately before Kiel got worse.

"I'm sorry we held off from jumping into books," Bethany began. "I owe you an apology."

"Oh, you don't have to apologize —"

"But it's my fault for all of this happening in the first place," she retorted. "I wish I'd known about your situation sooner, and then I could've helped you —"

"Beth, it's not your fault. Really, it's _my_ fault."

She gritted her teeth. "No it's not."

"It is!" Kiel protested. "I should've talked to you and Owen about it before I tried solving it myself."

"But it's still my fault for deciding we should take a break. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed —"

"This has nothing to do with you. It has to do with me being fictional and not owning up to my mistakes." He groaned. "Seriously, it isn't your fault."

"How would _you_ know that?"

Kiel chuckled. "Can we _please_ not argue about this? We can easily talk about this in a much calmer way."

Bethany nodded in agreement, letting out a long breath. He was right; getting angry and arguing wouldn't solve anything. "I thought it would help you and Owen — me included — to have some isolation from books. After everything that happened, especially to Owen. I guess I just wasn't acting serious enough, and I thought the fictional world would be okay for a week or two. But I know now that it was the wrong thing to do. It's time to go back to the fictional world before another bad thing happens."

He smiled, the tension in his body relaxing. "That sounds great. I've been wanting to go back for a while now, but I didn't think you or Owen would want to. I'm a bit rusty on my fighting skills, so once I get that medicine I'll need to practice that." He did a little shrug. "I don't think I'll be _that_ rusty, but I haven't fought with magic in a while. I'm starting to get worried I'm not as impressive as I used to be."

"Maybe I could teach you some signature Twilight moves," Bethany offered. "If you happen to lose your magic again, there's a chance you'll be defenseless in a fight."

"Hey, I'm not totally useless," he said, winking at her. "I know how to throw a good punch. I couldn't beat Oliver Bines in a fistfight, but I'm still great at punching. You should ask Dr. Verity. I've beat him several times, and I plan on beating every other villain once my strength is restored. Nobody most importantly."

He glanced at the wall, then back at her. "As amazing as I am, I'll still need your help with this, of course. As I've said many times already."

She raised her eyebrows, giving him a sarcastic look. "Are you sure you have no issues with letting someone else be the hero? You're Kiel Gnomenfoot. This is probably hard for you, asking _me_ for help."

"I've got zero problems with that," he said quietly. "It's about time I've accepted help from someone else. I've gotten used to taking care of myself, and that's not going to work as well anymore. Plus, I think you owe me one after I came here to rejoin you. It's only fair that we're even."

Before she could respond, he touched her hand with his, gently brushing his fingers against it for a moment. It was the first time he’d ever touched her hand on purpose, when they weren’t holding hands just to jump into a book. Even then, once they’d landed inside a book, Bethany had always let go of his hand instantly. 

There’d also been other times that Kiel had touched her hand, but it’d been rare. And usually, he only did it to calm her down when she was upset. In this case, it was neither situation. She didn’t know what it was, but something had given him the nerve to touch her hand. And something gave her the nerve to keep it there.

Bethany froze, heat rising to her face as she stared at him dumbly. She didn't know what to do. For some reason, she didn't want him to pull away. She could only stare at him, mesmerized as he slid his fingers across her‘s. His purple eyes seemed to sparkle in the darkening room, capturing her attention and making her unable to look away. When he pulled his hand back a few seconds later, he was smiling, almost smugly. She blushed, unable to stop her own smile from spreading as she quickly averted her gaze to the floor. _Oh_.

"Sorry," Kiel murmured, as if realizing what he'd just done for the first time. He slid a bit farther away from her. "I don't know why I did that."

"Um, it's okay," she said, trying to ignore the way her stomach did somersaults. Her face was on _fire_.

She quickly stood from the couch, clearing her throat. "Do you want anything to eat? I have a bunch of leftover food in the fridge, since I'm always eating dinner at home and my mom doesn't get home until late at night."

"Okay," he whispered, still looking tired from the whole ordeal he'd just gone through.

Without responding, Bethany ran over to the kitchen and took out a few slices of bread to make sandwiches, as well as some pasta that her mother had made last weekend. She had never cooked anything before besides the occasional pancake or toast, but that wasn't very efficient for dinner. She felt glad that the fridge was at least filled with food, or else she wouldn't have so many options to chose from.

Not knowing what Kiel liked, Bethany took out an assortment of toppings for the bread, such as peanut butter and jelly, and different lunch meats. After digging through the fridge's contents for a while, she found some vegetables that could be put into a salad, and mixed that into a bowl. After heating up the pasta in the microwave and getting the rest of the dishes ready, she put everything on the table.

"Kiel! I have the food ready!" she shouted, looking down at her handiwork with a small sense of pride. Although she hadn't cooked anything, it was the most decent-looking meal she'd made, which was saying something. She sometimes wished that her mother would come home early more often, only because she wanted cooked food, not food that had been stocked in the fridge for days.

As she poured herself a cup of water, Kiel trudged into the kitchen, taking slow movements but looking considerably better than before. He sank into a chair, his eyes scanning the assortment of food on the table. "Wow, that's impressive! You made all of this just now?"

She chuckled, shaking her head. "No. My mom made the pasta and bought all of the groceries. I got it from the fridge."

"Oh, cool." He grinned, then dished some pasta and salad onto his plate.

Bethany took a seat beside him and began eating in silence, her thoughts racing with everything that had happened. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, just in case he happened to faint again. For once, neither of them said a word throughout the entire meal.

Bethany was consumed by her thoughts, all of which were nerve-wracking. The fictional world was at the centerpiece of her mind. She felt so ashamed that she hadn't realized the severity of the situation. Why had she assumed they'd have time to relax? It'd been a stupid idea. It was clear that the fictional world was going to die, and so would Kiel if he stayed here.

She should've gone with her gut feeling, which was to jump straight into the fictional world and punch Nobody in his faceless head without a second thought. It would be dangerous, but she wouldn't have cared as long as it saved her friends' lives. But there was still a nagging voice in her head, telling her that this would all be impossible. And maybe it was. Maybe it was crazy to think that she and her friends could defeat the most powerful villain they'd ever come across.

Worries and endless unanswered questions filled her head, enough to form a small headache. What if Kiel didn't get better? What if they were too late to stop Nobody? What if she couldn't save the fictional world? What if worse happened to Owen? What could Bethany do to fix everything?

She knew that Owen would want to help save the fictional world; that was who he was. He'd never stay behind for safety's sake. That was another thing that worried her. Owen had been through so much pain when he was in the fictional world, and all she wanted was for him to have a break. He didn't deserve bad news. He deserved to be safe, not surrounded by danger.

He also had a broken arm, so wouldn't facing a villain be the _last_ thing he should do? He needed to stay safe, but she knew he'd never stay in the nonfictional world. He'd go with them, even if he was afraid. She _knew_ he'd be scared, but he'd go anyway. No matter what, Owen would never abandon his friends or the fictional world like that. She wouldn't expect anything less out of her wonderful best friend.

She was determined to set things right, starting now. There was no way she could let Kiel disappear. They'd figure a plan out together, and they would solve this. If possible, she would keep her friends safe at all costs. That was the most important thing. Both Owen and Kiel had gone through a lot, and she hadn't been able to help them. But now, she could. She was going to save Kiel, and then they'd save the world.

"You okay?" Kiel asked in a soft voice, momentarily placing his fork down.

She blinked. She hadn't realized how lost in thought she'd gotten. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Why are you worrying so much? Everything's going to be okay."

"Why am I —" she repeated, then scowled. "I'm not worried. I'm just thinking!"

He chuckled. "I already know you're worrying, and I also already told you that there's no way I'm going to let myself disappear. We have a solid plan for letting that _not_ happen. And if _that_ works, then everything else will work, too. We're going to tell Owen about this, go back to the fictional world, and have some fun while we kick Nobody's butt."

In spite of herself, she smiled. "You really think that? You're telling me that you aren't worried about _anything_?” She raised her eyebrows teasingly. “Almost an hour ago you had just fainted. That seems to be something worth worrying about."

"I mean, yeah." He shrugged. "I am . . . concerned about that. I have been for a while. But now that I know we're going to find a solution for it, I'm not as worried. It helps to embrace life's challenges and let life take you wherever it does.” Smiling, he raised his fork, looking away from her as he took another bite of food. “I have a good feeling about this."

Bethany stared at him for a second more, smiling as she looked at the side profile of his face. Her smile grew, and she turned back to her food, picking up half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich and taking a bite out of it. For the rest of dinner, she milled over his words. As reckless as he tended to be, he always had great advice. Not that she'd ever admit it to him, since he had a huge ego, but she knew it was true.

More than anything, she wished she could simply toss her worries aside and live life without thinking. She was so used to holding herself back because she was too afraid, and she didn't want to do that anymore. That was how she lived when she was nonfictional; introverted, constantly holding herself back, and skeptical.

Her fictional self had been very different, and although she embraced both halves of her, it was the side of her that she preferred to be more like. Being fictional led her to do reckless things, but at least she was having fun and not worried about responsibilities. Starting now, she'd do more of that. She would try to stop holding herself back when she was fearful, if that was even possible. She would handle her responsibilities _and_ save the world, Kiel included.

No one would be disappointed in her anymore once this was all over. Especially Owen. She didn't want her best friend to suffer anymore. After they were done defeating Nobody, she would make everything up to him, _everything_. She would make sure of that.

* * *

Owen woke up in a cold sweat, his hair slicked to his forehead. He was panting, and it took his eyes a moment to adjust to his surroundings. The dream — no, _nightmare_ — had seemed so real. Nightmares filled his head nearly every night, bringing images of dinosaurs trying to eat him and evil dinosaur hunting instructors tasering him. The one tonight had ended with Kara being taken away by the time agents.

He sucked in air, wishing these painful memories would stop running through his head. He was completely fine during the day; it was only at night when he was vulnerable, and the nightmares got to him. So far, he'd had four nightmares over the past week, all of which had woken him in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, tonight was no exception.

It was hard to get those images out of his head, but luckily, he'd never have to go back there again. When he reminded himself that, it always made him feel considerably better. He was safe, now. And when he went back to the fictional world, he wouldn't be locked in the time prison again. He'd be with his friends, and they'd be having an adventure together. It wouldn't be anything terrible, aside from the facing Nobody part.

He pushed the covers off of him and sat up, leaning his head against the frame of the bed. Bark Vader was on the floor beside his bed, apparently asleep. He glanced at the alarm clock to his right, which read 2:37 am. He could try going back to sleep right now, but he'd rather stay awake for a while until he was calmer.

During the entirety of dinner, his mother had practically ignored him, not seeming too happy. He didn't blame her for feeling that way. He was ashamed of what he'd done, and he knew he never should've snuck out in the first place. The good part was: he'd get to work in the library again. He wasn't sure if his mother would allow him to see Bethany or Kiel anymore, but at least he could go there on his own free will.

It was the one place he'd been dying to go to . . . now that he could, he felt relieved. Even if it _was_ for punishment purposes, he felt optimistic again. Sure, he couldn't go to the book club anymore, and he probably couldn't go over Bethany's house for a while, but he could now go to the library, which had always been his second home. Even though his mother was angry at him still, it was a relief to know that he could go to the library without sneaking out.

Owen leaned over and turned on his lamp, illuminating the room with a soft glow. After having several of these episodes, it helped to turn on the light, just to remind himself that he was in his own room. Grabbing the X-Men comic book he'd been reading, he started to flip through it.

Comic books — as well as regular novels — never failed to comfort him. He loved reading about superheroes and the difficulties they'd gone through. In a way, it boosted his confidence to know that these heroes had suffered too. Not that he could ever be compared to amazing superheroes such as Spider-Man or Captain America or Iron Man. They were _too_ amazing, and they set high expectations that Owen could never reach.

He was only a normal boy, and they were heroes who had saved the world countless times. What had he done? Nothing, besides getting himself nearly killed and failing to stop Nobody when he had the chance. Sometimes he just felt so useless. What could he do to contribute saving the fictional world? He wasn't sure how much help he'd be. He only had his time powers, but how good could those be in a fight?

He saw the looks of concern Bethany and Kiel gave him whenever his arm started to hurt, as if he were something fragile. It made him feel even worse about everything, because that meant they were worried about him. That thought made him feel a bit queasy. With his broken arm and whatnot, he didn't want to be a burden to them. He only wanted to be helpful, and he wanted to be a hero for once. Was that too much to ask?

This was the problem. Bethany and Kiel had rescued _him_ , not the other way around. Owen was just a sidekick, maybe not even that. Unlike some sidekicks, though, he would never have his own comic book. If he did, it'd just be about him getting into trouble and Bethany saving him. That was exactly what had happened when he'd been in _Pick The Plot_.

It was an endless cycle of this. Every time they were in danger, Owen had to be saved by someone. Well, that wasn't completely true. He'd saved Bethany from drowning, although Kiel had been helping him. When he was in the time agency, he had helped Kara out many times, but that couldn't exactly be called "saving". He wanted to be the hero that everyone looked up to, just like he looked up to Kiel. He wanted his friends to feel proud of him, and he wanted Charm to look at him with awe instead of disgust.

After thirty minutes more of reading the comic book, Owen felt much more relaxed, and his eyelids had even started to droop. Taking this as a good sign, he tossed the comic book onto his bedside table and flicked off the lamp. Nestling his head back on the pillow, he rolled onto his side, staring out the window at the full moon that hung in the sky. There was something weirdly calming about staring at the moon at night.

It felt nice to know that somewhere, in the fictional world and in some other timeline, Charm might be looking at the same moon. He missed her a lot. They hadn't exactly left on the best of terms, since she believed he was Kiel Gnomenfoot.

He didn't know how he'd explain to her his true identity. He figured he'd have to eventually, once she saw him and Kiel together and realized that Owen was a separate person. She'd probably get mad, too. But he couldn't live with himself if he kept pretending he was Kiel. As much as he wanted to be like the boy magician, it would never be possible. It made him incredibly nervous to think about it, but he had to tell Charm the truth. He cared too much about her to hide something like that.

His thoughts shifted to another girl, who he'd just met last week but had managed to create such a lasting impact on him. What if Kara was looking at the moon too, just like he was? Unless she didn't have a window. But maybe, hypothetically, she was. Maybe she was bored out of her mind, and maybe she was thinking about Owen and regretting letting herself get captured by the time agents.

Once again, he wondered if she was okay. He hoped she wasn't _too_ lonely, and at least wouldn't be suffering. He didn't know much about her, but she was his friend, and she didn't deserve to be locked up in another time prison. No one deserved that, except maybe Fowen and Nobody. The idea of possibly rescuing Kara kept him hopeful, although it seemed downright crazy. He wouldn't even know where to look for her.

He closed his eyes, shutting off the remaining light in the room. In a quiet voice, he whispered, "If you're out there, I'll get you out of that prison, Kara. I'm pretty sure you can't hear me saying this, but if you can . . . I hope you're okay." He sighed. "I don't know . . . I had a bad day today. My mom caught me sneaking out, and well, I guess I wish you were here."

_That was a stupid idea_ , Owen thought. Now he was just talking to himself. How could a fictional person hear him?

As he settled back into his bed, his mind swam with thoughts, making it hard to fall asleep despite the warmth and comfort that the blankets gave off. He wasn't sure how long he laid there, waiting for sleep to come. He didn't remember when he finally sank into sleep, giving him a second chance to rest until his mother would wake him up.

Unlike the past few nights, however, his dreams had returned to how they usually were. The next few hours of the early morning brought dreams of him being announced as the new High King of Narnia, attending Hogwarts, and playing as Spider-Man — all at the same time. His friends were with him, without a faceless man in sight.

In his dream, he was undoubtedly happy, without a concern in the world. He was able to enjoy all the fun of the fictional world without Bethany holding him back from the cool stuff, like she usually did. Not only was he enjoying himself in the fictional world, but he was completely safe. It was exactly the life that Owen had always wished for.

* * *

  
The next morning, Kiel awoke to the sound of banging. He crinkled his eyebrows, slowly tossing the blankets off of him and sliding off the couch. He blinked, immensely confused as he tried to locate the source of the noise. He was in Bethany's living room. After much convincing on Bethany's part, he'd agreed to sleep over her house . . . but _only_ so she could make sure he wouldn't disappear.

He felt a bit regretful about telling her everything, because now she always looked worried, even when she wasn't doing anything. But he'd gone too far yesterday with the 5-Hour-Energy drink. He knew that it had all been building up, and trying to gain energy from a nonfictional source maybe wasn't the smartest idea.

Normally, everything worked out for Kiel. He could do any dangerous thing he wanted and he wouldn't get a single injury. But that was when he was in the fictional world, back in Magisteria and Quanterium. This was different. He could already tell he was much weaker, simply after a few months of being in the nonfictional world. The more he stayed here, the weaker he became.

What else could he have done besides tell Bethany the truth? It was the last thing Kiel wanted to do, but it had been the only option left. It was time to accept help from his friends, despite how much he didn't want to. He needed to be more honest with them, and now, he would be. He realized that he couldn't handle _everything_ by himself, and it took a great deal of trail and error to realize that.

He got to his feet, still fairly exhausted and weak from yesterday. He'd been drinking numerous amounts of water — to boost his energy "the healthy way", as Bethany put it — but it hadn't done much to make him feel better. He hated the fact that he had to admit he felt weak. It was something he never did before, but surprisingly, it felt nice to admit it for once.

He crept into the kitchen to see a huge pile of books sitting on the kitchen table. Bethany was hovering over it, flipping through the pages of a book. Kiel cleared his throat, sneaking a glance at the clock on the wall, which read 8:39 am. "Don't we have school today?"

She flinched, then turned around, giving him a surprised look. "Oh, you're awake!" She nodded. "Yeah, we do. But it's Friday, and I really could care less if I'm late. I want to get you some medicine right away."

He smiled in response, unsteadily crossing the path to the kitchen table and sitting down on a chair. He ran a hand through his bedraggled hair, which had chosen to stick up in random angles this morning. "Have you found anything worth using yet?"

"I found this, but I'm not sure how well it'll work." She handed him a copy of _What's to Come in the Future_ , a book of made-up futuristic inventions. It was open to a page about recovery pills, which claimed, _You'll feel like you've had a week of sleep with just one pill!_

Kiel read the page. "Hey, isn't this the same pill you used after Doyle — I mean, _Fowen_ — tried to drown you?"

"Yep," she replied, looking uncomfortable at the memory. "Does it look like it'll work?"

"It doesn't hurt to try," he said, handing the book back to her. "Anything we can find should work. At least we have a fictional way of doing it."

She reached into the page and pulled one of the pills out, handing it to him. As he swallowed it down with a glass of water, she looked through more books, setting some aside in a small pile and throwing others back to the larger, messier pile.

"When did you get all of these?" he asked, staring at the pile with perplexed confusion.

"I went to the library as soon as it opened up," Bethany said, placing another book in the large pile. "It took a while, but I grabbed a bunch of books that seemed like they'd work." She pointed to the small pile, where there were about seven books in total. "These ones should work. I'm just trying to find one that saves a person from death _before_ it happens, you know?"

He almost laughed. "I'm not going to die! I'm pretty sure I can hold off for the next few days until we jump into the fictional world again."

"We shouldn't take our chances," she said. "This is kind of unpredictable."

"True," he said. "But I think I'll be okay with what you've found." He stood up and read through the smaller pile of books, all of which were about futuristic medicine or cures. One was even about the Fountain of Youth, which he remembered learning about in history class.

"See?" He showed her the book. "This looks pretty useful. The books you already have look like they'll help me. And the pill you gave me seems to already be working, so what's there to keep looking for?"

"I don't know." She rubbed her eyes, setting the book she'd been holding down. "I'm just . . . scared, Kiel. I want to help you somehow."

"You already have." He smiled at her. "I wasn't even _planning_ to talk to you about what's been going on. If I hadn't, I wouldn't be feeling better."

"Okay." She reluctantly stepped away from the table. Returning his smile, she stuck her hand inside _Percy Jackson: the Sea of Monsters_ , pulling out a large cloth with intricate designs on it. "Owen would definitely be against me taking this, but I don't think Camp Half-Blood will be missing it right now. Here, put it on."

She threw the cloth around his shoulders, and instantly, a warm glow filled him, making him feel less exhausted. He grinned, feeling instantly a lot better. "It's like magic. What _is_ this?"

"It's called the Golden Fleece," she informed him. "It has the power to heal anything. You should keep wearing it for the day. With that and the recovery pill, I think it'll help you."

"Thanks. I can definitely tell that it's working." He paused. "Wait, I can't wear this at school."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," Bethany said. "You shouldn't go to school today."

"What? But I'm fine!" In fact, he _did_ feel better. This fictional medicine was working wonders for him. "If this is medicine, I wish I was sick every day."

"You need to stay at home and rest." Before he could protest, she picked up her phone and walked out of the kitchen. "I'll be right back. Gotta call Owen!"

"Don't tell him about me!" he called after her. "I'm telling him on my own!"

"Got it!" Bethany shouted from the other room. A few seconds later, he heard her talking to Owen on the phone in a quiet voice. When she returned ten minutes later, she was grinning. "We're going to meet at the library tonight."

Kiel raised an eyebrow. "But we wouldn't be able to see Owen that way. Isn't he still grounded?"

"Yeah. He got caught by his mom for sneaking out with us, which he was kind of mad at _me_ for." She made a face. "It was his choice to sneak out. He could've said no. But actually, it turned into good news. Now, he's going to work at the library in the afternoons and nights!"

* * *

Owen sat patiently at the doctor's office, answering questions that the doctor asked him about his arm. Since it was a week after his trip to the hospital, the doctors had asked for a checkup appointment to see if Owen's arm was healing the correct way. After some x-rays were taken, the doctors confirmed that his arm should heal within the next six to twelve weeks, depending on how successful his healing process was.

Once the doctor finished writing notes in his clipboard and began talking to Owen's mother about future appointments, Owen stared off into space, becoming lost in thought without even realizing it. Especially when in the real world, it was easy for him to get distracted and give into his active imagination. Sometimes the real world was so dull compared to the fictional one; it helped to imagine he was somewhere else instead of in a doctor's office.

"Can you meet us again in . . . three weeks?" the doctor was saying.

Owen's mother nodded, slipping her purse onto her shoulder. "Yes, that sounds good."

"Okay," the doctor said, flashing a smile at Owen. "Have a nice day. Don't worry, you'll get to take that cast off soon!"

_How soon is that exactly?_ Owen wanted to remark, but he kept his mouth shut since his mother was standing right there. He followed her out the door, a bit more relaxed than he'd been this morning. His mother had still been pretty angry at him, and her anger hadn't worn off until noon.

On their car ride to the library, she told him the entire procedure of what he'd be doing that afternoon. Today would be a bit unusual, because there was supposed to be a party at the library, where dozens of authors were supposed to come to talk about books. Owen was really excited about this, and he hoped someone famous would come, like Rick Riordan. His heart would surely stop beating if _that_ happened.

By early afternoon, they reached the library. Owen had to try hard to suppress a grin at the sight of it. He might be working there now, but that's what he used to do most nights anyway when he was twelve. Being back in the library would make things feel like normal again. His heart was practically soaring. Aside from his mother not trusting him, things had still managed to work out. This was really happening! He could go to the library again!

His mother opened the door, and he did the same, pushing open the heavy door with some effort since he was only using one hand. A cold, strong wind blew into him, making him shiver. After a short walk across the parking lot, his mother opened the door, and he found himself suddenly unable to stop smiling, despite how much he tried not to.

He couldn't stop staring at the familiar rows and rows of books. Comfort washed over him, making him feel safe and secure. This was always the place that he felt most at home. Books were the greatest thing that had ever happened to him, and they never failed to cheer him up. As far as he could tell, not much had changed at all, aside from the placement of the books on the shelves.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother smiling at him. When he turned back to her, her expression turned serious. "I'm going to set up my office. While I'm doing that, I want you to start organizing the library. We want everything to be in order for the party tonight. Got it?"

"Gotten," Owen replied, still grinning from ear to ear. She smiled at that, then turned around and walked towards her office.

He walked over to the center of the library, where someone had already set up a table with a pink tablecloth and different boxed foods on it. He felt a surge of pride to know that his mother's library was finally getting the recognition it deserved. He didn't remember ever having a party here before. If authors were coming here for a party, who knew what that meant for the library's publicity! Would bigger crowds start coming in? How big would the party be?

Then, Owen thought of something that made him gasp out loud. Would _J.K Rowling_ be there? Okay, that was probably pushing it. But if she was, he'd probably just start gushing to her about his love for Harry Potter, and then she'd get annoyed and would walk away.

The fact that a famous author might come to the party would make Owen's dreams come true, even if nobody talked to him. No, he'd _have_ to talk to them. He'd force them to talk to him if they didn't want to. Well, he wouldn't _force_ them, because that'd be rude. Maybe he could even talk to them about his own love for writing! Not that he was very good at it, but he wanted to be in the future.

He'd have to keep practicing. So far, he'd written several stories, but none of them were very long or good. He hadn't let a single person read them — including his mother and Bethany — so how could he be an author if he was embarrassed about his own writing?

He hoped this author party would be helpful. Part of him already knew that he wanted to be an author, but he wasn't completely sure if that's what he wanted to do. All he knew was that he loved books, and he never had much interest in anything else.

"I need you to come to school," Bethany said, slamming her backpack onto a nearby table. She sat down in a heap, then abruptly stood back up and started walking back and forth through the aisle.

It was right before 5:00 pm, which meant that the party would be starting soon. Owen had been organizing the entire library all day, and had even dusted the shelves to make everything look nicer. A banner that read, "Welcome, authors!" hung from the ceiling in front of the door, and pink balloons were taped to the shelves. Potted flowers also were in front of each shelf, giving off a fresh smell and making the library look less dull. The library was in the prettiest state that Owen had ever seen it.

"What? Why?" Owen slid another book back on the shelf, into its proper place. For the entire day, rearranging books on their shelves was all he'd been doing.

Bethany continued pacing through the isle, letting out short breaths. She accidentally kicked over a pile of books, which Owen had neatly stacked for convenience. She made a low, growling noise at the back of her throat, hitting her hand against the bookcase. "Ugh. Why can't I do anything right today?"

He looked at her with a frown. "Will you _please_ slow down? I'm trying to get everything ready for the party."

"No," Bethany said, still pacing. She gave him an apologetic look and stopped right in front of him, blocking his view of the bookcase. "Sorry. My teacher yelled at me in class today, which was during my last class of the day, by the way."

"Wow," Owen said, pushing her out of the way and placing another book on the shelf. "Why do teachers always need to be rude for no reason?"

"No idea," she muttered. She glanced at the pile of books. "Oh, I should help you with that." She grabbed one book from the floor. "Where does this go?"

"Over there." He pointed behind him. "Next to the James Patterson books. By the way, where's Kiel? Is he coming?"

"He got sick today, so he stayed home," Bethany admitted, a bit quicker than Owen found believable. She slid the book onto the shelf. "So what exactly is going on here? There's been book fairs, but nothing like _this_. Is there some sort of party happening tonight?"

"Yeah! It's an author party," Owen said, picking up another book and searching for the right spot to put it. "I'm not sure who's coming, but this is going to be huge. We've never had a party like this before. And if some famous author comes here, I'm never going to be the same. This is going to be _life-changing_ , Bethany."

She smiled, patting him on the shoulder. "I think you'll stay exactly the same. This is only a party."

"A party for authors!"

"Huh. Then do you think Jonathan Porterhouse would come here?"

"I'll bet you a million dollars he won't," Owen told her, grinning. "He's been scarred ever since Kiel and the Magister left their books."

"Yeah, true," Bethany said. "I heard he's so traumatized that he doesn't even write books anymore!"

He picked up another book, then looked at her in shock. "Are you serious?"

"Yep! Well, those are only rumors, but I think they're true. I doubt he'd set foot in a library ever again."

Owen opened his mouth to respond, but he heard his mother calling him from somewhere nearby. "Owen, get the table set up!"

"Okay!" he shouted. He gestured for Bethany to follow him, and they walked over to the table, where unopened boxes of various party snacks and desserts were sitting on top of. They got to work right away, placing the food in neat piles on separate plastic plates.

Once they were done, Owen's mother walked over, looking pleased. "Thank you, that looks great! Can you go straighten out more parts of the library? Make sure everything looks nice. Everyone should be arriving in fifteen minutes."

"Sure," Bethany said.

Owen's mother rushed back over to her office, obviously busy getting the party ready. When they turned back to the table, Owen was surprised to hear a strange, panting noise emerging from right underneath it. Frowning, he exchanged a look with Bethany before lifting up the tablecloth. There were a lot of things his imagination came up with, but what he _wasn't_ expecting to see was his very own dog.

"Bark Vader?" Owen whispered as the dog licked his face, then crawled out from under the table.

"What's your dog doing here?" Bethany questioned, her eyebrows raised. "I thought your mom never brought her to the library."

Owen shrugged, just as perplexed. "I guess she must've brought her here earlier, while I was doing my homework." He watched as the dog circled around the table, then lifted her head to sniff the food on top of it, which was just out of her reach.

Seeing that Bark Vader wasn't about to ruin any of their hard work, Owen turned back to Bethany. "We should check in each isle, just to make sure all of the books are put away."

She walked towards one direction. "Okay. I'll take this half, and you can take the other."

He nodded, ready to do just that, but another noise stopped him. Owen cringed, and he slowly turned around, only to see that Bark Vader had somehow climbed on top of the table, and she was now munching on a plate of cookies that had once looked appealing.

"Vadie!" Owen whisper-shouted, putting his hand out. "No no no no no! Stop!"

When the dog kept eating, he darted over to her, grabbing her around the waist. She was fairly light, but he was only able to use one hand, making it difficult to pull her away. He finally managed to yank her off the table, causing the tablecloth, along with all of the food, to clatter to the floor.

"Bethany!" he shouted. He knelt down, scrambling to pick up the food and plates. There were crumbs everywhere. How was he supposed to clean all of this now?

Footsteps came down the isle, and Bethany appeared into view, looking as if she'd just been running. When she saw the mess on the floor, her mouth dropped open. "Oh, my god! I left you alone for two minutes and _this_ happened?"

Owen rolled his eyes. "Hey, _I_ didn't do it. Vadie did this. C'mon, help me clean this up before my mom sees."

She quickly moved to his side, grabbing a handful of snacks that were scattered across the ground and picking them up. Mostly everything was destroyed, and what wasn't destroyed obviously couldn't be eaten, so they threw the remaining food into a nearby trash can. Besides that, there wasn't much they could do besides fixing the tablecloth.

"There goes all the food," Owen said, wistfully staring at the empty table. "Now the party is ruined."

Guilt blossomed in his chest. He didn't want to make his mom even angrier than she'd been last night. He seemed to be messing up everything lately.

Bethany set her brow. "We'll fix it. I have an idea." She stalked off into the isle where all the cookbooks were, giving him no choice but to follow.

"What idea —" he began, then slowly smiled once he realized what she was doing. "Oh, that's perfect!"

She grinned in response, grabbing a book specifically about desserts before sticking her arm through it. She gritted her teeth, clearly having some difficulties, then stuck both hands in and slowly pulled out a chocolate cake. "See? Problem solved."

"Yes!" Owen quietly cheered. After grabbing some fictional cookies to put on a plate, the two of them poured the new food back onto the table, making sure that Bark Vader was far away this time.

Just as they'd finished setting up the table, a redheaded man walked into the library. He glanced around, seemingly lost, before his eyes landed on Owen and Bethany. He walked closer to them, pretending not to notice them as he gazed at all the books on the shelves.

"You've got a nice selection here," he observed, still not looking at them.

"Can I help you?" Owen asked, after exchanging a confused look with Bethany.

The stranger shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm just looking at the books. I guess I'm a little early for the party!"

"You're attending the party?" Bethany asked. "So you're an author?"

The man smiled, finally meeting their eyes. "Yes, I guess that's what you could call me. I'm here for the party, aren't I?"

She stared at him, looking increasingly annoyed. "So are you or aren't you?"

"I _am_ an author. You probably haven't heard of me, but my name is James Riley. Hey, you two look really familiar. Have I seen you around somewhere?"

"I don't —" Bethany started to say, but Owen cut her off.

“My name is Owen, and this is my friend Bethany! Wow. This is my first time meeting a real life author! Your name sounds really familiar. Didn't you write _Half Upon A Time_?"

"I did," James said, looking vaguely uncomfortable now.

"Wait . . ." Bethany said. "You're James Riley. I know I heard about you from somewhere." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "You wrote _our_ books, didn't you?"

The author raised an eyebrow. "I think that'd be some serious copyright if I stole the ideas for your books."

"No, she's right," Owen said, realization dawning on him. "Are you the author of _Story Thieves_? My book?"

" _Story Thieves_? Sure, I am! But I thought they were _my_ books, since I wrote them and all. Those definitely couldn't be _your_ books."

"But how do you know us?" Bethany demanded.

James chuckled. "I just met you right now, kids. I don't know what you want me to tell you. I happen to have your names in my book, but it's nothing more than a coincidence."

Owen swallowed hard. "Are you . . . are you Nobody?"

"That's kind of rude," James said, then paused. "Well, that's what my brother calls me. I guess I sort of _am_ a nobody in his eyes."

"I don't think he knows us," Bethany hissed in Owen's ear. "I think Nobody wrote our books using this guys' name, and James Riley thinks he's the author of the books. But he doesn't know the books are real."

"Agreed," Owen whispered, nodding his head. "I don't think he knows who we _really_ are. At least, it doesn't seem like he does."

She pulled away, glanced at James Riley, then back at Owen. "Let me know if you're getting murdered or something. I'm gonna be in the children's section."

"Bethany," Owen started to say, but she'd already walked away. Great timing. Of _course_ she'd leave him alone to talk to this author person.

He turned back to James, only to see that several other men and women were trickling into the building. His mother was talking to a group of them in the doorway, a smile on her face. Owen quickly straightened his posture, smiling as one of the authors — a woman — approached the table. He clasped his hands together, trying to ignore how sweaty they felt.

"Your library is very nice," the woman with silver hair said, her eyes drifting around the room before landing on Owen.

"Thank you," Owen said, his voice raising in pitch. He cleared his throat, flushing red from embarrassment. "Um, what books did you, um, write?"

"You might know me as the author of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. Have you read it?"

He gaped. "Have I . . ." This wasn't just anyone. This was Kathryn Lasky! He stared at her, completely at a loss for words. He'd read her books at least four times when he was younger. Maybe more than that, but who was counting?

Kathryn laughed. "I guess you _have_ read it, haven't you? Don't worry, I get that reaction a lot from my fans."

Owen smiled in response, and he watched in a daze as Kathryn walked over into an isle of books. "This is why I don't like talking to other authors," James said, leaning towards him. "They always brag about how their stories are better than mine."

Owen flinched. He'd forgotten the other author was there. "Hey! I'm an author."

"You are?"

"Not _exactly_ , but . . . I don't know." He flushed, looking away. "I'm not an author. Not really."

"Do you write stories?" James asked curiously.

"Y-Yeah." He snuck at glance at his mother, but she was still talking to the group of authors. Bethany was too far away, so there was no way she could get him out of this conversation. "But they aren't any good."

James scoffed. "I'm sure they are. You said so yourself: you're an author."

"Not really. My stories aren't good. They're very bad, actually."

"Who cares if they aren't any good? If you write, you're an author. You don't need to have a fancy title to be called one."

"Really?" Owen perked up, suddenly more interested in talking to this man. "I thought authors were only people who wrote books."

"That's true. You have to write a book and publish it to make money. But anyone can be an author if they're writing."

"I never thought of it like that . . ."

"Most people don't think of it that way," James said. "But it's true. Anyone who writes _is_ an author, in some way."

"So where do you get inspiration for your books?" Owen asked. "Whenever I write they're usually based off of bad ideas that I come up with."

"Gnomes," James replied with a smile. "I don't recommend them, they're really overpriced!" Owen laughed as the author continued speaking. "Actually, I get them from the ideas that pop into my head. So, you wanna know how to write books? Is that what you want to be, an author?"

"I don't know," Owen said, looking at his feet. "I really love books, and I _want_ to be good at writing someday."

"Just keep practicing," James said. "I bet you're already good at writing, but you aren't letting yourself see the full picture. Have you let anyone else read your stories?"

Owen's face reddened. "No!"

"Well, you probably should. I bet that redheaded girl can give you some pointers on your writing."

"I really don't think so," he muttered. "How could I . . . you know, become an author? Hypothetically speaking, because I really don't know what I want to be when I grow up."

James shrugged. "I honestly have no idea, but I think the best thing to do is write and read other peoples' books. That's the only way to get better and figure out your passion. If you need help with that, you should just keep reading books. Books have all the answers, probably more than I could ever give you."

"Wow," Owen said, slowly starting to smile. "Thank you! One last question, and then I'll be out of your way. If you could pick Neverland or Wonderland to visit, which would it be?"

James grinned a little. "I'd probably pick Neverland. Never growing up seems more fun than getting chased by a queen who wants my head."

Owen beamed. He hadn't expected much out of this party, but he certainly wasn't expecting to get advice from an author.

It made him feel a bit better about things, to know that as long as he kept writing, he'd get better at it. He didn't know where the future would take him, but he knew that being an author wouldn't seem so bad at all. He still had plenty of time to figure it out, and as long as everything would go smoothly once they went to the fictional world, this could certainly be a future for him. It didn't seem like such a bad idea.

* * *

_  
"_ _I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become . . ."_


	21. Obligations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Kiel’s health starts to recover, Bethany meets with an old family friend.

_**Breathe (by Lauv)** _

_"_ _You're my all and more. All I know you taught me, yeah . . ."_

* * *

  
After spending the entirety of Friday and Saturday morning wearing the Golden Fleece like a cape, Kiel could confirm that he was already feeling much better. His strength had returned, but it was still less so than normal. His body no longer shook, and his heart didn't race out of control, which was a relief. The color had returned to his face, and he had less trouble walking around now.

To add to that, Bethany had stopped by his house this morning before her book club meeting, dropping off some fictional medicine that he could take. Much to his disappointment, she'd placed the Golden Fleece back into the book it came from, claiming that he'd been wearing it for too long. He wished he could've worn it longer. Nothing, not even a spell had given him that kind of strength. But he _had_ taken more of those recovery pills, which were helpful in boosting his energy.

Kiel was very glad that he was feeling renewed. Unlike the past week, he felt hopeful again. He'd been worried that he'd feel this way forever, which definitely wasn't the right way to live. Drinking 5-Hour-Energy had been the wrong choice, he knew that now. But it was his only option. He hadn't known where else to go.

Telling Bethany what he'd been hiding had surprisingly turned out to be a good thing. After he fainted, that had been the only option left anyway. There wasn't much he could do besides let her help him, now that she knew the truth. It was either that or let himself get worse, and he'd rather get his strength back. There wasn't much he could do to help himself.

Kiel was planning to tell Owen later today, once he was done being homeschooled in the morning. He wasn't very happy about that, but it had to be done. Keeping secrets from his friends had been a mistake, and he underestimated them. They would always help him, no matter what mistakes he made. If he refused the help, he might never recover, and he wouldn't be able to live much longer without it.

Despite his wariness to tell Bethany about his situation, he was glad that he had. He'd been planning to tell absolutely no one, because he was worried what they'd think. Kiel Gnomenfoot, weak? They'd laugh.

He thought Bethany would've judged him harshly for his actions, but he was pleasantly surprised at her reaction. While she had still reacted pretty badly, she hadn't thought any differently of him. That was the only reason he hadn't told his friends. They knew him as Kiel the hero, not as the boy who was weak and close to death.

Kiel never wanted them to see him as weak, since they were his best friends. Really, he never wanted _anyone_ to see him that way. It only made him uncomfortable. But he realized that those things didn't matter. His friends had always been by his side, and they'd only want to help. They wouldn't think of him any differently, because he was still the same person that he'd always been. This realization made him feel a lot better, to know that his weakness didn't define him.

Once he returned to the fictional world, he didn't think this wouldn't be a problem anymore. At least, he _hoped_ so. For now, however, he was already feeling better. A lot of his strength had returned, making him feel nearly back to normal. Everything would be fixed in no time. Well, _almost_ everything. There was still the factor that he might disappear, but he was less worried about that. He wouldn't disappear if he stayed here for a bit longer. Plus, he had the medicine to help him out, so whenever he felt weak he could keep taking that.

He'd only be here for a day or two longer, and then he'd be back in the fictional world before he knew it. That was enough to send a rush of excitement through him. He'd gotten bored of the nonfictional world, and he was ready for an adventure, no matter how dangerous it would be. He couldn't wait to get on with it and go back to the life he'd been missing. It was time to go home and put a stop to Nobody's evil plans, _and_ have fun while doing it.

Truthfully, he was a bit nervous about fighting Nobody, since the last time had resulted in making Nobody angry . . . which resulted in Kiel nearly getting killed by Oliver Bines. But that was when he was alone. He was weaker when he was in the nonfictional world.

This time, he'd be in the fictional world. Once there, his magic wouldn't exhaust him and his body wouldn't be weak. He could finally show off his skills again. He was amazing at fighting when his strength was there, so he nothing but optimistic about this. He was absolutely certain that everything would work out for him, including his friends and the rest of the worlds. The fictional world would be saved in no time!

The only problem was: that time wouldn't be for another few days, and Kiel was bored from sitting in his house for two days. He'd never really understood the concept of grounding, which was what happened to Owen, but he fully understood how he felt now.

No one liked staying at home, and Kiel was no exception. He wasn't the type of person to stay cooped up in one place. He preferred seeing the world, since there were always new things to see in the nonfictional world that he'd never seen on Magisteria.

Deciding that since Bethany wasn't here, and since he was strong enough to leave the house, he could distract himself by walking around town. Since he'd been here for so long, he had a good sense of direction so he wasn't worried about getting lost. He needed something to do, anyway. All he'd been doing for the past day and a half was take medicine, which was pretty boring in itself. He'd perform magic in a heartbeat, but he didn't want to risk his condition further.

Kiel chose a long, winding street that he'd never taken before. It felt refreshing to see something new aside from the houses and trees that were already in his neighborhood. The sky was filled with clouds, looking like it was going to snow or rain. For some reason, walking in the cold didn't really bother him as much as it used to. He preferred the warmer, more comfortable weather, but he didn't particularly mind this either. He often enjoyed it, because he could walk past the houses that were adorned with Christmas lights and decorations of snowmen and reindeer on their lawns.

Before coming here, he'd never seen anything like this before. Magisteria — including Quanterium — never had decorations like this. He liked it, but he didn't understand why Earth was so avid about decorations and holidays. He knew the holidays that Owen had told him about: Christmas, New Years, Easter, and Halloween.

According to Owen, Halloween was the most important, so Kiel agreed that was true. He'd heard many, _many_ stories about it, but never had he experienced it on his own before. He wasn't sure when Halloween was, but he hoped he wouldn't miss it for Owen's sake. Holidays were foreign to him, and he hardly understood what the purpose of them were. Back on Magisteria, nothing was celebrated since the two planets were always in war.

Kiel didn't even know when his birthday was, which shocked Bethany and Owen immensely. Not many citizens celebrated theirs anyway, but most of them knew when their birthdays were. But how _could_ he know? It was pretty much impossible to guess when it'd be. And really, why did it matter so much that he knew what day he was born? Once a year was finished, he usually declared himself a new age.

Oh, wait, so maybe he'd be _sixteen_ right now, since the new year — at least the Earth version — had happened. Huh. Everything was confusing now. Now it all made sense! _That_ was why birthdates were important!

Even if he wanted to, though, he didn't think he could ever find out his true birthdate. He was a clone of Dr. Verity, so technically hadn't he never been born? Dr. Verity was also a man who Kiel doubted had ever written the date to anything, since he was unarguably insane. There was no way he'd ever find out what his birthday was, much less any other important information.

As he wandered around, Kiel amused himself by imagining the hypothetical conversation he'd have with Dr. Verity. It'd start off like: _"Oh, hello Dr. Verity, my arch nemesis and clone! Funny question . . . what day was I born?"_

Dr. Verity would respond with crazed laughter, and then some idiotic comeback. Kiel would never get the answer out of him. That man was too insane to communicate anything properly. None of what Dr. Verity said made any sense, except for the fact that he only cared about wiping out Magisteria. Kiel couldn't remember a single time he'd had a normal conversation with the evil scientist, nor did he really care to. It wouldn't get anywhere.

Kiel found himself wondering how the crazed scientist was doing, anyway. Was he still alive? Last time Kiel had seen him, he'd locked him in the Source of Magic with his own bomb. He couldn't imagine Dr. Verity escaping a trap like that, but if he had, did he know about Nobody too? And if he did, which side was he on?

That brought another question. Which side would the _Magister_ be on? It sent a shiver down his spine just to think about it. Nobody was just as powerful as the Magister was, since he could rewrite himself to be anyone. With his magic, the Magister would be a just as powerful ally.

Had the Magister actually somehow escaped from the book that Bethany had left him in? He remembered Elijah saying that the Magister had been working with Nobody, but was the really true?

Despite the Magister's evilness when he'd tried taking over the nonfictional world, Kiel couldn't imagine it. This was about his own world, not about some other one. His old teacher had made a lot of errors that Kiel was unable to forgive him for, but he couldn't imagine him ever doing something so evil. Would the Magister be that cruel to want to destroy the fictional world, too? And why would he do that?

The Magister had wanted control over the nonfictional world, but he never wanted to destroy his own world. Well, at least not _Magisteria_. From what he'd unfortunately learned, Kiel could assume that the Magister would destroy Quanterium in a heartbeat. He'd heard that from Bethany and Owen, not from the Magister himself.

If that was the case — that the Magister was on Nobody's side and wanted to contribute to destroying the worlds — he wanted to hear it for himself. Despite everything, there was still a small side of Kiel that wanted to trust the Magister. Years of apprenticeship just didn't go away like that, even if he disliked his former teacher now. He really hoped it wouldn't be true. Kiel hoped that the Magister would've learned his lesson from the first mistake he'd made.

As he walked, he hummed a tune he'd heard from one of the many German songs he'd listened to when he came to the nonfictional world a few months ago. The music he'd heard in Magisteria was nothing like what he listened to here. And the music wasn't played on the Nalwork like how the nonfictional music was played on the Internet. He didn't listen to music very much, but he liked what he heard when he did.

Music wasn't popular at all back in his home planet, which Kiel found surprising because it was so captivating. The first time he'd heard Pop (was that what it was called?) music was when he was driving in the car with Bethany and Owen, and a catchy song had played on the radio. It was the first song he'd heard that came from a machine instead of a musical instrument. He wasn't sure what any of the songs were called, but he liked trying out the new ones that he happened to come across.

Kiel continued walking, unsure where he was going but not really caring where he ended up. He had his teleportation button with him, so if anything happened he could easily teleport back to his house.

He turned the corner of a busy street and was surprised that he spotted Owen's neighborhood just up ahead. This wasn't the usual route he took to Owen's house but he had somehow ended up here anyway. Kiel hadn't been planning to see Owen until this afternoon, since he wanted to wait longer before he told Owen the truth.

He didn't want to scare his friend, but there was no other way around it. He'd have to tell Owen the truth eventually, and right now seemed like the best time. It would be a good idea to get this over with. Kiel had told Bethany the upsetting truth, so he could tell Owen as well.

He didn't like how vulnerable this situation put him in, to admit how he'd been feeling. It was hard enough the first time he'd genuinely asked for help. He was used to hiding his weaknesses and trying to overcome them in his own. He had to remind himself that that was the wrong idea in this case. Thinking he could handle something so dangerous had been a huge mistake that he hoped he would never make again.

Kiel just didn't want to upset Owen with the news that they'd have to go back to the fictional world within the next few days. Owen had been trapped in _Pick The Plot_ for three entire years, and he had returned merely a week ago. He hadn't been home for very long. Kiel wished they could've had more time to relax and have fun, but there was only so much time before the fictional world crumbled away and Nobody took control.

Owen would understand; he always did. He had lived to the very end of Kiel's journey, making him braver than even Kiel sometimes was.

With these thoughts in mind, Kiel made his way over to Owen's house and knocked on the door. He heard Bark Vader's loud barks coming from the other side of the door, but no other noises besides that. He waited for nearly a full minute, his face flushed from the cold. The door was finally opened by Owen, who greeted him with a goofy smile. 

"Kiel!"

"Hi, Owen!" Kiel stepped into the house and ruffled his friend's wavy hair, an action that'd he'd started doing now that he was quite a bit taller than Owen.

"What are you doing here? I'd love to hang out, but I have school right now. I'm not exactly allowed to see anyone until I go to the library," Owen reminded him, pointing towards the kitchen. His face brightened. "But we can hang out at the library if you come over in the afternoon."

Kiel glanced over Owen's shoulder to see Ms. Conners seated at the kitchen table, staring at them. He looked back at Owen. "Actually, there's something I need to tell you. Right now, if your mom allows it."

Owen's expression turned serious, and he looked at his mother. "Can me and Kiel talk real quick?"

She nodded. "I'll give you ten minutes, but that's it, boys!"

"Thank you!" Owen said. He hurried up the stairs and into his bedroom, Kiel following behind him. Once they got inside, he slammed the door shut, his broken arm swinging in the process. At the sudden movement, he winced a little and grabbed his broken arm, gingerly holding it in it's cast.

"Is it healing alright?" Kiel asked softly, staring with concern at his broken arm.

Owen forced a smile. "It's getting there, thanks. I'm supposed to get the cast off in six weeks at the earliest. Hopefully, if it heals that fast." He looked at Kiel. "Um, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Kiel frowned, mustering his courage before he spoke. "Something has been happening to me ever since you came back to the nonfictional world. I didn't want to tell you . . . _or_ Bethany, but I was left with no choice. It's kind of serious. My stuff started to disappear out of nowhere, like my cape and my belt. I became really exhausted, and every method I used to solve it didn't make it go away."

He sighed. "It just made me feel worse, and I don't think I'll make it if I stay here much longer. I have a feeling that I'll disappear, just like the rest of my items. I think it's because the fictional world is weak, and it's been growing weaker ever since Nobody split the worlds."

Owen's eyes widened, and he looked like he wanted to say something, but he couldn't. Kiel swallowed hard, gazing at the worried expression on his friend's face. "I'm sorry, Owen. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to worry you. I thought we'd have more time to do fun things together. I thought I could handle it, but I couldn't."

Owen sucked in a breath. "Kiel . . . wow. Oh, my god. I'm really sorry. I wish I'd known earlier. That sounds _awful_." He shook his head in disbelief, visibly upset. "Does Bethany know?"

"Yeah," Kiel breathed. "I happened to faint on Thursday, and she saw me. She gave me some fictional medicine, which has been helping me feel much better than I was earlier."

"But you're still feeling weak," Owen observed, and it wasn't a question. Kiel slowly nodded. "It makes sense that only fictional medicine would help you. The best thing we can do now is go back to the fictional world. We shouldn't wait."

Kiel raised his eyebrows, feeling surprised. "But you just got home."

"I know," Owen said quietly, looking down. "But I knew we'd be going back eventually, to stop Nobody from destroying everything. I just didn't know that the fictional world was getting so weak. We gotta save you before you disappear, before the entire _world_ disappears!"

Kiel smiled, suddenly feeling a lot better now that he'd told Owen. "Don't worry. We'll save the world long before that happens."

"Yeah, I _hope_ so," Owen said, but he looked unsure. "But we have to come up with a plan before we leave. We can't walk into another one of Nobody's traps. He's beaten all of us before."

"Exactly. Which is why we won't let that happen again," Kiel replied with a wink, which seemed to relax Owen. "We'll come up with a solid plan, and then? The three of us will go to the fictional world and show Nobody who's boss."

Owen smiled.

* * *

As soon as Bethany returned from the book club, she made a beeline for one place in particular, not wanting to delay this any longer. After reading what her mother had said in the Doc Twilight comic book, she'd been wanting to contact Murray Chase. Today, that was exactly what she'd do. Of all the nonfictional people, he could certainly give her some answers pertaining her life. Most importantly, about her father and the night he'd gone missing.

Also, since her mother wasn't . . . the most available person . . . to talk to, she'd find some other way to get information.

Bethany had never talked to Murray before, not face to face. She wished she could've met him earlier. She probably had when her father had been here, but she didn't remember him. After her father's disappearance, Bethany's mother had kept Bethany separated from everything that had to do with her father — which was entirely rude, by the way. She didn't know why her mother had kept information like that from her. It was ridiculous, to not tell her own daughter important things like who her father was and who he'd been friends with.

If Bethany had known all of this, she would've been able to take her father home a lot sooner, before Nobody decided to split her apart and torture all of her friends. It would've saved her a _lot_ of time if this had been solved _before_ she was twelve.

Not only did she want to talk to Murray about her mother, but she wanted to explain the situation with Nobody and ask him about Mason Black. If the author of the Doc Twilight comics was still captured by Nobody, that could be bad news. If he was captured, who knew what Nobody was doing to that man? There was also a chance that Mason Black was back in the real world, so maybe she could talk to him too. She had to figure this out, and _fast_. Kiel's life depended on it, so this would have to be quick.

Bethany passed neighborhood after neighborhood before she made it to Ditko Drive, the street that Murray Chase lived on. Last time she'd been here, Kiel had led her nonfictional self to Jupiter City. And the time before that, she and Owen were going on a mission to save her father.

This was the first time she'd be coming to his house alone, and it was also the first time she'd have a real conversation with him. That thought made her nervous. Then again, what _didn't_ make her nervous? It was becoming rarer and rarer that Bethany ever found himself not worried. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time that she wasn't worried about something.

"Here goes nothing," Bethany whispered to herself as she walked purposefully down Ditko Drive. She kept her eyes trained on the house at the end of the street, butterflies swirling in her stomach. This wasn't the time to back down. She needed to talk to Murray, since he was a friend of her father's.

She took a deep breath before climbing the porch steps and knocking on the door. It seemed that Kiel _had_ ended up fixing the door. She hadn't remembered him doing it last time she was here, but she'd been pretty exhausted back then. With the state she was in, she probably wouldn't have been able to tell if Kiel had quickly fixed the door. She couldn't imagine what Murray's reaction would've been if he came home and saw his entire front door was destroyed.

A few moments later, the door opened, and Bethany found herself staring into the eyes of the man from the picture — the one from her fourth birthday party. He squinted, almost as if he didn't recognize her. "Bethany?"

Hi," she said. "Can we talk? I mean, if you're not busy right now."

Murray smiled, stepping back to allow her space. "No, I'm not busy. Come in. I was just doing some illustrations anyway."

"Okay." Bethany slowly walked inside, looking around at the small, cramped house. It looked exactly the same as the last time she'd been here. The picture from her fourth birthday party still hung on the wall, an ever-present reminder of the horrible day that her father had disappeared.

"It's nice to officially meet you," he said, closing the door behind them. "I've been friends with your family for a long time. The last time I talked to you was when you were three!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Even my mom?"

"Yes." He laughed a little. "I know she can be strict at times, but we've been friends for years. I'm not sure why she's against you jumping into books, but she's been that way forever. Don't take it personally. She just doesn't trust the fictional world that much. It can be dangerous."

"Tell me about it," Bethany muttered. "I have so many questions. I don't even know where to start. So, what did my father do when he was, you know, in the nonfictional world?"

"Well, he spent most of his time with you and your mother. I used to come over your house, and only your mother would be there. She'd say, 'You just missed them, Murray! Christian and Bethany jumped into another book!'"

Bethany laughed, feeling suddenly nostalgic. She would give anything to jump into books with her father again. _Anything_. Somehow, talking about him like this made her feel a bit better about everything. Talking about her father was off-limits with her mother, since that always made her mother feel sad. It made Bethany even more desperate and excited to see him again once she went to the fictional world with Owen and Kiel. This time, she _would_ bring him home. At all costs.

She pointed at the picture. "Where did you get this?"

Murray followed her gaze. "Oh, that? I figured you'd notice it. Your mother sent me that picture."

"She did?" Bethany reached out to touch the framed picture, brushing her fingers against her father's red hair.

"Yeah." He coughed. "She gave me some pictures to keep shortly after your party. As you probably could imagine, I wasn't allowed to go back to your house. I could only watch over your family from outside." He moved to stand beside her. "It must be hard, being separated from your father again."

"It is," she whispered. "But I got to spend a lot of time with him in Jupiter City, when I was separated." She looked over at him. "What happened after I turned into light?"

"Let's sit," Murray said, leading her over to the living room, where they both sat on the couch. He placed his hands on his knees. "Well, your father turned back into his normal form after being the Dark, which you already know. We didn't get much time to talk, because Nobody showed up. He sent me back here before I could do anything."

Bethany's eyes grew wide. "Are you kidding? I didn't think he would've showed up so soon. And then after that he — he _separated_ me?"

"I honestly don't know," Murray said. "But yes, I'm assuming he did. It wasn't long after before I saw you — your nonfictional half. After watching over you for a while, I realized that you had been separated. I can only assume that Nobody did it. His plan all along was to keep the fictional world away from the nonfictional one."

"It _was_ him," she said, nodding. "I know it was. No one else would do it, and no one else wanted the worlds separated except him."

"Makes sense," he said in a quiet voice. He said nothing for a few long seconds, simply staring at her.

Bethany frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing," Murray said, waving her off. "It's just that . . . you used to be such a carefree kid. I feel like you seem . . . worried now. Not that I can blame you, with your father being in the fictional world and all."

"I'm fine," Bethany assured him. "There's just a lot of stuff going on right now. Things have been crazy lately. I've just rejoined myself, so now I'm trying to figure out my life. I'm getting myself back in gear before I go jumping into books again. Me and my friends are also going to head to the fictional world in a few days, to stop Nobody."

He looked shocked. "You're stopping _Nobody_? Just you and your friends? Bethany, that's incredibly dangerous. I don't think he can be beat. He's far too strong. I know you've been through a lot, but I'd hate to see you in more danger."

"I know. Me too," she said. "But the fictional world isn't doing so great. Nobody has this plan to turn everything into pure possibility, which will wipe out the entire fictional universe. All of the characters are going to die if I don't stop him, and my father is still there. He could disappear _too_." Her voice grew quiet. "I need to bring him home, once I defeat Nobody."

Murray's eyes regarded Bethany which much sympathy. "I also think you should go. But you have to be very careful around that villain. Before you do anything, maybe you should consider talking to your mother about everything that's happened. You've been hiding this for years, but I don't think you need to keep it a secret anymore, now that you've found your father. She could help you."

Bethany found herself nodding, even though she was lying again. Either way it would be a bad idea. But now that she thought about it, her mother knew more than she let on. If Bethany opened up to her, her mother might as well.

On the other hand, her mother would never let her step into the fictional world again if she told her everything. But maybe it would relieve some of her burdens. Maybe she should just tell her mother _everything_ , and make her deal with it. And then she'd get the answers she wanted about her father.

"I don't think that's the best idea," she said finally. "I need to defeat Nobody, whether she wants me to or not. She would only hold me back from going, and I can't have that happening. And I still need to bring Dad home."

"Right. But I don't think she'll be against it if you tell her about your father. She doesn't know where he's been. She'll want you to take him home."

Guilt blossomed in Bethany's chest, but she brushed it away. "Yeah, she will," she agreed. "But then she'd still keep me from going. I've been hiding the fact that I've been jumping into books ever since I started doing it, because I know that she would stop me."

He sighed. "You don't know that for sure."

"I think I do. She told me that she doesn't want me jumping into books!"

"I can't change your mind? I really think that you should communicate with her. Just let her know what's been happening. It couldn't hurt."

She shook her head. "Sorry, Mr. Chase."

"Alright." He grimaced, then smiled at her. "I tried. I know I can't stop you from heading into danger, but try to be careful when you do, okay?"

Bethany nodded.

"Is there anything else you wanted to ask?" Murray asked. "I'm always here to answer anything you have questions about."

Bethany paused, thoughts racing through her head. Where to begin? There were so many things she hadn't known about, and there were still so many things she had yet to learn. There were years and years worth of questions, all bottled up ever since her father had disappeared from her life. She knew that no one would be able to answer them except her father and mother, who had lived through it all.

"I'm not sure," she said. "I feel like none of them can really be answered, not until my father comes home."

"And he will," he said, nodding. "I know he will."

Bethany swallowed hard, unsure what to say in response to that. She wanted so badly to believe he'd come home. It was all she'd ever wished for. She rose from her seat. "I have to go, but _thank you_ for talking with me, Mr. Chase. Seriously, thank you."

Murray waved her off. "Don't worry about it. I'm here to help."

Smiling, she walked to the door and opened it. Then, something came to her mind. She whipped around. "Wait! What happened to Mason Black? Is he here, in the nonfictional world?"

He looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"He . . . he got captured by Nobody," she said. "I'm not sure how long ago it was, or if he ever returned.

"Oh," Murray said. He scratched his chin. "I never knew about that. If he got captured by Nobody, I really don't think he'd be here. Unless he came back."

"Do you think he returned here?" Bethany asked.

"He might've. Why do you ask?"

She shrugged, but an idea was beginning to formulate in her head, one that she hadn't fully grasped yet. "I was just wondering." She opened the door the rest of the way and walked outside.

"Be safe!" he called out after her. "Stop over my house if you need anything. I'm only a few neighborhoods away."

Bethany looked back at him. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind. See you later!"

With that said, she shut the door and was once again alone in the cold February air, her breath coming out in clouds. There was only one thing left to do, which was to head home. She needed some time to be alone, to think and recharge. She wanted to spend at least one last day to herself before they left for the fictional world. Could anyone blame her for that?

Yes, Kiel was still in danger, but saving him could wait until tomorrow. Bethany needed to figure everything out, more in her own mind than anywhere else. There was so much going on, and she needed a few hours to do absolutely nothing.

After that, a trip to the library wouldn't be a bad idea. She needed to figure a plan out for what they'd do once they got to the fictional world, but it'd be best if she jumped into a few books first, as a practice run and a way to clear her head. Then, once she was done, she'd talk this whole plan over with Owen and Kiel. Right now, it seemed like the most reasonable thing for her to do.

* * *

Owen sat at the checkout counter, staring blankly at his math homework as he tried to do some problems. He had three years worth of school to catch up on, and since he wasn't even _allowed_ to start school yet, well, that meant he had no free time to do anything except work or study. He was working on Algebra I, since he'd missed his math classes from seventh grade up until tenth grade.

Someone placed a large stack of books on the counter, and Owen quickly moved his math packet out of the way. He peered over the side of the large stack, only to see a young boy, maybe ten years old. Owen forced a smile. "Do you have your library card?"

The boy silently nodded, sliding his library card over to Owen. He scanned it and handed it back to him. "Have a good night."

"You too, mister," the boy said, then proceeded to fit the stack of books into his small hands and walk out the door without dropping a single book.

"Impressive," Owen muttered to himself.

He adjusted the strap of the cast that engulfed his broken arm, taking a moment to observe his injury. After a week it still wasn't healed. He had never broken a bone until now, so he assumed it would heal within a few weeks. He was unfortunately mistaken, and now he would have to wait a long time until his arm fully healed. He wondered if he would ever be able to sketch again, like he used to do in class.

"I'm going to start closing up," Owen's mother said, tapping him on the shoulder. "Start putting these books away. And _only_ use your good arm! No injuring yourself further!" She pointed at an enormous pile next to Owen, which he'd been ignoring all night.

He started to object, but caught sight of her face. Even when she didn't act like it, she always looked worried. She was especially clingy ever since he'd come home. He wished she wouldn't be. It only reminded him of how much things had changed in the past years he'd been gone.

Owen nodded, and she smiled, then headed into her office. Bending down, he carefully picking up a small portion of the pile, using his left hand, elbow, and chest to balance them out. As quickly as he could, he placed the books back on their shelves. He then went back to the large pile and picked up another five books, balancing them once again in his left hand. Just as he finished with the last book, something on the shelf above him caught his eye.

It was a Kara Dox book.

Owen's eyes widened, and he automatically reached up for it, taking it off the shelf and looking at the cover. His heart quickened at the sight of her. She was smiling mid-run, with the same pink hair and the same jumpsuit. He traced a finger over her face, his heart aching painfully. It had been Kara who had gotten him through the hard times in the Time Security Agency. It had been her who helped him when he was having a panic attack. It was _her_ who prevented him from feeling helpless, when he was close to losing hope.

She understood him, and she protected him . . . but she was gone now. And he missed her. He hoped she was okay after getting taken by the time agents. There were times when he almost thought he saw her, like when a girl's pink hair in the library caught his eye, but it actually wasn't Kara. Sometimes it felt like she was still around, but she never was. It amazed him how close they'd become after only a week (well, three years) of knowing each other.

The fictional would was going to die, slowly but surely. The signs were there. Owen should've realized it sooner. He never believed anything that severe would happen to the fictional world, and yet, it had. Since Bethany had been rejoined, he thought they'd have some leverage over Nobody. He didn't think it would matter if they waited a bit longer before going on the next adventure, but he was wrong.

Kiel had nearly died because the fictional world was growing weaker. Owen's friends needed him, now more than ever. He couldn't let Nobody take control over the world he loved. He was only an ordinary kid, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying.

"Um, excuse me?"

Owen turned around to see a girl, maybe a few years younger than him. She tilted her head. "Do you work here?"

"Oh, sorry!" Owen exclaimed, hastily putting the Kara Dox book back on the shelf. He scolded himself for getting so distracted. He hadn't even heard anyone come in. "Uh, yes, I do. Do you need to find something?"

"Yeah. Do you know where the Kiel Gnomenfoot books are?"

Owen grinned. "Of course. Right this way." He walked over to the fantasy isle, the path engrained in his memory. He'd been here so often that he knew where pretty much everything was, most importantly all of the fantasy book. They were his favorite genre, so it came to no surprise that he knew this section by heart.

Glancing back at the girl, he pointed to the Kiel Gnomenfoot books that were packed tightly against one another in the shelf. "There they are. Have you read them before?"

The girl shook her head. Owen reached over, plucking _Kiel Gnomenfoot: Magic Thief_ from the bookcase. He handed it to her. "You'll love it. It's about these two planets called Magisteria and Quanterium, and they've basically been rivals for generations, since Magisteria uses magic and Quanterium uses science. It's an _amazing_ series."

He put his finger on the cover, showing her the picture of Kiel. "This is the hero — well, the main one — Kiel Gnomenfoot. He's from Magisteria, and he has to go on all of these quests to find the keys and . . ." At the look on the girl's face, he stopped talking. Whoops! It was hard to control himself when introducing others to his favorite books.

"You spoiled a lot of things," the girl said, wrinkling her nose.

"Not really," Owen said. "Everything I told you should be on the summary."

She flipped over the book and looked at the summary on the back, then looked back up at him. "You're right. It's all on there."

"See? Then I didn't spoil anything!"

"You could've."

"But I didn't."

The girl hugged the book against her chest. "What was that book you were looking at earlier? When I walked over you got scared and put it away."

"What?" Owen frowned. "Oh. That was um . . . that was just a Kara Dox book."

Her face brightened. "I love those books! Books about time travel are my favorite kind. How did you like them?"

A blush crept to his face. "I haven't read them yet."

"You haven't? Why not?"

"I guess I never was interested enough," Owen said. "I prefer fantasy books."

"Well, you should read them. They're as good as you said the Kiel Gnomenfoot books are," the girl said. Without another word, she walked back towards the checkout.

As Owen watched the girl leave, he felt guilty for some reason. The feeling had never really left since Kiel told him the news about his condition. He didn't have a clue about it until this morning. He felt even worse because Kiel had decided to hide it for the sake of Owen's happiness.

It was true that he was content here. In the real world, he was safe and at peace. But he knew that he never would be truly at peace if he didn't go back to the fictional world. The break had been nice, but he was ready to go back. He couldn't stay here just because it was safe. He wanted to help his friends and their world, and he had to take down Nobody before he ruined more lives . . . if that was even possible. It had to be.

He wasn't sure if he could do anything to stop Nobody, but Bethany certainly could. Where was she, anyway? Owen was becoming increasingly frustrated that she hadn't stopped by. He'd called her from his mother's phone, but she hadn't answered or called him back. And she hadn't come to the library at all today, which was unusual for her.

What could she be doing right now that was more important than talking to Owen and saving Kiel before he disappeared? Owen had to see her, and they needed to come up with a good plan for how to stop Nobody. Kiel was currently resting at his house, so he obviously wouldn't be accessible. Owen hoped she'd come to the library tomorrow, because they couldn't delay this. The fictional world and their best friend's life was at stake!

"Owen!" his mother called from across the building. "Come on! I'm about to turn the lights off!"

Casting one hopeful look over his shoulder to make sure Bethany wasn't climbing out of a book, Owen accepted the disappointment that followed and rushed to the exit. "Coming!"

* * *

On Sunday, Bethany was more than ready to jump into a book again. Or so she hoped.

She'd stopped at Kiel's house again to check in on him and give him some more medical supplies. It seemed to be building his strength back up, which made her relieved. She didn't want him to suffer anymore than he already had been. Although he still wasn't back to normal, this delayed the process of him disappearing.

They'd probably be going to the fictional world today, so they wouldn't need to wait around anymore. They could finally get going.

She was in the library that afternoon. She'd been there for about an hour, scanning the isles for books to jump into. Owen wasn't here yet, so it gave her some time to practice. She definitely would need it, since she hadn't jumped into one for a couple of years.

After finding a remotely unthreatening-looking book called _The Tale of Peter Rabbit_ , Bethany held the book open and set it on the floor, staring down at it. She lifted her foot, hesitantly sticking it in. Just as her foot started to pass through the pages, forming into various words like "toes" and "heel", she quickly yanked it back out. She was shaking all over. She didn't know why.

Jumping into books used to be so easy and effortless. And now that she hadn't jumped into one for a few years . . . well, it sounded silly, but she was afraid to. She didn't know what would happen if she jumped into another book. Could she still do it as effectively? Would Nobody try to separate her again?

A few minutes later, Bethany found herself in the bathroom, splashing water onto her face. Leaning forward against the countertop, she stared hard into the white, porcelain sink. She forced herself to take slow, focused breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. After all the nervous breakdowns she had over the past years, this exercise was something she'd learned would calm her down.

She pressed her fingers into her temple, trying to massage away the negative feelings. Why did she feel this way? How could _she_ be afraid to jump into a book? She had this power — this gift — and she was throwing it all away because she was too _afraid_?

That was ridiculous. She couldn't be this selfish. She was the only person with this ability, and she had already survived this long with it. She didn't want to feel this way, but for some reason she did. Why? She didn't have a clue.

Kiel had come here for one reason: to rejoin her two halves so that her powers would be redeemed. She needed to jump into a book. She _had_ to, if she wanted to save Kiel, defeat Nobody, and find her father.

So why was she still shaking?

Bethany willed her feet to move, to go back into the library and jump into that book. It wouldn't be that hard. It wasn't even a horror book! But her feet didn't move an inch, and at that moment she knew that her fears had gotten the best of her. She hardly understood why she was so scared. It didn't make sense. She sighed heavily and turned back to the mirror to stare at her reflection. She looked just as miserable as she felt.

A short time later, Bethany was sitting back in the library, though for an entirely different reason. She was in the children's section, which seemed to be the only part of this place that never failed to comfort her. She distracted herself by writing bullet-points about Nobody, who she knew she would have to face eventually.

The more Bethany tried coming up with ideas, the less they came to her. There had to be _some_ way to stop Nobody. Bethany knew that she was probably the only person who could have a solid chance at stopping him. By existing, she was a threat to him. She needed to figure out a plan, or a weakness that he had. Something was staring her right in the face, but she needed to figure out what it was.

"'Featureless body, manipulative, feels threatened by half-fictional girls,' Owen's voice rang over her shoulder, making her jump. "Are these notes about Nobody or Kiel?"

Scowling, Bethany snatched her notes away and shoved them into her backpack. "Very funny."

He took a seat across from her, setting a bag of schoolbooks on the table. "My mom makes me work on this when I'm working at the checkout counter," he explained.

For them, this was a usual hangout spot. While Owen was being homeschooled, he also worked at the library in the afternoons. This gave Bethany a chance to see him, which was always a relief. She had come here the moment she finished up at Kiel's, to do homework and maybe even some book-jumping . . . but the second idea obviously never turned out.

"You didn't actually come over here to do homework, did you?" Bethany questioned.

He shook his head. "I've been wanting to talk to you since yesterday. Kiel stopped by and told me what's been going on with him. I feel so bad that I didn't realize it sooner."

"I felt the same way," she said. "It's okay, I have a plan . . . but it'll mean that we have to go back to the fictional world tomorrow or the next day."

"Okay." He nodded. "I was going to say the same thing. We need to get back right away."

Bethany blinked. "I thought you'd be against it."

Owen looked mildly offended. "No! I wouldn't be _against_ it. It's a good idea, and we gotta save Kiel before he gets worse. That _is_ the most important thing . . . along with defeating Nobody."

Bethany smiled a little. She hadn't really wanted to return to the fictional world right away either, but they both knew it was necessary. Saving Kiel was the most important thing, and then they could figure everything out from there. She just hadn't expected him to _want_ to go, after all the pain he'd gone through in _Pick The Plot_. It was nice to know that he was willing to go.

"Despite all the awful things he's done, I have to admit . . . my life _has_ improved in some ways since Nobody split me in half," she told Owen, placing her hands on the table. "Not the forgetting stuff part or the Nobody taking over the world part, but my fictional self got to be with my dad. The nonfictional half of me was here, of course, but it wasn't as bad because for a while, my life was normal. For once, I _felt_ normal."

"Yeah," Owen said, looked down. "I get what you mean, but we can't forget all of the bad things Nobody did to us. He'll do worse things if we don't defeat him soon." He shuddered.

"I know. Like destroying the fictional world," Bethany said. "That's why I'm making this list, but I don't think he has weaknesses. Got any ideas?"

He scratched his head, looking lost in thought for a moment. "Huh. I don't know. He can rewrite himself into anything, which gives him a definite bonus. He could basically do anything he wants. He could do the same thing that he did to me, but I think that when you face him — you'll have a much better chance of fighting him than I did."

"Don't say that, Owen!" Bethany said, surprised he would even think that. She looked him in the eyes. "You tried everything you could to save me. Nobody is _too_ powerful, and it's not your fault that you couldn't stop him. We'll be ready this time. We both have the superpowers Charm gave us, so you have just as much advantage as I do."

Owen smiled. "Thanks. I'll try to be useful when we get there. Somehow."

"You already are," Bethany said. At the disbelief in his eyes, she added, "I'm _serious_. You know more about books than I ever have. You know pretty much every book in this library, _and_ you have your time powers! Why wouldn't that be useful?"

"I don't know." He sighed. "I'm just not a hero like you or Kiel. I couldn't even escape from the book that Nobody trapped me in. I tried to contact you so many times while I was in _Pick The Plot . . ._ but it didn't work."

Bethany bit her lip. "I'm . . . I'm sorry, Owen. If only I'd been faster — I swear I would've — I _know_ I would've gotten you out of that book the moment you got thrown in there." She shuddered, anger building up inside her. "Nobody deserves to suffer. After what he did to us, he deserves it."

"Tell me about it! Especially after he separated the worlds _and_ you."

She nodded. "So I guess that leaves us with no other option, then. I thought we'd have more time before . . ." Bethany looked around, making sure that no one else was listening. As far as she could tell, though, they were only surrounded by books. "When do _you_ think we should go?"

"Just like you said," he replied. "I think it'll be best if we leave tonight or tomorrow, once we make some type of plan. Nobody probably expects us to come after him, but I'm sure he won't expect it if all of our fictional friends are with us. It'll give us the element of surprise, you know?"

Bethany smiled. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"I agree!"

"But," she said. "We're not . . . we're not bringing Kiel."

"What?" Owen looked both hurt and shocked. "But he's a magician! And more importantly — he's our friend! Why _wouldn't_ we bring him?"

Bethany only shook her head. "We can't bring him, okay? I'm not letting anyone else get hurt."

He raised his eyebrows. "Except me?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm only letting you come because you're already talking with me about it, and because I know that if Kiel comes, he'll try sacrificing himself for us and we can't have that happening. Plus, he's fictional. If the fictional world happens to . . . disappear, what if he does too?"

"We're not going to let that happen. We already talked about this! He needs to go back to the fictional world. It's the only way we can save him."

"I know —"

"Besides, you're only half nonfictional," Owen pointed out, giving her a reproachful look. "What if half of you disappears too?"

"I don't know if it works that way," she said quietly. "Either way, we're not telling Kiel about this."

"Why not?"

She sighed. "You . . . you just need to trust me on this. I'm not being reckless anymore. We have to come up with a plan to defeat Nobody before he destroys the world."

"Yeah, but our plan would be a lot easier if it involves Kiel!" Owen said. "I get that he needs to rest, but we can't just leave him behind! Being in the fictional world is going to help him, Bethany! He sacrificed everything to come here."

" _Fine,_ " Bethany said, not having the energy to argue anymore. "So, what do we do? How do we defeat Nobody?"

"I don't really know, but I know that we _can_ figure it out if we have help. We're going to need it. We can team up with all of our friends, and with their help I'm sure we can figure something out. Each of us has some type of power, so we'll be like Marvel! There's no way we can face Nobody without some assistance. Teaming up is what superheroes do best."

"But we're not superheroes."

"Right. Not _all_ of us," Owen said, glancing down at his arm. "But I think this is a great plan. We can go to the fictional world tomorrow, once we're ready, and then we can group our friends together." He slowly started to smile. "I wasn't before, but I'm actually kind of optimistic about this. I think we'll have a good shot if we're in a group."

Defeated, she leaned back into her chair. "Okay. I guess we should have our friends with us, but I also don't want to risk anyone's life in the process. We'll have to be careful."

"Of course we'll be," he said. "It'd be worse if it was just us two. There's no way we could defeat Nobody ourselves, without outside help."

"Yeah," Bethany whispered. "Let's start planning this. I'll feel better if we have some sort of plan that we're going to follow."

Owen took out a notepad and pencil and they began brainstorming ideas for their plan, jotting down notes every now and then. They talked long into the afternoon, mulling over everything that happened and everything that probably would happen. Eventually, they came up with a decent plan about what they would do, but Bethany doubted it was very good. She kept this thought to herself, though.

At one point, a brilliant idea came to Bethany's head, but she didn't say it aloud. What if she contacted the author of Nobody's story? Owen had told her that Nobody's author was a guy named Mason Black. What if she could figure out a way to defeat Nobody all on her own?

She'd talk to Mason Black, and he could reveal Nobody's greatest weakness. The problem would be solved, and Bethany could save the fictional world without making up an elaborate plan. She wouldn't need to get anyone else in danger, either. She figured if she dragged her friends with her it would only make things harder.

"Owen?" Ms. Conners called. She came around the corner, an all-too-familiar look of worry on her face. "Ow — Oh, good. You're here."

Bethany felt a pang of sadness for Ms. Conners. Since Owen wouldn't be starting school until junior year, his mom wouldn't let him out of her sight. The three years of him being gone had taken up a hole in her heart, and even Owen's presence took some getting used to for her. She would always be traumatized at the idea of Owen leaving her again, which was why Bethany was reluctant about taking him on a mission to defeat Nobody. Ms. Conners would probably kill her if she found out Owen was missing again.

"Hey, Mom!" Owen said with a smile. "Me and Bethany are just hanging out."

"Oh. Alright." She looked a bit anxious, but she smiled. "I wanted to let you know that I'll be working later tonight, so you'll have to order in some food. Pizza . . . Chinese . . . whatever you want. Are you okay to walk home with Bethany?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine. It's a short walk."

"Okay. I'll see you later tonight."

She walked away, leaving Bethany and Owen alone in their own thoughts. At this point, they could understand and read each other quite well, so they didn't need to ask what the other was thinking. They knew just by the feeling that hung in the air. And as for Bethany, she felt guilty.

"Owen —" she began.

He shot her a look. "Stop. It isn't your fault that Nobody threw me into that book."

"But it is!" she protested. "Your mom is always afraid you're going to run away again, because of what Nobody did — what _I_ did. If we hadn't gone into the Doc Twilight comic books then everything would be fine. My stupid, reckless attitude ruined everything, and I wasn't smart enough about it. I know you blame me for it. I can practically hear you thinking it! If I had just stopped jumping into books, we wouldn't have had this problem. Nobody wouldn't have gotten so powerful, I wouldn't have been separated, and you wouldn't have been in that book for three years! And Kiel —" Her voice caught in her throat. "Kiel lost his _magic_ because of me. He got captured by Nobody because of me! And he had to create another link to the real world because I let Nobody split me apart! So just admit that you're done with being my friend because you know what? That's what I deserve."

She hadn't realized she had started crying, and the library had gone utterly silent. Owen was staring at her with wide, horrified eyes. Shaking her head, she slammed her palms on the table and stood from her chair, quickly scooping up her backpack.

"Bethany! Wait!" She had sprinted halfway across the library when Owen caught up to her, grabbing her by the hand.

"What?" she demanded, attempting to yank her hand away. Tears streamed down her face.

"Stop blaming yourself every time something goes wrong! You know why you kept jumping into books? To find your dad. And you found him, because of how determined you were! Without you jumping into books, we wouldn't have become friends —"

"Yes we would've."

"The only reason I wanted to be your friend in the first place was because you could jump into books."

She laughed, choking back a sob. She didn't know how much she had to hear this from someone else until now.

"Also, we wouldn't have become friends with Kiel, or Gwen, or Charm." He smiled a little at the last part, making Bethany wonder if he still had feelings for her. "Book-jumping is your entire life. Nobody is just some villain who wants control of the fictional world. It isn't your fault. It isn't."

"But it always feels like it is." Bethany's voice came out more like a whimper, and she wanted to yank her hand away and run out the door. She wanted to run forever until the sun set and rose again the next day. But she didn't.

She allowed herself to be pulled into a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around Owen. She rested her head on his shoulder, slightly leaning over since she was a few inches taller than him now. Emotions welled up inside her: anger, frustration, depression, sadness. They had been bottled up for so long, and they poured out through her tears. She cried as silently as she could, but she couldn't suppress the wracking shudders that went through her body each time she took a breath.

"It isn't your fault," he said again, rubbing her back. "All of us make mistakes."

At his words, she held onto him tighter, silently thanking him for being such an amazing friend. Bethany wanted to believe him, but she didn't know how. Her whole life seemed to be mistakes, one after the other. She didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of her. Everything that had happened to her father and her friends was because of her jumping into books.

When her crying fit was over, she pulled away from Owen, wiping her nose on her sleeve. His eyebrows were scrunched, and there was a frown on his face.

"Let's get going," she said, her voice shaky.

"Are you sure?"

Bethany nodded numbly, but it was a lie. She was far from okay. She felt so depressed that her entire heart might burst. She couldn't help but think that everything she had done up until now was her fault. The only thing that made her feel better was the thought of defeating Nobody, the villain who had taken her friends and memories away. And once it was over, she would finally bring her dad home, and she would vow to never lose sight of him again.

Owen nodded, mirroring her expression. He led her outside, and they both walked through the sliding doors, staring at their feet. "What I said wasn't completely true. We didn't have to jump into books to become friends, you know."

Bethany looked at him, sniffing loudly. A small smile grew on her face. "Of course we didn't. I have no idea why I never wanted to be your friend before. It would've been nice to have someone for those years after my fourth birthday party."

He smiled back. "Hey — I just had a great idea. Do you want to jump into _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?_ Maybe grab some candy? It would be good to take our minds off of this Nobody stuff. Ooh, or can we swim in the chocolate river? I've always wanted to do that!"

Bethany pointed a finger at him. "You are _not_ swimming in that chocolate river. But sure. It's been a while since I've jumped into a book for fun."

Owen grinned, pumping his fist in the air. " _Yes!_ Let me just text my mom. I'll tell her I'm stopping by your house to hang out or something. Who _knows_ how long we'll be in there — eating free candy, no less!"

She laughed. The idea _did_ sound tempting. And it would definitely distract her from her worries. She didn't know why, but all of the sudden, she felt like things would be okay. She'd have a nice break, and then tonight she would go see Mason Black, then hopefully would defeat Nobody all by herself.

Bethany patted him on the shoulder.

"Alright, I give in. As long as we don't interfere with the main characters or change the story. I don't want to deal with more than we've already been dealing with."

Owen laughed, and so did she. Although, for entirely different reasons. "After everything we've been through, I thought you were past all your rules."

Her laugh died in her throat. "If you think I'm past that, you're dead wrong. We still have to be careful."

"But wasn't it you who became friends with Gwen, a main character of her series?" Owen crossed his arms, cocking an eyebrow. Despite his attempts to look serious, a smile fought its way to his face.

"That's different," Bethany protested, her face heating up at the mention of Gwen. "I needed her help when we went to Jupiter City to face the Dark. Her series didn't change at all, since it was at the end of her books." Then she smirked. "But wasn't it _you_ who practically threw yourself all over Charm, who is also a main character of a book series?"

Owen blushed crimson, quickly looking away. "Bethany! That's crazy! I didn't _throw myself_ —"

She hit him in the shoulder. "Relax. I'm kidding! Actually, not really. You _do_ have a huge crush on her. Well . . . at least you did. You still do, right?"

"Yeah, of _course_ I do," he muttered, kicking a pebble with his shoe. His face was still bright red, and his head was hung low in embarrassment.

"What about Kara?"

Owen's head perked up, and he looked her in the eyes. "What about her?"

She shrugged. "I don't know . . . when I was reading _Pick The Plot_ , I got the idea that maybe you liked he—"

"NO!" Owen shouted loudly in her ear, making her jump. "Let's, um, not talk about anything you may have read in that specific book, okay? Do you know how messed up that is? That isn't cool. You were _reading my mind_."

She couldn't help but smile. "Owen, I already read your mind even _without_ the book. I know you well enough that I can sense when you're going to mess up in a book." She had meant it jokingly, as a way to ease the conversation, but her statement seemed to make everything worse.

If it was possible, Owen crossed his arms tighter over his chest. "I don't mess everything up," he whispered, staring at the sidewalk again.

Then, she realized her mistake. She remembered what she had read in _Pick The Plot._ All of Owen's insecurities were laid out, in page form. She never realized that she could relate to him until then, because contrary to popular belief, Owen had negative thoughts about himself, just like Bethany did. But she would never understand the depth of what he'd been through, and she felt bad about that. He was her best friend, and she wanted him to have more confidence in himself.

Bethany reached over and rubbed his shoulder. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned that. It's not true." He gave her a surprised look, and she sighed, forcing a smile. "How about some Willy Wonka?"

Owen returned the smile, making her feel a bit better about things. She didn't want to mention anything about her being scared to jump into books, but as long as her best friend was with her when she did it, she didn't think it'd seem so bad.

* * *

_"_ _You're my all and more. But I need room to breathe, yeah . . ."_


	22. The Solo Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Determined to solve things with Nobody on her own, Bethany sets out to get information.

**Come _Back For Me (by Jaymes Young)_**

_"_ _Oh, whatever you do, don't come back for me. After all I've bled for you . . ."_

* * *

  
After an exciting trip to _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ (and being warned many times that he could eat, but he could _not_ swim in the chocolate river), Owen returned to work an hour later, making up an excuse to his mother that Bethany had a stomach virus and needed help. He hated lying to his mother, but he didn't want to get into any more trouble. He was still gaining his mother's trust — and his freedom — back. He wanted to be on his best behavior until they went to the fictional world.

He felt bad about leaving his mother again. Often, she looked worried. He knew he'd caused it, because she never used to get anxious before. It always made him feel guilty to see her that way. He never wanted his mother to suffer because of him — because of Nobody's actions. Owen would come home this time; he promised himself that. They probably would only be gone for two days or three, but no more than that.

Owen had chosen to work later tonight instead of going home at 5:00 to eat dinner. Usually, he went home with his mother anyway. She always worked late, so Owen constantly found himself either eating in the library or going home early to eat.

He wished Kiel would come to the library. He hadn't for three days, but only because he'd been at his house, taking fictional medicine and resting until they went back to the fictional world. That made sense. The threat of disappearing couldn't be taken lightly, and Bethany had told Kiel that he shouldn't move too much, to avoid getting worse.

Owen wished he could call Kiel, but since the boy magician didn't have a phone it couldn't be helped. He was considering stopping over Kiel's house just to spend time with him until his mother made him come home, but he was still grounded, which meant he couldn't go anywhere without telling his mother and getting permission from her. Also, he was always working from early afternoon to nighttime, so he didn't know if he'd be able to.

"Hey, Owen, can you put these books away?" his mother asked, dumping a small pile of books on the checkout counter. "I'm locking up, but I have a few things to take care of in the office after that."

"Sure," Owen replied, inwardly groaning. He pushed his schoolwork aside and used his non-injured hand to steer the pile to the edge of the counter. Once he was done, he gingerly placed the books into his hand, struggling a bit from the weight. That was the main thing that bothered him about his broken arm. Carrying books used to be much easier with two arms, and using one meant that it took ages to put each book away.

He edged out of the checkout area and walked over to the romance section, where all of the books in the pile were from. Often, he read the descriptions of books just for fun, but the romance books either made him self-conscious, grossed out, or embarrassed. There was no in-between.

Of all the books in the library, the romance books were the only genre he never liked reading. That, and the boring books about school or cooking or travel. Okay, maybe books about those things were helpful, like with learning a new skill. That made sense. But what did romance books do, besides making Owen feel uncomfortable? Nothing.

Owen dropped the books in the aisle of the romance section and sorted through them. He grabbed _To All the Boys I've Loved Before_ — which sounded kinda gross, by the way — and looked around for Jenny Han's name. He spotted the books she'd written and slid the book onto the shelf. He'd never been interested in reading that book, but according to Bethany, a movie had been made for it back in August.

As he put the rest of the books away, his mind wandered to his redheaded best friend, and the things she'd said earlier. He hadn't expected Bethany to blow up like that, and it both alarmed and saddened him. He wished he could convince her somehow that none of it had been her fault, because it wasn't. It didn't make sense why she thought that.

Owen was the only one who was to blame. He'd asked Charm to give him superpowers, and he ended up in Nobody's prison. He'd gotten himself thrown in _Pick The Plot_ because of his own stupid actions _,_ but in the end, it didn't matter because he'd been able to help Bethany when she was on the quest to save her father. None of it was her fault. It was Owen's for getting himself trapped by Nobody.

But the clear truth was, it was all Nobody's fault. He was the obvious person to blame, after everything he did. At least Owen and Bethany could agree on _something_.

Bethany was an innocent girl who only wanted to find her father. Sure, a lot of times she could be reckless, but she never did anything terrible. But for some reason, Bethany seemed convinced that she was the cause of all the struggles Owen had gone through. He didn't really see how that made sense, but arguing with her about it didn't seem to help, so he'd let it go.

He finished up with the romance books and walked over to the children's section to organize everything. As usual, it was a mess. Books always ended up scattered all over the floor, normally around the Rick Riordan books. Sighing, he bent down and got to work, setting aside some books that looked interesting and placing other books in piles.

There were many times when Owen had to stack the piles on top of already-filled shelves, since the children's section was always crowded with too many books. This gave Owen an opportunity to pick out the books he wanted to read and take them home, which helped organize things a little.

Once the children's section finally looked a bit neater than before, Owen grabbed the books he'd taken out of the pile and tucked them under his arm. He hurried back to his mother's office, where he found her locking the door. She turned around. "You ready to go? Did you make sure the children's section is clean?"

"Yeah."

His mother raised her eyebrows, giving him a look. "Are you sure?"

"Of course," Owen said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, great." She walked to the front doors, and he followed, still carrying the books. She opened the door for him, and he quickly flicked off the lights before walking through.

"What books do you have there?" his mother asked, pointing to the books he was carrying.

"Oh, um . . ." Owen looked down at the covers. "These are just random books I got from the children's section. I got _The Boundless_ , _Artemis Fowl_ , _Aru Shah and the End of Time_ , and _A Crack in the Sea_." He shrugged. "I don't know. These all look interesting to me."

"They sound like it," Owen's mother said. "I haven't read any of those, except _Artemis_ _Fowl_." She smiled. "Do you know how terrible it would be if you didn't like books? It's a good thing you aren't like most boys, Owen. All most boys care about is sports."

Owen wasn't sure whether that was a compliment or not, so he just gave her a strained smile. "Thanks?"

She clicked a button on her keys, causing her car to light up and make two short beeping noises. They opened the doors and climbed into the car, which was still quite cold. His mother started the car and turned on the seat heater, but it took a while to feel the effects of it, and Owen was still freezing.

They made it home in less than ten minutes, since the drive was always short depending on traffic. His mother pulled into the driveway, and pushed a button to turn the car off. Trying to hide his shivering, Owen pushed the heavy door open and stumbled out of the car. He hurried to the front door and stood there, stamping his feet as he waited for his mother to open the door.

As usual, it was freezing at night. Owen never liked the cold, and he couldn't bear to be outside for more than five minutes unless he was bundled in layers upon layers of clothes. He stood next to the door, wishing his mother would hurry up and open it already. She finally walked over, having finished doing whatever she'd been doing, and fit her house key into the lock, opening the door.

Barking filled Owen's ears, and a grin formed on his face. He was in the middle of taking off his shoes when Bark Vader ran over, skittering across the floor in her excitement. Owen laughed as the dog barreled into his legs, almost knocking him over. "Nice to see you, too!"

Owen crouched down and petted his dog, unable to stop smiling as Bark Vader licked his face and hair. When she was finally done, the dog raced over to Owen's mother, who was in the kitchen.

Still smiling, Owen turned on the hallway lights, which made everything easier to see. He removed his shoes and clambered up the stairs to put his books away. He passed by Spike, who was wandering around upstairs, and opened the door to his bedroom. He walked over to his shelf of intact books and kneeled down to put the new books on the shelf.

He wasn't sure when he'd have time to read them, but it was nice to have a growing collection. Once all this Nobody business was done, he was certain he'd have a lot more time to read. Assuming he wasn't doing schoolwork, of course.

After he finished putting the books away, he stood back up and walked out into the hallway, descending the stairs and walking into the kitchen. His mother was setting up dinner on the table, which was an assortment of food from a Chinese restaurant they'd ordered from. He sat down at the table as his mother did the same.

"Do you know how Bethany is feeling?"

Owen had been in the middle of drinking water, but when he heard her question, he nearly choked. Caught off guard, he blinked, setting his cup down. Had she seen Bethany crying? Even worse, had his mother heard what she'd been shouting about?

"What?"

His mother stared at him. "With her stomach bug."

"Oh." Owen let out a relieved breath. He looked down at his food. "I think she'll be okay soon. I hope so. She was, um, throwing up a lot."

"That's too bad," his mother muttered. "Do you think she got food poisoning?"

"Maybe," he said, cringing as he said it. Sometimes, it was necessary to make up excuses, but he didn't like the feeling that came with it.

Obviously, Bethany didn't have a stomach bug; that'd been a lie. But emotionally, she didn't seem like she was okay. When they jumped into _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ , she seemed a lot better, but Owen knew that sadness didn't go away that quickly. He hoped that whatever she was feeling right now, it would pass.

* * *

As it turned out, jumping into _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ had ended up working out perfectly fine. Afraid she might start crying again, Bethany hid her fear throughout the whole process of jumping into the book. But holding Owen's hand gave her more courage, and before she knew it, they were in Willy Wonka's factory, surrounded by candy. They stayed there for about an hour, Bethany feeling a lot more relaxed as they sat behind the chocolate river, watching the Oompa-Loompas work.

She hadn't expected herself to feel so relieved. Finally, she had jumped into a book after three years of being separated from them. It was just like relearning a skill; sometimes, if you haven't ridden a bike for a few years, you'll be afraid to, but once you do you'll feel much better.

Now that she'd safety jumped into a book without anything remotely dangerous happening, Bethany felt more confident now. She was scared before, but now she knew that she could handle it. A piece of her felt like it'd been missing, but now it wasn't, since she had finally jumped into a book. Jumping into books _was_ that easy, and it always made her feel at peace when she was in _Goodnight Moon_ or _The Little Prince_.

Nobody hadn't showed up, which had been an enormous relief. She half-expected him to. Since he hadn't, that also meant that she would be safe the next time she jumped into a book — unless she confronted Nobody. Her power wasn't a curse, and it was no longer something she was afraid to use. She was glad that all of those negative emotions regarding her half-fictional powers were behind her. She wasn't scared anymore, not of this.

Bethany sat in her bedroom, dumping the schoolbooks out of her backpack and filling it with some necessary items, like her phone charger, a flashlight, a clean set of clothes (just in case), _Doc Twilight,_ and a water bottle. Not only did she want to be prepared for her solo trip to the fictional world tomorrow morning, but she wanted to have everything organized if things went sour.

She was going to visit Mason Black tonight, and she wasn't telling anyone about it. It'd been on her mind ever since yesterday. It was risky, since she didn't know where he lived or if he was in the nonfictional world, but she hoped he would be. If he was, she could get answers about Nobody and the weaknesses he had. Then, before anything worse happened to Kiel or anyone else, she would go defeat Nobody on her own.

With her luck, it would all work out. Bethany wasn't a very hopeful person, however, so she had her doubts. The thought of fighting Nobody sent shivers down her spine, and maybe even a little excitement. She'd be fighting the man who took her father away, the man who made her friends suffer. There had to be a simple way to stop him by herself, because the last thing she wanted to do was put her friends in danger.

If Bethany defeated him singlehandedly, no one would blame her for anything ever again, since they'd have no room for anger. She'd be Twilight Girl, the hero they needed. The fictional world would be restored forever, and her friends would be safe. Kiel wouldn't disappear, and her father could come home straight away. If this worked, all of her problems would be solved.

_You shouldn't go behind your friend's backs like this. They won't forgive you,_ her guilt said.

_After everything he did, Nobody deserves to be destroyed_ , her anger said. She listened to that side. She couldn't think about her friends right now. She had a mission to go on, and there was no way she'd ever back down now. This was an opportunity that she couldn't push aside.

Once Bethany was done packing, she zipped the backpack closed and slid it over her shoulders. She'd already grabbed some money from where it was stored away in her closet, so she was fully prepared for two bus trips.

She made her way downstairs. The house was eerily silent, which made her even more nervous. This was _such_ a bad idea.

She was completely going against everything that her and Owen had agreed on earlier. Owen thought they were going to the fictional world as a group. But Bethany knew that would take too long. This was the quickest and easiest thing she could do right now, and maybe it would work.

As the sun slowly crept towards the horizon, Bethany cast one last look over her shoulder before opening the front door and stepping outside. She felt even more guilty that she was not only lying to her friends, but also to her mother. She'd been doing it for so long that she'd gotten used to it, but Murray's words stuck in her head.

Knowing that Bethany would be telling her excuses for the next few days — or possibly even weeks or months, made her want to spend time with her when she happened to be at home. But once she had to lie about her actions, like right now, she'd have to keep her distance.

Luckily, her mother wasn't at home, so Bethany didn't need to make up another lie about where she was going. Her mother would never find out, since she got home from work so late. As long as Bethany was home before her mother, she'd be fine. Then, once she had a plan set, she'd go to the fictional world tomorrow morning once her mother left for work.

She'd be skipping school to do it, but that was the least of her worries. School could wait. This couldn't. Defeating Nobody was far more important, and Bethany could handle it if she had to get detention. She'd gotten it a few times when she was in middle school, so it wasn't a huge problem.

Walking to Murray Chase's house only took about ten minutes or maybe a few minutes more. Bethany placed her hand on the railing as she climbed the porch steps. She rapped her gloved hand on the door. "Mr. Chase, are you there? It's Bethany!"

The door swung open, revealing the illustrator of the Doc Twilight comics. After a second of staring at her in surprise, he smiled. "Hello Bethany. I wasn't expecting to see you so soon. And so late! Is there something you need?"

"Yes," she said, shivering slightly from the cold. "I need to ask you something. Do you know Mason Black's address?"

Murray's eyes widened. "You want Mason's address? Why do you want to know that?"

She let out a frustrated breath. "I need — I just need to see him."

He gave her a long look. "Bethany, I can't just give you his address without knowing what you're planning to do. If you want to ask more questions about your family, you could easily ask me or your mom."

"No." Bethany shook her head. "I want to see _him_. I can't . . . exactly tell you what I'm doing. But I promise, it's not anything dangerous. I just want to check if he's okay. You know, since he was captured by Nobody."

"He lives about two hours away," Murray said slowly. "You want to visit him? Just to see if he's . . . there?"

"Yes. No. Maybe, okay?" She cringed. "I just need to see him. Yesterday, you _said_ you'd help me with anything I need. And I need this! Can I please have his address?"

He sighed. "Okay. I'll give it to you. But whatever you're doing, I hope it's safe. I'm your guardian. I'd hate for your mother to yell at me when she sees you're doing something you shouldn't be."

She smiled nervously. "Trust me, I'll be home before she even knows I'm gone."

"You're going _tonight_?"

"Yeah." Why had she said that? She wanted to slap herself. There was no way he'd give her the address now!

Murray continued to stare at her, looking like he was ready to grab her. But then, he pulled out his phone. "Ready to hear the address?"

Still shaking from both nerves and the cold, Bethany grinned and whipped out her own phone. She took off her gloves and stuck them into her coat pockets before typing the address into the notes section of her phone. When she was finished, she slid it into her pocket.

"Remember to be safe," Murray reminded her. "I'm not happy about this. I'm not going to help you, but I'm not going to stop you, either. I know your father would've let you go, as long as you're doing what you believe is right."

"I know," Bethany said quietly. "I do believe this is right. I hope so, anyway." She pulled her gloves back on. "I'll be safe, I promise."

"Good." He smiled. Saying nothing else, he closed the door shut and left her alone.

The half-fictional girl stood there for a moment, wondering if her father really would've let her go that easily. There was no way of knowing. When she lived in the fictional world, her father had always been protective of her, but he allowed her to fight her own battles and ask for help if she needed it. Unlike Bethany's mother, her father would never restrict her from doing what she believed was the right thing to do.

A twenty minute walk later, Bethany made it to the Greyhound bus station. It was the closest place she was able to go for transportation, and she had never used Uber before, so that wasn't an option. The man behind the ticket booth looked bored, but straightened up in an authoritative manner as Bethany approached. Straightening her shoulders, she slid twelve dollars across the counter.

"Where are you headed?" asked the man sternly.

She told him the name of Mason Black's town, which luckily wasn't too far from where she lived. Murray had said that Mason lived two hours away, so she figured she could go to and from there and still make it home before her mother found out.

The man took the twenty dollars and rummaging through the cash register. He handed her some leftover money and a bus ticket. "You meeting your family or something?"

She nodded, wiping her sweaty hands on her pants. "My father lives there. I'm meeting him because my mother can't drive me today." The lie was easy enough. Her mother couldn't drive her since she was at work. In fact, she'd probably have a fit if she knew that Bethany was doing this.

The man gestured for her to get on the bus, and she sighed in relief. She exited the small building and climbed onto her assigned bus, taking a seat near the back row. Over the next ten minutes, the bus slowly started filling up with people. All of them were adults, which made it even stranger that a fifteen year-old girl would be riding a Greyhound bus by herself at five o'clock — nearly nighttime — on Sunday.

She ignored the newcomers and looked out the window, imagining the conversation that she'd have with Mason Black . . . if he was even in the nonfictional world. If he wasn't then this trip would've been a waste of time. Mason was Nobody's author, so he had obviously created Nobody, and would know just as easily how to defeat him. At least, she hoped he would. He was her best shot for now.

A long bus ride later, Bethany arrived at the bus stop of Mason Black's town and was deposited onto the sidewalk. It was already dark out, and there were lights on in the buildings surrounding her.

She held up her phone to read the address again. Checking to see if the street was correct, Bethany began walking through the town, which had many shops and townhouses along the road. People walked down the street, either in groups or by themselves.

Bethany kept her head cast to the ground as she walked past each person she came across, afraid they might try to send her home or call her mother. She doubted that would happen, but she was nervous enough as it was. She continued on along the sidewalk, her eyes on the path ahead of her. She continued on until she saw a small house, which was labeled with the number 47 on the mailbox.

"This is it," she told herself, placing her phone into her pocket. She stood there, gazing at the house and trying to summon her courage. Taking a deep breath, she adjusted the straps on her backpack and marched up the front steps, narrowly tripping over a huge stack of unread newspapers. Eyeing the door warily, Bethany lifted her hand and quickly knocked. For a full two minutes, nobody answered. She lifted her hand and slapped her palm against the door over and over.

"Hello?" Bethany shouted, lowering her hand and pressing her face against the window to see better. "Mason Black?"

The doorknob jiggled, and she darted back as a man opened the door. There was a scowl on his face. "What do you want?"

"N-No one knows I'm here," she said, nervously playing with the straps of her backpack. "I need to know about your character, Nobody."

He had a brooding look on his face and did not reply at first. Instead, he stood there and stared at her with anxious eyes, his hand wavering at the door. "Who are you?"

She swallowed hard. "Bethany Sanderson."

His eyes widened. "Bethany . . ." He looked left and right, then looked back at her. "How are you here? He said he'd take matters into his own hands and get rid of you."

"Yeah, he tried," Bethany said. "He, um, separated my two halves. But I rejoined myself together." He said nothing, quietly taking in her words with wide eyes. She stared at him. "I know you're Nobody's author. I need to know his history. And I know you've been harassed by him. I need to know everything about him. Even the tiny details. I'm going to defeat him."

"History?" he spat. Despite his tone, there was a glimmer of hope in the author's eyes. "I'll tell you much more than just his history. I'll tell you how to lock him up . . . for good."

A relieved smile blossomed on her face. "Mr. Black, you have no idea ho—"

"Come inside," Mason interrupted, backing out of the doorway and turning around. Cautiously, she followed him into the dimly-lit house.

The house was a mess, to put it simply. Empty cans of soda were overflowing in the trash can, and dirty clothes were flung over the floor. There was a small, worn-out couch next to the kitchen, with random objects stacked on top of it. The room had a musty smell to it, as if the windows hadn't been opened in years. On a table next to the couch was a stack of Mason Black's comic books, which were mostly Doc Twilight comics, from what Bethany could see.

Mason sighed, kicking some clothes closer to the walls. "This is all a mess. I wasn't expecting company tonight. Take a seat wherever you want."

His tone was more indifferent than welcoming, but Bethany didn't take it to heart. This was a serious, professional matter, and no warm feelings had to be involved when they were plotting against Nobody. She respected that. There was no time to be tardy when learning how to get rid of an evil faceless man.

"I heard you were captured," Bethany said, her eyes on Mason. "By Nobody. Is that really true?"

He sighed in response, still rummaging through his things and making an attempt to clean up the house. Deciding he probably didn't want to talk about it, Bethany changed the subject.

"Where did Nobody come from?" she asked, slowly easing into the couch. "I heard some things from my friend and when I read the Doc Twilight comics myself, but I'm not one-hundred percent sure about the facts. Where did he begin?"

"He started off as he's always been," Mason said, picking up a pile of comics and displaying them at her feet. He sat down next to her. "I wrote him to be one of the bad guys in the Doc Twilight comics. I didn't give him a name. Really, I didn't give any of the background characters a name. That was before I knew he was . . . real."

Bethany shuddered at the thought of Nobody. He continued talking. "I stopped writing the Doc Twilight comics a long time ago, but I didn't realize he became his own author. You see, he was merely a henchman in the gangs that the heroes would fight. He wasn't a major character at all, and he didn't even have a name. He came to me once, asking to rewrite him into a hero. I refused, because you can imagine how crazy that sounds, can't you?"

"Anyway," he continued. "He somehow learned to rewrite himself. He took control and did whatever he wanted, shapeshifting into _whoever_ he wanted. I don't know how, but he managed to escape and had gained the power to travel back and forth between any book."

"How did you find out about him being real?" Bethany asked.

"He came to me," the author said, slowly rubbing his eyes. "It's a foggy memory, but he somehow got into my house and begged me to rewrite him. That was the first time he visited. The second time, he took me to Jupiter City and tried forcing me to rewrite it into a new world. I refused, of course. It would be crazy to agree with him. In response, he locked me up in this prison of his. He threatened my very well-being if I tried to rewrite him and put a stop to his plans. I'm his author, so I'm the only person who knows his weakness. I could've stopped him if I wanted. But I was so afraid, so I did what he said. For a while, I was in this white room with nothing around. I didn't know how long I'd been in there before Nobody returned me back to my world. He warned me to never do another reboot of the comics."

"That's terrible," she breathed, feeling pity and horror for the man. She stared at the comics that were laying on the ground. "Do you have any ideas for how I can get rid of him? What are his weaknesses, if any?"

Mason looked at her in disbelief. "I wrote him as a henchman, only trained to do evil. But he's unstoppable, now. He's sneaky, manipulative, and terrifying. He isn't to be messed with."

"I still need to know. If you know any ways of killing him, it would be helpful."

He frowned. "I can guess what his weakness is . . . but now everything is different. He has the ability to rewrite himself, and he's no longer in his original story. I'm assuming that he got rid of his weaknesses."

Bethany was growing impatient, but she tried not to show it. She needed to get the information. "Either way, weaknesses are still weaknesses. Everyone has them. You told me that you know how to lock him up. So, do you?"

Mason sighed. "In the comic books, there's something the heroes used to do that can lock the bad guys up." He picked up the comic book and started rifling through the pages. "It's like any classic lock-up you'd read in a book, except you need these special, magical chains to do it. And you have to do it somewhere vacant, away from the hustle of the city."

"Where would that be? A warehouse? An abandoned building?"

He shrugged indifferently. "Doesn't matter. The heroes locked the enemies up once this way, but I had to write someone to break them out. If you do it correctly, Nobody won't have the power to break free unless someone from the outside breaks him out." He stopped at one page and put a finger on it. "Here. You lock Nobody up with the chains — you banish him. He won't be able to free himself, especially if you put him somewhere that no one would ever find him." He held a hand up. "Now, I'm not guaranteeing that it'll work. There's still a chance that it won't. But as long as you successfully lock him up with the chains, I don't think he'll be able to."

"So . . . it won't kill him?" Bethany asked, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice. "I was hoping there'd be something that would kill him."

Mason shook his head. "I've never written about anything that would kill him, so I wouldn't know. I only made up these chains once, to make the villains go through a hard time before they escaped and fought more battles. I should've written him to be lacking in intelligence. He's too smart for his own good."

_You definitely should've_ , Bethany thought.

He handed the comic book to her. "Here is the scene about locking the criminals up. All you have to do is wrap the chains around them, then lock it in place."

Bethany studied the page. A shadowy figure declared, "These chains are indestructible! All villains will be locked up with them!", which appeared in a small square bubble. Three henchman were struggling against the chains, but once they were locked in place, they weren't able to escape. Her eyes flitted back and forth to the words on the page, just so she could reread it. Aside from the chains locking the criminals up, there wasn't much else going on.

Surprised, she glanced at Mason Black. "That's it? That's the only scene where the chains are locking up the villains?"

He scowled. "It was from one of my first Doc Twilight books, alright? I didn't have many creative ideas back then. Were you expecting it to take up a few chapters? I write comics, not long fiction novels."

She shrugged and put Nobody's comic book in her backpack before standing up. "Where are the chains?"

"They're right where the villains left them after they escaped the first time. They're in a secluded prison."

"Wait — criminals escaped from them?"

"Only if they've been let out," Mason said. "Theyre impossible to escape from if you're trapped on your own. The chains are on an island called the Island of Darkness. It's always nighttime there. It's way past the city, where the lake is. You won't miss it."

"Creative name," Bethany muttered sarcastically to herself. She turned to the author. "But there's something I don't understand. I lived there, in Jupiter City. I never even heard of that prison. We stuck all of the criminals in jail."

"That's because it's abandoned," Mason said. "Not many people know about it. It was there for the criminals who were spending the rest of their lives in prison. Not many people know about the chains either, since they haven't been used in decades."

Bethany nodded. "Mr. Black, thank you for speaking with me. You've been much more helpful than anyone else."

He smiled for the first time that day. "Wait to thank me until after the chains work. He's a tricky character to lock up. But — don't go alone. Bring your friends to help. The chains are heavy."

"I will," Bethany lied, thinking that dragging her friends with her was the last thing she would do. She said goodbye and hurried to the door, pushing it open. She walked back out into the cold weather, her face stinging. She pulled her coat tighter around her as she journeyed back to the bus station, where a single streetlamp gave enough light to see by. She sat down on the bench, a plan slowly formulating into her head.

Tomorrow morning, she would find the page about the Island of Darkness, jump into it, and retrieve the chains. Then, she'd go to a quiet setting and lock up Nobody with the chains. She had to admit — she was terrified to see Nobody again. But she needed to. She needed to stop him from destroying the fictional world, and she couldn't involve anyone else. This entire thing was her fault, so it was up to her to fix it.

* * *

Owen sat on the floor next to his bed, Spike and Bark Vader at his side as he flipped through a book. That morning was another occasion where his mother was working the morning shift and would be coming home in the early afternoon, so that gave him some time to do what he wanted. He figured it'd be a great idea to read while his mother couldn't catch him and force him to do schoolwork. He really hadn't had many opportunities to do it.

As bored as he tended to get when he stayed home alone, he was secretly glad that he didn't have to attend school. Owen only wanted to go to school so he could see his friends all the time, but other than that he would _definitely_ prefer to study when he wanted to. He didn't miss school very much, that was for sure. It was so boring. There weren't any teachers to yell at him or awkward lunch periods to go through anymore.

He didn't really like the idea of returning to school for his junior year. He'd missed so many years of school, and it would feel weird to return to an entirely new setting that wouldn't be seventh grade middle school. Even after a week of knowing this, it was still hard to accept it. He wouldn't even be starting high school as a freshman. He'd be a junior, and he only had one year from now before he had to start looking at colleges. He was supposed to have several years before that happened! It was frustrating.

Focusing on the future scared him, and even made his head hurt, so Owen dropped his train of thought. He turned his attention to something that would happen in the very near future, which was when he, Bethany, and Kiel would go to the fictional world together. He and Bethany had come up with a plan, and agreed that they should leave today or tomorrow. It'd have to be as soon as possible, since Kiel's life was at risk. He didn't want his friend to get worse.

As far as plans went, theirs wasn't very detailed but Owen knew it would be fine, since it involved grouping their friends together and fighting Nobody. That idea made him more excited than he'd admit. Finally, he'd be apart of a real group, almost like a group of superheroes! Each of them had some type of special ability or power, so as a team they'd be even stronger.

Owen could only hope that it would work. Each of his friends seemed to be capable in a fight, except maybe Owen himself. Kiel the hero would actually solve things and win fights, unlike Owen, who hadn't much experience with that. Although Bethany said otherwise, he especially didn't think he'd be useful with his broken arm. He had time powers, yes, but how could he fight with them?

The only thing he could do was try to be the hero that the fictional world needed him to be. The role shouldn't be too hard to play, since he'd do anything and everything he could to defeat Nobody. Despite his huge imagination, Owen couldn't imagine the fictional world ever disappearing. What would truly happen if the things he loved — books, movies, etc. — just disappeared? What would happen to the people from those fictional worlds?

He didn't want to think about it. All of his friends would disappear forever, and he'd never see them again. Kiel would disappear, and so would Kara. _Charm_ would disappear. He couldn't let that happen. Ever. Even if he couldn't do anything useful, he _had_ to try. Even though he wasn't a hero or a popular book character, he still would. He wasn't going to sit around and let the fictional world vanish due to Nobody's pure possibility.

The thought of facing Nobody again made him uncontrollably nervous, but he felt more hopeful about it this time around. He would have his friends by his side, and they'd fight him as a team. He knew that Nobody would be furious, there was no denying that. Owen could care less if Nobody's crazy plans were ruined. Destroying him was the goal, and as long as everything went smoothly, Owen would do that. He wasn't sure if it'd even work out, but he'd try until the very end.

Despite his uncertainties and nerves about facing Nobody again, Owen was glad he was going back to the fictional world. The last time he'd been there hadn't been a fond memory, since he was being chased by hundreds of dinosaurs, along with lava that had erupted from a volcano. This time, he'd be with his friends, and they'd probably have an awesome adventure leading up to their fight with Nobody. Owen could picture it in his head.

He'd obviously reunite with Kara, if she could be found. That'd be the first thing Owen would do once he got to the fictional world. The thought of seeing her again brought a strange, fluttery sensation to his stomach. He'd imagined their reunion so many times, but each one seemed unlikely. The reality that he could be seeing her tomorrow made him smile. He missed her.

Once he rescued her from wherever the time agents had locked her up, he'd make sure she'd never get put into prison ever again. She didn't deserve that kind of treatment; no one did. And hypothetically, once the fictional world was saved, Owen would finally take her to the nonfictional world, like he'd talked to her about. It was hard to imagine that ever happening, but he hoped that it would someday.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized the reality of the situation. Either today or tomorrow, Owen would be in the fictional world instead of here. Everything was happening so fast, and Owen could barely acknowledge it all. Soon enough, he could be fighting villains or saving lives, or even meeting his favorite characters, if that ever happened. He wondered what he'd be doing tonight or tomorrow. Which world would he be in? Would he see Charm?

A small "meow" startled Owen from his daze, and he looked up to see Spike staring at him. Just as he set down his book and reaching over to scratch his cat around the ears, Spike darted out of the room.

"Hey, where are you going?" Owen called. He got to his feet and walked out of the room, only to see that Spike was at the top of the stairs, waiting for him. He stared at the cat. "What? Do you want to go outside or something?"

Spike turned his head to the stairs and flew down them. Owen sighed. He saw where this was going. Just like many cats, Spike sometimes liked running around outdoors. Owen never knew what his cat was doing during that time, but he always came back an hour later.

He followed Spike down the stairs and to the front door, where his cat stood back, staring at Owen with expectant eyes. Owen opened the door, and Spike walked out into the grass, momentarily stopped walking, then vanished on the other side of Owen's house.

As Owen stood there in the doorway, a strange feeling came to him, and he felt like he was being pulled in a direction. Frowning, he pulled on his coat before closing the door behind him. Since his mother wasn't here to yell at him or lock him up, he started walking through his neighborhood, towards the strange pull that he was feeling. It didn't feel like he was being _physically_ pulled, but it was more like sense of knowing. In that moment, Owen knew he had to go in that direction, even if he had no clue what it meant.

He exited his neighborhood and turned right, continuing the way he usually went when he walked to the library. Bright sunlight blinded his vision and a chill blew through his hair, making him shiver. He continued on in a confused haze, and without realizing it, he was in Bethany's neighborhood.

That was when he saw her. Even from far away, he could tell it was her because of the way her bronze hair stood out even more in the bright morning light. Wasn't it Monday? Yes, it was! So why was Bethany walking through her neighborhood at nine o'clock in the morning? What was going on?

"Bethany!" Owen shouted, running after her. "Where are you going?"

Bethany glanced behind her, allowing Owen to see a glimpse of her surprised expression before she turned back around. She didn't stop walking. "Nowhere important. Go home, Owen!"

Owen caught up with her, snatching the object from her hands faster than she could react. It was a Doc Twilight comic book. "Wait . . . are you going to Jupiter City? Why?" He moved to stand in front of her, walking backwards as she continued walking forwards. "You said you wouldn't bring your dad home until we stopped Nobody." He grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop. "What are you doing?"

She looked at the ground, her eyebrows stitched together. "I'm going to Jupiter City. I visited Mason Black yesterday."

"You did _what_?" Owen's mouth dropped open. She was there yesterday? "Wait — the writer of the Doc Twilight comics? The guy who created Nobody? He's _here_?"

Bethany cringed, then nodded. "You, uh, weren't supposed to know until I came back from Jupiter City. He told me a way I can defeat Nobody. It's something the heroes used to use to lock up villains in the comic book . . . and I figured it's our best shot at getting rid of Nobody, since he's from the Doc Twilight comics." She took the comic book from him and turned to a page, showing him it as she filled him in on her plan.

Owen stared at her. "This is worse than one of _my_ ideas. Why didn't you tell me about this? What happened to all of your rules? Do you even remember how badly things went the last time we faced Nobody?"

She nodded. "That's why I'm going alone. Nothing can get any worse than it already has, but I know if I bring anyone else that would only lead to more problems. So it's not an option for you to come with me. I'll be perfectly fine. I can handle myself."

"Right," Owen said, feeling annoyed. "And Nobody will just stand there calmly while you lock him up."

"I know it won't be easy." She sighed. "But every time you or anyone else comes with me into a book it almost always messes things up. When I go alone I can count on myself. I have a _plan_."

"Oh, so you can't count on me now?"

Bethany crossed her arms. "I never said that."

"You implied it," Owen said, feeling annoyed and angry and hurt all at once. "You know, for a best friend you keep a lot to yourself."

She opened her mouth, then closed it, as if unsure what to say. Then she shook her head. "Whatever. Just go home, okay? I've got this."

"No way am I going home. I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I _am_ ," he hissed, his anger rising. "I still can't believe that you would hide something like this from me! You _said_ we'd go together! That was our plan! You think you can take down Nobody by yourself? That's stupid, Bethany!"

"I'm sorry, okay? Is that what you want to hear?" She glared back at him. "I know I should've told you, alright? Can you go now? Can we talk about this later, after I've locked Nobody up?"

He bit his lip, ready to yell some more, but he gave up. "Sometimes, there are arguments worth having. You went behind my back without telling me. _Or_ Kiel. Friends don't do that."

"I only didn't tell you because I didn't want to drag you into it," Bethany said quietly. "I don't want anyone to come with me for this. I know I can do this by myself, and I'm going to stop Nobody right now. I don't care what you say, but you're not coming. You can't get hurt. Not again."

Giving him one last look, she threw _Doc_ _Twilight_ on the ground and jumped right in.

* * *

_  
"_ _Every night I look out my window. Afraid you might return for more. I miss your frozen love too much . . ."_


	23. The Chains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While in Jupiter City, Bethany and Owen accomplish something that they weren’t expecting.

**_Heroes (by David Bowie)_ **

_"_ _Though nothing will drive them away. We can be heroes just for one day. We can be us just for one day . . ."_

* * *

  
The wind whipped through Bethany's hair as she soared through the air. First her feet, followed by her legs, then her waist were consumed by the pages of the book, transforming into words at a pace faster than Bethany could see. Suddenly, something latched onto her arm, and she was knocked off balance. There was a loud buzz in her ears as she fell the rest of the way and landed hard on her stomach.

Bethany heard a groan from her left. She lifted her hand, wincing, and a sudden realization struck her. Owen was laying on the ground next to her. He had been the one to grab her! She pushed herself into a sitting position, anger coursing through her. "Owen! I _told you_ not to come!"

"I'm not leaving," he said. "You need help. You can't do this on your own."

"Yes, I can," she said. She leapt up from the ground and grabbed his arm, pulling him up. "I'm jumping us out of here, and then I'm leaving you in the nonfictional world."

"No!" Owen pulled out of her grasp. When she tried to grab him again, he stepped away, keeping a short distance away from her. He held his hand up. "I'm _not_ leaving."

"Please," she pleaded, glancing around at the room they'd landed in. Owen couldn't be here. He would only get hurt, and she needed to take responsibility for this. "Please! You have to."

He frowned, shaking his head. "No I don't. You can't do this on your own. You need someone to help you! I'm not going to let you get split in half again."

She sighed, relenting. Owen had won, she had to accept that. She knew there wasn't anything she could do to make him leave. Even if she did, he'd probably grab her again when she jumped back in. It didn't matter. She didn't have time to waste. "Alright. Fine! Fine, you can help."

"Great," he said, not looking much happier than her. He warily walked over to her, but he still looked mad. She knew she deserved it, but she hoped he'd just forget about it and move on. She felt guilty enough as it was. "So, what's this great plan of yours? Where are the chains, or whatever they are?"

Bethany wanted to smile, but since she was still a bit angry and since he was obviously upset, she didn't. "Mason said they're on this island called the Island of Darkness. Not entirely sure where that is, but it's in a lake near Jupiter City."

"Okay."

Owen looked away from her, scanning the area around them. They'd landed in the Lawful Legion headquarters, and there were voices in the distance, probably in the main hall. A rush of excitement filled her at the thought of seeing her father again. Would he be here? She didn't know, but she also didn't want him finding out about this.

Bethany silently cursed herself for not looking first before she jumped into the book. She usually _always_ looked. Depending on which page they jumped into, they could've landed in the middle of a crime scene. At least it was nighttime, so it was easier to sneak around without getting noticed.

"Where are we?" Owen asked, turning in circles as he looked around the room. Bethany realized he'd never seen it before.

"This is the Lawful Legion headquarters," Bethany said, feeling a bit prideful as she looked around at the place she'd come to a few times when she was fictional. She'd only come here for her father's meetings, but it was cool to talk to the superheroes as well. They always gave good pointers on fighting.

"It's where the superheroes meet up. The Lawful Legion is basically a group of superheroes from Jupiter City. They're kind of a big deal here." She looked around wistfully, standing still for a moment to gaze at the room. She knew that she didn't have time to lose, but being here again made her miss her fictional life even more.

"I used to come here with my father. For meetings," she added. "This is the medical bay." She pointed to the stasis chambers in the back of the room. "Those are stasis chambers. They're designed to freeze a person in time. The Lawful Legion used a whole collection of them to travel into the future once."

"Whoa," Owen said, too busy being entranced by the room to properly walk in a straight line. Finally, he tore his eyes away and followed her to the door. She moved to go outside, but he grabbed her arm.

"Wait," he said. "This is going to be really dangerous. We can't just walk into this random prison, grab the chains, and wrap Nobody in them. What if everything goes just as badly as last time?"

"Then you can say 'I told you so'," Bethany told him. She pushed the door open, holding it out for him so he could walk through. "This is going to work. It's the best plan I can think of."

"One you weren't going to tell me," Owen said, his eyes burning into her head.

She rolled her eyes. "Can we please drop it already? I'm sorry that I didn't want to tell you, Owen!" She gave him a sarcastic look. "I'm _sorry_ I didn't want you going after me and getting yourself hurt! Are you happy now?"

"You'd be the only one who's getting yourself hurt," he said, a bitter tone in his voice. "It isn't right to try doing these kinds of things by yourself. I thought you'd let me know if you were going to defeat Nobody, since I'm your _best friend_. What happened to 'we're going to the fictional world together'?"

"Ugh!" Bethany clenched and unclenched her fists, agitated. "Stop _saying_ that! I had a good reason not to!"

"Not really!"

"Yes, I did! It's not _my_ fault Kiel is going to disappear and you have a broken arm! I didn't think you should come, okay? You're not in the condition to fight."

"And you can't defeat Nobody on your own!" Owen said. "Don't you get that? He could split you apart again! You're overestimating the situation!"

"What? No I'm not! I'm being realistic, Owen! I'm the best option to defeat Nobody! You're so —" Bethany bit her lip to keep herself from yelling an insult at him, since the idea of being mean to Owen seemed downright evil, even if she was really mad.

He stared at her blankly, his jaw clenched with anger. "I'm so . . . what?"

"Doesn't matter." She sighed, the guilt pounding into her as she looked at him. Why did she keep doing this, yelling at her friends when they were doing what was best for her? Last time she'd yelled at a friend was when she was fully nonfictional, and that hadn't gone so well. She'd broken Kiel's heart; she didn't want to accidentally insult Owen and break his.

Bethany sighed deeply in annoyance. "I know I should've told you, but I wanted to do it all on my own. I'm just sick of my friends suffering because of Nobody, and I want to _do_ something about it!"

"Me too," Owen said. "But that doesn't mean you can't have help! This would be impossible to do on your own. And stupid!"

"Yeah . . ."

"If you have a group of people, or at least just one other person, you have a better chance of winning."

"I know. You're right. It makes things easier," she said, thinking back to when her, Owen, Gwen, and Charm had teamed up to fight against the Dark. "I'm sorry, Owen. I've been acting reckless. With everything going on, I haven't been thinking straight. But if there's an easy way to fix this situation . . . those chains are our best bet, you know?"

Owen was nodding, although he looked very uneasy about it. "Yeah, I _guess_ so." He looked away from her.

"I get that you're mad at me," Bethany said, trying but failing to speak in a normal tone. "But can you . . . stop being mad at me? If you're going to help me, you can't just act like that." She started to walk down the empty hallway, then paused. "You _are_ still mad at me, right?"

"Are you serious?"

"Just checking," she muttered, her face flushed and her fists clenched in irritation. Had she really made that big of a mistake? She understood that she should've told him, but he would've found out later on once she defeated Nobody herself. Shouldn't he be glad that they were getting it over with?

No, because she had kept this a secret from him. She knew how wrong that was, but a part of her _didn't_ think it was completely wrong. Was it bad to think she could handle it herself? Probably. But she had a good reason for not telling him! Now that he was going with her, he could easily get hurt. She was sick of her friends getting hurt, Owen especially.

Secretly, she was dreading the moment they'd see Nobody again. She'd fight hard to beat him, of course, but she had too many worries to count. He was way too powerful; Owen didn't need to tell her that. She _knew_ it, but she also knew it'd be easier to do this if she was by herself. She didn't know how well this would go, but she had to tell herself that it would. It was an insanely risky, dangerous plan, and it could go wrong in so many ways. But it was a good one, and she'd gotten instructions from Mason Black himself.

Their plan wasn't promising, but Bethany hoped it would work out. It would have to. She'd come this far, and if the plan failed . . . well, Owen would hold this over her head forever. Then he'd tell Kiel, and _both_ of them would be mad at Bethany for failing. What would she do then, feel even _more_ guilty?

It'd be just like that time when she went behind their backs to see Doyle. Except this time, she would've failed to save the entire _world_. How embarrassing. And Owen would never forgive her. Or maybe he would, since he was her best friend, and they'd forgiven each other every time they made a mistake.

But that wouldn't happen. No matter what anyone said, this _would_ work. No matter how terrified she was, Bethany was determined to strike Nobody down and lock him up for good. He could _not_ destroy the fictional world, and he could _not_ hurt her friends.

Focusing on the task at hand was the best option. That was one of the many things she'd learned as Twilight Girl: channeling your anger always improves your ability in a fight. She was still a bit mad, but she knew that she couldn't keep feeling that way when Owen was only trying to help. She hoped he would stop being mad at her soon. It'd be a lot easier to think if she weren't so irritated.

Owen lifted his head to look at the building around them, not looking her in the eye. "So all the superheroes are here?"

"Yeah, usually," she said. "Why, do you wanna get some autographs?"

"No."

She scoffed. "I seriously doubt that."

Owen rolled his eyes. "I mean, _yes_. But I think we should focus on this mission first and come back later." He groaned. "This is going to be terrible. Nobody's going to _kill_ us."

"Yeah, it'll be terrible," Bethany agreed, nodding. "But we'll lock him up first, before he can stop us." She turned her head to look at him again. To her disappointment, he still wouldn't look at her. "And he won't be able to stop us, if it works."

"If?" Owen repeated, kicking his foot into the marble floor.

"When," she corrected.

"So, hypothetically, if this works, then what?"

"Then Nobody will be locked up, and he won't be able to escape."

He sighed. " _Right_."

Bethany just rolled her eyes as they walked down the hallway. The rest of the walk was silent, but Bethany purposely cast looks at Owen, who only stared at the floor with a frown. They passed by a receptionist desk, where a woman was working. She kept her eyes on the computer in front of her, not even bothering to look up. Bethany and Owen continued on until they got to the central hall of the headquarters, where the voices were coming from.

Bethany squared her shoulders, knowing fully well how this might go. Since the Lawful Legion were close with her father, that _also_ meant that they knew who Bethany was, since they'd seen her countless times. This could certainly go a couple of ways, and Bethany wasn't really in the mood to explain where she and Owen were headed.

"Since you've lived here, which way do you think we should go?" Owen asked, his eyes flickering to her for a moment before landing on the superheroes in the hall.

She shook her head slightly. "It's hard to say. I've never heard of this island, but someone from the Lawful Legion might. We should ask someone, but without drawling attention."

"We could ask your dad," he said, snapping his finger. He seemed a bit less mad now that he was distracted by the superheroes everywhere, which made Bethany glad to see. "It'll be my first chance to meet him."

"Preferably _not_ him," Bethany said quickly, furrowing her brows. "He'll want to know what we're doing, and he can't know. He'll be totally against it."

"Anyone would be," Owen said, turning to look disapprovingly at her. " _I_ am. Why don't we just talk to him?"

"Because that's not a good idea!"

"Says who?"

"Says me! I'm his daughter."

"Fine," Owen said, sighing. The bitterness in his voice made her feel worse, but she preferred that over him ignoring her. "But if we see him, we're talking to him. We don't have to tell him about this, but I at least want to meet him!"

"Okay," Bethany muttered, and they walked into the main hall. She nervously looked around the crowded room and spotted the Lawful Legion grouped together, talking to other superheroes around them.

_Great_. If they spotted her now, they'd all crowd her at once and try to talk to her. That wouldn't be a good move, especially given the fact that her father could be here, and the last thing she wanted to do right now was tell him what she was doing. Could she just find _one_ individual to talk to who'd tell her the location of the island?

She did a quick scan around the room for anyone else to ask. She didn't see her father here, which came as a slight disappointment, but she was relieved nonetheless. Although he always supported her, she knew that he'd be against her and Owen facing Nobody by themselves. Good thing Kid Twilight — Orion — wasn't here to tell her how doomed the plan was.

"Can we ask that guy?" Owen asked, pointing at Captain Sunshine, whose back was turned to them as he talked to a superhero a few years older than them.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Bethany said. "That's Captain Sunshine, the chairman of the Lawful Legion. I'm pretty sure he'd tell my dad if he knew I was here."

"So let's find someone who _doesn't_ know your dad."

She frowned. "Everyone here would know him. All of the superheroes are famous in Jupiter City." Since no one was watching them, she nodded her head towards the door. "Let's get going. Maybe there'll be someone outside who knows where it is."

Not looking too excited about that idea, Owen cast one disappointed look around the room of superheroes before they hurried to the double doors. Bethany kept her head down until they reached the door, and she pushed it open, then held it wide for Owen.

It was nighttime outside, which was always the ideal time for stopping crime or hanging out at her father's observatory, getting a lesson from him about fighting techniques or observing the planets, or even simply spending time together. Bethany missed that. Once Nobody was rid of, she wanted to do more of that with her father, and she'd obviously bring him to the nonfictional world when the fictional world was no longer in danger.

They walked away from the headquarters and drifted towards the park in front, where other citizens were walking around. They all seemed to be in a good mood, which was expected after the city was restored from the Dark's hold. As Bethany and Owen passed by, some even smiled at them.

"Everyone here is so cheerful!" Owen observed, looking surprised. "It's so different from the last time I was here. It's exactly like a regular superhero comic book!"

"Yeah," Bethany said. "It's usually like this, especially during the day when superheroes are around. People love them."

"Makes sense. Everyone loves the superheroes for saving the city. Spider-Man, Captain America, Superman . . ." He trailed off, then glanced over his shoulder. "Should we ask someone about the Island of Darkness? They could tell us where it is." He looked at her hopefully. "Unless you want to back down from the plan and, you know, hang out with the superheroes back there?"

Bethany ignored his last comment and frowned. "Who would we ask?"

Then, as they exited the park, both her and Owen turned into the next street, only to find themselves staring at none other than the Rotten Banana.

It came as a slight surprise for Bethany to see him. She hadn't seen much of the Rotten Banana during her three years of living in Jupiter City, but she'd seen him around, either talking to citizens or signing autographs as if he were a superhero himself. That had died down a bit after the first year, but people still treated him like they would a superhero. After the villains fought against the Dark, he'd taken credit for much of it, acting as if he had contributed more than he actually had.

Bethany made it quite clear that her, Gwen, Charm, and Orion had been the ones who faced down the Dark on their own, but she didn't blame the banana for taking some credit. Who wouldn't? After all, the villains had helped them. But it was still strange to see him getting just as much recognition as a regular superhero, since he was technically a villain. Even if he _had_ saved Bethany's life a few times. She considered him a hero all the same, just . . . not exactly the _main_ hero who saved the city from the Dark.

There was a difference. And if it had to be specific, Bethany was the only one who'd stopped the Dark, since her friends had been shadow-invested. So technically, didn't _she_ deserve most of the credit? She hadn't received much of it, only because the citizens didn't know about her fighting against the Dark. They knew the stories about the superheroes and villains, not about the random girl who'd shown up with her friends.

"Bethany!" the Rotten Banana said. As always, he was wearing his banana suit, which was always amusing to see. Her and Orion used to make fun of all the costumes the villains wore. "Oops, I mean _Twilight Girl_. Sorry, I always forget to call you that!"

"It's okay," she said.

"You're _friends_ with him?" Owen asked, his face contorted in disgust. He looked at the banana man. "When exactly did _that_ happen?"

"After I helped defeat the Dark, of course!" the Rotten Banana said. "I saved her life on several occasions!"

"He did," Bethany told Owen. Then she lowered her voice. "Well, he didn't defeat the Dark _specifically_ , but he and the other villains fought against the shadows and helped us get to the Jupiter Hill Observatory."

Owen frowned. "That's kind of unbelievable. Last I saw, my friend Charm was shooting him over and over for making banana puns."

The Rotten Banana gasped. "You know that horrible girl?"

The boy coughed. "She's not horrible. She's my friend, and you're a villain!"

"This guy is bananas!" The Rotten Banana whispered to Bethany.

She stepped away from him, grabbing Owen's arm in case he tried starting some kind of fight. She doubted he'd do that, but it didn't hurt to be safe. "Okay," she said. "Let's just drop it, okay? We need directions for getting somewhere."

"Where to?" the banana questioned. "Anywhere appealing?"

"Are you sure it's a good idea to ask him?" Owen whispered in her ear.

She nodded. "If anyone knows where it is, it would be a villain. Villains were locked up there."

"Hey, I have ears! I can hear you, and I'm _not_ a villain anymore!"

Bethany turned back to him. "We need to know where the Island of Darkness is. Have you heard of it?"

The Rotten Banana turned pale. "You want to go _there_? That's the oldest prison in Jupiter City, and it's completely abandoned. I've heard it's haunted, too."

"So you've heard of it, then," Owen said. "Where is it?"

The banana muttered something under his breath, then forced a smile at them. He pointed to the right. "Keep walking down that street for about fifty blocks, and you'll come across a lake. The island is there, and so is the prison." He shuddered. "But if I were you, I'd _split_ from that idea! What makes you want to go there?"

Bethany shrugged. "No reason."

Owen smiled a little. "I'm really sorry, but we can't tell you."

"Don't become banana paste if you're going there," the Rotten Banana said. "Ghosts are a real thing. They can hurt you, or they can even follow you home! I bet there are a lot of angry spirits in that prison, since they never escaped."

Next to her, Owen shivered. Bethany nudged him with her shoulder and smiled at him. He forced a smile back, but his smile faded, and he continued to look nervous.

Ghosts had never made much sense to Bethany. She never believed in them, not even when her father was missing and there was a chance he could be dead. When her father was gone, he was just _gone_. For ten, almost eleven years, she'd give anything for it to be otherwise. There was no trace of him anywhere until she went into the Doc Twilight comics . . . her _father's_ comics.

And now that Bethany knew where he was, she would go to the ends of the earth to bring him home, regardless of any threats. He was the most important person in her life. She refused to lose sight of him again, even though she knew where he was now.

"Don't worry, we'll be totally safe," Bethany said, smiling at the Rotten Banana. "See you later." With that, she grabbed Owen's hand and dragged him down the street, leaving a gaping Rotten Banana on the sidewalk.

Since the walk to the island would take an hour or more, Bethany morphed into a helicopter, and the rest of the journey consisted of Owen marveling over her powers. That was another thing that was new to him, she realized. She hadn't exactly used her powers since she was last in the fictional world.

Bethany continued flying, keeping low enough so she could still see the tops of the buildings and the streets below. The sky was filled with dark clouds, which only seemed to multiply as they drew closer to the water. Once she spotted the lake, she dived closer and scanned the surroundings for a sign of the island. It wasn't hard to miss. She caught sight of it in her radar and sped herself up, diving even lower once the island came into view.

"That has to be it," Owen said, leaning forward in his seat to stare at the circular screen. He was fidgeting with his cast, a worried expression on his face. She couldn't help but feel more worried herself as the realization that this was actually happening sunk in.

They were _actually_ going to fight Nobody.

The air seemed to grow a bit colder as they touched down on the surface of the island, which was entirely made from rocks. Bethany waited for Owen to go outside before transforming back into her normal form. She turned to look at the huge prison, which was about a football field away. The sight of it made Bethany start to shiver, and it wasn't from the cold.

"This is crazy! I can't believe we're doing this," Owen said, shaking his head.

"Me neither," Bethany said. "But it'll be worth it. We'll run in, get the chains, and leave. We won't be there for more than five minutes."

"I hope so," he said quietly, and he followed close behind as she set off towards the prison. It was eerily creepy, especially at night. The prison loomed before them, looking exactly like the ones in horror movies. Her hands began to shake, but ignored it and kept them at her sides.

She hesitantly pushed on the door, and it creaked in a way that made her cringe. Her heart was pounding so hard that she was certain Owen could hear it. It was dark inside, so she retrieved a flashlight from her backpack and clicked it on, which gave them enough light to see by, but not by much.

"This place is so creepy," Bethany muttered, scowling as her foot almost got caught on a cobweb.

Next to her, Owen began to make odd squeaking noises, but he bravely walked next to her. She realized too late that he might be reliving some bad memories after being in the time prison. Bethany didn't blame him; she felt more and more on edge the longer she was here, and _she_ hadn't been in _Pick The Plot_.

The prison was impossibly large, and the passages were like a maze. The jail cells they saw only made Bethany feel worse, and she couldn't stop shaking. She tried to hide it as best she could, since Twilights weren't supposed to show fear. A whistling noise echoed throughout the building more than once, which was the only noise aside from their footsteps and heavy breathing. It was clear that no one had been here in years, because a thick layer of dust coated every surface.

She pointed the flashlight's beam in every cell, hoping that the next would have the chains in them. None of them did. They all looked like regular jail cells, with the same rickety bed pressed against each wall. They kept walking, not silently agreeing to not give up until they found the magical chains.

Maybe forty minutes into their search, Owen pointed to a closed door, which was one of the few rooms they'd come across that wasn't a jail cell. "L-Let's look in here."

Bethany nodded her agreement, and held the flashlight out as he turned the knob and tentatively pushed the door open. Instead of a room, however, there was a staircase leading up to a second floor, looking dangerously unstable. She turned to Owen, pursing her lips. She didn't like their chances, but how else could they find the chains? They must be upstairs. "Should we . . . go up?"

He opened his mouth to form a response, but something behind her caught his eye. "Hey, there's another room back there!"

"There is?" As Owen walked past her, Bethany looked back at the stairs one last time before following him. Sure enough, there was a wooden door in the corner. It took a few tries, but they finally managed to pry it open, which sent a thin cloud of dust in their faces.

Both of them were coughing as they entered the room, Bethany going in first since she had the flashlight. Goosebumps formed on her arms as she whipped the flashlight around the room, straining her eyes for a sign of the chains, or even a ghost or a skeleton.

Bethany crept towards the corner of the small room, kicking a box out of her way as Owen mumbled some words under his breath. Slowly, she walked towards the wall and spotted exactly what she'd been looking for. "Wait . . ."

She looked over at Owen, and despite her fear, a wide grin stretched over her face. "Owen! I found them!"

"What? Are you serious?" Smiling, he hurried to her side, and they both knelt down in front of the chains, which were incredibly rusted and old-looking. She found them! Bethany reached out and touched her hand to the chains, feeling the hard texture.

But there was one problem, and it overlapped her joy at their success: the chains were dissolving before their very eyes.

* * *

Bethany was not at school today. By the time lunchtime rolled around and she wasn't sitting at her usual table, Kiel was starting to wonder. Where could she be? He didn't think she was sick, because during English class, Mr. Tompkins had marked her absence as "unexcused". This was very unlike Bethany to skip school, especially because she normally was a great student.

Every corner he turned, and every door he opened, Kiel expected to see her. She was normally always in his English class, and if she wasn't, he knew he'd see her at lunch. It felt strange to be at school without her. He always saw her. Even when during the month they hadn't been talking, she still was at school.

That month had been a tough time for Kiel. Majority of the time he would plaster false happiness on his face, and he'd act as he usually did, just to keep everyone convinced that he was unbothered. He wasn't sure if they were convinced, but even if they weren't he didn't say anything. Maybe he was just trying to convince himself that everything was okay.

But then, he'd see Bethany walking down the hall or opening her locker, and he'd remember, with a sinking feeling in his chest, exactly what he came here for. He was so glad that that time was over. Him and Bethany were close friends again since she had her memory back, so he no longer had to think about _that_ month. It was a part of his life that he'd rather forget.

For now, he would be finishing the school year as a German exchange student. Oliver Bines's rumors had luckily only been directed at Bethany; otherwise he might _actually_ be kicked out of the school if everyone knew he wasn't German. Kiel felt relieved that he didn't have to pretend as much as he used to, since he'd been here for three months and the other students had stopped asking him so many personal questions.

He wished that Owen was at school too, but Kiel knew that Owen's mother wouldn't allow it. He'd been missing for three years, and on top of that he had a broken arm and loads of missed schoolwork. Owen was homeschooled instead, but Kiel suspected the reasoning behind it was for Ms. Conners to keep an eye on him.

Even if Kiel knew this was for the best, he only got to see his friend once school was over or on weekends. He hadn't seen Owen since Saturday. Kiel wanted to visit him at the library during his working hours, but he hadn't had the chance to. On top of taking the fictional medicine that Bethany had given him, Kiel was brushing up on his German, as well as some of the schoolwork he'd forgotten to do.

Kiel disliked staying home, but Bethany had said he needed to rest and take it easy. After two more days of taking medicine and relaxing, Kiel was feeling much better than he had been. He still wasn't sure what he'd do if he suddenly disappeared, but luckily he had things under control now. He was handling it much better with help. He wasn't sure when they'd be going to the fictional world, but he hoped they would go tonight. He felt a lot stronger and healthier, and he was ready for some action.

He'd have to talk to Bethany when he saw her today, if he saw her _at all_. Kiel was a little annoyed at her absence, because he'd been meaning to ask her about their trip to the fictional world, since he didn't know when they were leaving. He definitely wanted to prepare beforehand, and learn some spells in his spell book. But she had failed to show up. He assumed he would have to wait until the end of the day to talk to her and Owen about it.

Lunch was moving impossibly slow, and despite the fact that Bethany hadn't showed up yet, Kiel kept scanning the room for her. Even though he'd been here for a couple of months and was acquainted with many kids, he'd rather have a friend to talk to. He didn't care to have more conversations with the kids at his table, who only talked about school or sports or plans they were making. If Bethany were here, Kiel would get to talk to her instead of them.

"So, Kiel, do you watch soccer — oh, sorry, I mean _football_ in Germany?" Liz asked.

She was sitting across from him — in the spot that she usually sat at next to Bethany — and hadn't spoken until now. He didn't talk to her much about anything besides either school, Bethany, or his "life" in Germany. He didn't really consider Liz his friend, but she was nice enough and seemed to be a good friend for Bethany.

"Not really," Kiel said, unsure what else he could say. Soccer was the same thing as football? How could that be?

"That's surprising!" Liz remarked. "I heard from Bethany that you played soccer really well in your gym class."

"Thanks! I get that a lot," Kiel told the girl, winking at her. "The coach said I should play next year, but, you know, I won't be here."

She nodded, looking strangely disappointed. "That's sad."

Kiel didn't think that was sad at all. He was more than ready to say goodbye to school forever. And once it did in late spring, he could!

He glanced at the seat where Bethany usually sat. "Is Bethany here today? Have you seen her?"

"No, I haven't," Liz said. "I guess she's sick?"

Kiel looked back at his food, pushing it around the plate with his fork. "I guess so."

She cleared her throat. "So . . . are you going to Prom?"

"Prom?"

"Yeah." He looked at her, only to see that she was staring down at her food. "It's a few months away and some people are already getting asked . . ."

He tilted his head, not having an idea what this Prom thing was. Not wanting to act clueless about yet another nonfictional thing that he didn't know about, he said, "Yeah, I'm _totally_ going."

Liz smiled brightly. "You are?"

"Yes.”

"Oh, okay. I was wondering . . . are you going with anyone?"

Kiel shrugged. "Maybe. I'll probably go with Bethany and Owen."

"Oh." She frowned. "Well, usually people go with a date."

He raised an eyebrow. "Um, okay. Back up a second. What is this exactly?"

"What is what?"

He sighed and leaned forward, purposely using a quiet voice so that no one would hear him. It'd been embarrassing the first time when he didn't know about coffee, or dodgeball, or TV's. He'd rather act like he knew what he was talking about, because that always made the situation simpler. But he couldn't continue the conversation without knowing what Prom meant.

"Prom,” Kiel said. “What is Prom?"

Liz looked baffled. "You don't know what Prom is?" When he continued to stare at her, her face reddened, and she hesitantly smiled. "Uh, okay. Sorry. Prom is a school dance that high school students go to. I thought you would've known what that is."

"We didn't have Prom in Germany," Kiel said, thinking on his feet. "So it's a school dance." He nodded to himself. "Yeah, I think I'd go with Bethany and Owen."

"No one else? It is a school dance, so it's meant for a time when you can ask someone you like to it."

"Someone I like," Kiel repeated, the wheels turning in his head. By that, Liz meant romantically. He wasn't dumb; it was obvious. Why _was_ she asking him this, anyway? Just out of curiosity, or what?

"Yeah." Liz's face started turning crimson again, and she looked down and resumed eating. All the while, Kiel thought about this school dance, and who he'd bring. He never knew a thing like this existed. Sure, people danced on Magisteria, but it wasn't at a school and it wasn't called "Prom". Kiel felt a rush of excitement just thinking about it. He didn't exactly know what it was, but it sounded like it might be fun. It'd be a new experience for him.

Liz had said that Prom was special; it was meant for asking someone you like to the dance. Kiel still wanted to bring Owen and Bethany, since they were his best friends. Even though he was apparently supposed to bring someone he liked romantically, he assumed there'd be an exception if he didn't . But he obviously didn't feel romantic feelings towards _Owen_. Owen was his best friend, and always would be. No, the only person he could imagine going to this dance with and having feelings for was . . .

The bell rang, signaling the students to leave the cafeteria and get to class. Kiel stood up, saying goodbye to the other kids at his table before he threw out his food and left the cafeteria, feeling impatient and ready to _do_ something adventurous and thrilling. He'd had quite enough of sitting in this building, learning about chemistry and English and more.

Sadly, an adventure would not come until much later, not until he saw his friends again in the afternoon. So for now, he was reduced to posing as a German student and trying to concentrate in class, which was as boring as it was hard. But he had two hours left in the school day, and besides that, there was nothing left to do. It wasn't like Bethany was here, so he wouldn't be able to talk to her for majority of today.

Maybe he'd _actually_ try to focus in class today. It might even distract him a little bit before he saw his friends, which wouldn't be for another few hours. Why couldn't that time come any sooner? Kiel wished the day would hurry up. He was tired of waiting around. He was more than ready to talk to his friends about their plan, and then they'd go to the fictional world before Kiel . . . vanished.

As unnerving as it sounded, it was true. He didn't want to worry about it anymore, and he didn't want Bethany or Owen to either. But Kiel was not about to lose hope anytime soon. They'd be back in the fictional world by tonight, as Bethany had previously said. And whatever plan they came up with would work above and beyond. Everything always worked in Kiel's favor in the end, and this would too. He knew it.

* * *

The two teenagers stared at the now-dissolved chains, their mouths agape. Had that really just happened? Just like that — the chains were gone. They were _gone_.

Bethany couldn't say anything. She held her breath, unable to tear her eyes away from the pile of dust that had been chains a second ago. Her world felt like it was falling apart. How had this happened? Were the chains really _that_ old that they couldn't withstand Bethany touching it for one second? _One second?!_

"Oh my god. Did that actually happen?" Owen whispered, looking at her with a shocked expression. Bethany tried to say something, but her throat felt like it'd closed up. Somehow, her hands shook even harder. Their plan was ruined. _Ruined_. What could they do now? She hadn't even had the chance to pick the chains up and they'd disappeared!

All of the sudden, a breeze whipped through Bethany's hair, and a loud, crashing noise was heard from somewhere close by. Both of them nearby jumped out of their skin, and turned to look nervously at the door. Bethany's blood went cold, and she knew instantly that they weren't alone. A sick feeling grew in her gut, telling her to grab Owen's hand and jump out of the book. But she was frozen with fear, and she knew exactly who else was here.

"Nobody," she whispered, and in that moment she knew that her suspicion was correct. As if by confirmation, a whistling sound zipped through her ears, and another crashing noise was heard.

Owen's eyes went wide. "But we don't have the chains! They're gone!" His voice grew louder as he began to panic. "What are we going to do now? We can't lock him up anymore!"

"I —" Bethany started to say, but the wall separated their room from the next exploded, sending splints of wood everywhere. They covered their eyes from the debris, coughing the dust out of their lungs, as a figure emerged from the darkness and entered the room they were sitting in.

She lifted her hand, which was shaking violently, and pointed the flashlight at the figure. The sight of his featureless face made both of them gasp. Nobody crossed his arms, a frown growing on his face as he stared at them with empty eye sockets. "Ah, just as I expected. You've come no later than I anticipated." He nodded at them individually. "Bethany, Owen. I see you've returned to the fictional world to stop me."

Neither of them said anything, too shocked and scared too move. Nobody continued speaking, slowly walking towards them and cornering them against the wall. "I truly regret having to deal with you two again, but since Bethany has rejoined herself, I suppose there's nothing I can do but put a stop to this."

"You're _not_ going to separate Bethany again," Owen said in a shaky voice, narrowing his eyes at the man. "That's never going to happen."

"Never say never," Nobody said. He looked at Owen, and continued to walk closer. "I see that you've gotten out of your book. I hope you've learned something valuable from your time in _Pick The Plot_. I hope you realize that all of this is the fault of the nonfictionals. They're the only ones to blame."

"No," Bethany growled, getting to her feet. A surge of anger rushed through her, and she suddenly felt the urge to punch him senseless. " _You're_ the one to blame, Nobody!"

"Yeah!" Owen shouted, standing up too. "It's not the nonfictionals! This is all _your_ fault. You're causing fictional people to die! You did this to achieve your own goals, and none of that is ever going to help the fictional world!"

"Is it not?" Nobody tilted his head. "The fictional world will be better off once it is rewritten. No one will die. Not permanently."

"Exactly," Bethany said, glowering at the man. "We're going to make sure of that by locking _you_ up with the very chains that no villain from Jupiter City has ever been able to escape!"

Nobody stopped in his tracks, slowly growing a face and using it to stare at them with a perplexed expression. "What game are you playing at, girl? You think there's something you can do that won't make me separate you again?"

"Bethany," Owen whispered frantically. "The chains dissolved. We _saw_ them dissolve!"

She stubbornly shook her head. "Maybe those weren't them. These chains are indestructible, so how _could_ they dissolve? No, they have to be here." She gripped the flashlight hard in her hand. "Distract him with your time powers or something. I'm going to find the chains, and we're going to lock him up for good."

Bethany waited for him to object, or tell her how crazy that sounded, but he just nodded and turned back to Nobody. He took a deep breath, then squeezed his eyes shut and disappeared. A split-second later, Nobody flew backward onto the ground, and Bethany grinned as she watched an invisible Owen kicking him a million times a second.

She continued watching, only to realize that she was supposed to be looking for the chains. Owen had bought her a few seconds, or maybe even a few minutes. She couldn't waste it. _Think!_ There had to be some way to fix this!

Bethany flew past Nobody and looked around for somewhere to run. There was no sense in going back the way they'd come in. This place was huge, and she was pretty sure she couldn't find the chains that quickly. Not knowing where else to go, she sprinted for the stairs and took two steps at a time. The stairs groaned loudly as she climbed up them, but she thankfully managed to make it upstairs without them collapsing.

She stopped for a moment, her eyes darting around the dark hallway. She was breathing so hard that she thought she might faint. This was exactly how it was being fictional, and she'd forgotten the danger that came with it. Was this how life would always be? Doing crazy things just to keep herself alive, and not even caring about the consequences?

A loud crashing noise came from downstairs, and Bethany jumped back into action without a second thought. She immediately started running, poking her head in each room and doing a quick scan of each. This floor was identical to the bottom floor, since there was nothing but jail cells everywhere.

Bethany raced down hallway after hallway, her heart pounding in her chest. Owen was in danger. She had to find the chains, and fast! She ran and ran until she came across a room at the end of the hallway, which had a strange glow to it. Not having a moment to lose, she kicked open the door and rushed inside.

This time, she didn't even need to use the flashlight to see. The room was filled with boxes, which all contained different kinds of weapons. A bright glow was coming from one of the boxes in the room, which gave Bethany hope again. She pushed the other boxes to the side and ripped it open, only to clamp her eyes shut as an impossibly bright light burned into her eyes.

Shielding her eyes with her hand, she reached in and pulled out something metal. The glow faded slightly, allowing Bethany to see clearly what it was. It was the magical chains. This was what Mason Black had been talking about! Smiling triumphantly, Bethany draped them around her arm before running out to the hallway.

"Owen!" she shouted. "I've got them!"

Another crashing noise was heard, and Owen appeared at the end of the hall, running as fast as he could. He was breathing heavily. "I . . . tried . . . I . . . couldn't . . ."

Bethany grabbed his arm as he came up to her, and he gasped for air, looking like he'd just run a marathon. "I have the chains," she told him, holding them up for him to see. "Where did Nobody go? Are you okay?"

"Owen!" Nobody's angry voice rang from down the hall, and both of them whipped around to see the faceless man advancing towards them, his body growing larger and larger.

"Run!" Bethany shouted, and pulled Owen along into a sprint as they skidded down the next hallway, the floor creaking underneath their feet. She held the flashlight out, but it did little to help them see. It didn't help that Nobody was right behind them, shouting words that Bethany could barely hear above the roar of blood in her ears.

"I don't intend to hurt you, but I will be forced to do so if you keep this up!" Nobody said, and Bethany had to leap out of the way as his giant hand came hurtling towards her.

A part of the ceiling fell down behind them, and Owen shrieked. Through the cloud of dust and confusion and fear, they continued running and came across another set of stairs, which they instantly climbed up.

"I'm bisexual!" Bethany blurted out, panting as she ran next to him.

Owen glanced at her, his eyes wild. "Okay, great! I support you! But really? Is this _really_ the right time?"

"We're going to die! This is the only time!"

"We're not going to — AHH!" Owen's next step sent the floorboard crashing to the ground, and he started to fall. Bethany latched out and grabbed him by the hand, holding onto him for dear life.

"Owen!" she cried, wishing her hand wasn't so sweaty. She grunted from his weight and started to slowly lift him up, but then Nobody appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and all thoughts flew out the window.

Still holding onto Owen, she quickly morphed into a rocket and plowed straight through the ceiling, where they appeared outside. Bethany gently set Owen on the roof before changing back into her normal self, and they both clutched the floor beneath them like a lifeline, their faces sweaty and their bodies shaking.

This was not turning out as well as Bethany had hoped. Nobody was _mad_. He was surely going to hurt them both, just as badly as he had last time. They had at least a few seconds before Nobody came around to attack them again, maybe not even that.

Was there still enough time?

* * *

Owen was regretting his decision to help Bethany. This was feeling more and more like a nightmare and less like real life. This was not _The Dark_ comic anymore, but it definitely wasn't feeling like a superhero comic anymore, either. That was for sure.

_Maybe since this is a book, then we won't die_ , Owen thought to himself as he caught his breath on the roof of the prison. Then he remembered how that had worked out for him in _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source of Magic_ and _Pick the Plot_. He hadn't died then, but he had surely been close to dying.

Could people die in comic books before a superhero showed up to save them? Did that happen? Owen wasn't sure. Lots of people had died in comic books, but only main characters! Were him and Bethany the main characters in this scenario? Did that mean they would die? With the amount of danger they were in right now, it seemed very likely.

But Owen still doubted that could actually happen, since the fictional world tended to make impossible things a lot more possible. He was hoping that there could still be a way to fix this. They had the chains, so they already had an advantage. All they had to do now was somehow _not_ get killed and wrap Nobody in them. Yeah, even _that_ sounded kind of impossible.

He slowly got up into a sitting position, his broken arm aching with pain. He looked at Bethany, who was clutching the flashlight with one hand and the roof with the other, her hair a tousled mess.

"You okay?" Owen asked her, slowly edging closer to her. He grabbed the chains, which were laying on the roof, and wrapped them around his chest and shoulders for safekeeping. The roof groaned slightly beneath him, making his heart beat a little faster. The prison was so old. He didn't know how much longer they'd have before the roof collapsed, too.

"Yeah," Bethany breathed. "Are you?"

"Yeah —" he started to say, but the floor shook violently beneath them, and they both jumped as they heard Nobody yell something.

"We have to jump!" Bethany shouted, slowly starting to stand.

Owen's eyes widened. "What? Are you crazy?"

"We don't have anywhere else to go!" she said. "The roof is going to give out at any minute, and Nobody will be here soon!"

"No, I'm not jumping!" Owen cried. "Bethany, I can't — I have a broken arm, I-I—"

"We don't have a choice! I don't like this idea either, but do you see anywhere _else_ to go?"

"Well . . . no."

"Then we have to! C'mon, the building's about to collapse. After we jump, you can use your powers or something."

"That's your best idea?" Owen made a wheezing noise. "Okay, this is going to be okay. It's going to be okay, it's going to be —"

"You can't run from me!" Nobody's voice roared from somewhere inside the building, and Owen heard muffled crashing noises. The roof shook again, and nearby, a piece of it fell. Owen's stared at the missing gap in the roof, and his knees nearly buckled. He was terrified.

"You're right!" He nodded frantically, his hands shaking so badly that he was unable to stop them. "We gotta jump."

Despite the danger, Bethany flashed an unsteady grin at him. But she still looked reasonably terrified. She motioned for him to get up. "Let's go! Now, Owen!" When he hesitated she said, " _Now_!"

More of the building fell, and they both screamed as the floor beneath them began to tilt down, only to stop a second later. Owen tucked his head into his chest, sucking in air as he held onto the floor. He had to jump. He had to take a leap of faith and hope that someone would come along to save him. That's what happened in superhero comics, right?

"Okay," Owen whispered. "I'm ready. Let's go." With Bethany's help, he carefully got to his feet since the floor was still unsteady.

All of the sudden, a piece of the roof exploded behind them, sending chunks of wood flying everywhere. As they both covered their faces, the floor beneath them tilted down, and they both screamed as they landed hard on their backs, skidding down what used to be the roof. They reached the end of the ledge, and just as he started to fall, Owen latched his hand onto the ledge, managing to halt his descent.

Bethany wasn't so lucky. She flew off the side of the building, and her scream echoed in Owen's ears. He gasped, holding as tightly as he could to the ledge as he watched his best friend fall. _No_! "BETHANY!"

"Bethany!" he shouted again, his voice hoarse. He threw a terrified glance above him, giving him just enough time to see Nobody, his gigantic hand reaching for Owen. Owen's eyes widened, and he looked around for somewhere to go. There was nowhere he could see. He only had one hand, and that hand was the only thing keeping him from falling. What could he do?

A loud, groaning noise filled Owen's ears. All at once, the floor gave out and he found himself falling. His stomach dropped. He was falling headfirst, his legs above him. He propelled his arm around for something, _anything_ to grab as he plummeted straight down to the city below. He screamed, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried his hardest to concentrate. "I can't do this! I can't do this!"

And then time stopped, and suddenly, he _could_.

He was still falling at a normal pace, but the building had slowed it's moving, and so had Bethany. He continued to fall until he landed hard on a chunk of the floor, which had been falling underneath him. Now that Owen could make some sense of things, he shakily got to his feet and leaped inside the building's window, which was only a foot away. He grunted as he hit the floor inside, where it was surprisingly stable.

Owen stood up and leaned his forehead against the wall, slowly breathing in and out as his heart continued to beat at a much faster pace than usual. This was insane, and such a close call! He was shocked it had even worked. Owen Conners, useless? Not anymore! He had time powers, and he was going to _use_ them.

Then, he remembered how Nobody could speed up his own time, which got Owen moving again. He ran straight for the stairs and moved down as quickly as he could. The ceiling shook ever so slightly above him as he raced down each staircase. Once he reached the bottom, he heaved a sigh of relief and exited the building.

He craned his head up to see a still-falling Bethany, her mouth hanging open in a silent scream. Strangely, however, it almost looked like a part of her was enjoying the fall. He couldn't tell from this angle.

Then Owen saw who was above her, and his blood went cold. He gasped. Nobody was falling as well, and he was slowly gaining speed, his arms gradually growing longer and longer with every second that passed.

A new idea formed in Owen's head, but he wasn't sure if it would work. Nobody was getting stronger already, so he'd only have a few seconds to do this right. He'd have to release his hold on time. It could go a number of ways, and both of them could get hurt, but there was a chance it would work. After all, this was the fictional world. The heroes _always_ won, especially in a superhero comic book.

But what if Nobody got to Bethany first? He could rewrite himself to be anything, and he was already close to grabbing Bethany even when time was frozen. Owen knew that if he sped up time again, that might only make Nobody's process quicker. Ugh.

No, there wasn't a better idea that this one. Owen could do this, right? Maybe. No, _no_ he couldn't. Who was he kidding? He could _not_ do this! But he had to do it anyway, even if he wasn't the only person here with powers. For a few seconds, he had to pretend that he was Kiel Gnomenfoot again. That always made him believe in himself a little bit more.

Owen removed the chains from their spot around his body, prepared to use them at a moment's notice. He took a deep breath, then eased his hold on time. Immediately, the sound of Bethany screaming filled his ears, and she continued to fall through the air. Now at a normal time, Nobody's arms shot out faster than Owen could see, stretching towards Bethany.

"Turn into something!" Owen shouted over and over, hoping she could hear him. She must've, because a few seconds later, she turned into a rubber ball and shot directly towards the ground. Nobody's hands passed right through the spot she'd been, and Owen could hear him angrily shouting something.

Owen squinted his eyes through the darkness as he looked for Bethany. He heard a slapping noise nearby, probably the sound of the rubber ball hitting the ground. A moment later, Bethany transformed back, and Owen had barely enough time to pull her towards him before Nobody crashed to the ground.

Knowing he didn't have any time to lose, Owen quickly kicked his time powers into gear, keeping his hand on Bethany's arm. She looked at him with a bewildered expression, then fixed her gaze on Nobody. "What happened?"

Owen beamed, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He couldn't believe his plan had worked! "Only me _saving_ you. And I did it all on my own!"

Bethany grinned back, interlocked her fingers with his, then stared up at Nobody, who was gradually starting to move. She grabbed the chains from Owen. "Okay. We don't have much time. Let's wrap these around him before he speeds himself up."

"What if this doesn't work?" Owen asked, hoping his voice wasn't shaking as he said it. He could tell that Nobody was already beginning to speed himself up, and every second that passed, his body got increasingly larger, and his mouth began to open, as if he was going to say something.

"Not an option. This is going to work," Bethany prompted, her brow set. Despite her determined expression, he could tell that she was just as nervous as he was. "It _has_ to."

"You're right," Owen breathed. "It'll work."

Together, they started encircling the chains around Nobody's waist and chest as quickly as they could. It took longer than Owen would've liked, but they had to hold hands to keep his time powers working, so it couldn't be helped. Luckily, the faceless man had very slow movements, but he was able to glare at them with hateful eyes, which made Owen shudder. The two of them wound the rest of the chains around Nobody, and simultaneously, they stepped back and dropped each other's hands.

" _What do you think you're doing_?" Nobody roared, his face contorted with anger. He extended a hand out to grab them, then paused and looked down oddly at his hand. His hand stayed where it was, trapped beneath the glowing chains. Again, Nobody tried to move his arms, but he was unable to.

He looked back at them. "What have you done to me? You think _this_ contraption can hold me?" This time, he grew to a larger size, but the chains grew with him, refusing to fall away. He returned back to his normal size, slowly breathing in and out as he glowered at Owen and Bethany.

"The fictional world is going to be safe from you now," Owen said, feeling much more confident. "We're gonna make sure you don't ever escape, Nobody. Your plan is _ruined_."

Nobody only stared at them, clearly at a loss for words. Owen bit back a grin as he watched Bethany step closer to the faceless man.

"This is only fair," Bethany said, her voice low and steady. She leaned closer in a way that seemed threatening, and strands of hair fell across her face. "After you've taken my father from me, after you've separated me, _and_ after you've hurt my friends. You are _never_ going to hassle the fictional world or my friends ever again. Now shrink yourself."

"What?" Nobody hissed. "I don't know what you think you're playing at, but I swear you will —"

"Shrink yourself!" she shouted in his face, making Owen jump. He'd never seen her get so dangerously angry. He watched as Nobody glared at them one last time before morphing his body to the size of a hand. Taking a deep breath, Bethany reached down, plucked Nobody from the ground, and threw him straight into the lake.

"Wow," Owen whispered, staring at the ripples in the water where Nobody had landed.

"Wow," Bethany echoed, stumbling backwards a bit. They watched the water in silence for a full minute, before the situation caught up with Owen's brain.

"Wait, really? It _worked_?" Owen's mouth hung open, and he looked over at her. "Did that just happen?"

"It happened."

"I thought I might've imagined the whole thing. But you saying it happened makes me feel so much better." He fought back a smile as the adrenaline rush of the last hour subsided. "Are . . . are you sure? Is he actually . . .?"

It all felt too surreal. It'd been _so_ quick, impossibly quick. How had it worked? How had any of it worked? It was like an incredible dream, and Owen couldn't fully believe it had just happened. It was as if the sun was shining on him, and the birds were singing, despite the fact that they were on an island that had neither sunshine nor birds.

Bethany sunk to her knees, a grin slowly forming on her face. "I thought this would be harder. What are we supposed to do _now_? Owen, he's locked away! _He's gone!_ " She let out a giddy laugh. "I . . . wow. I need to go find my father."

"Whoa, slow down!" Owen said, a laugh in his voice. "We'll find him. But shouldn't we tell Kiel?"

"Oh, right," Bethany said, and Owen suddenly remembered how they'd done this without telling anyone. "He's gonna freak out. Oh, wow. I can't believe this is finally over."

"I know." Owen shook his head in disbelief, his heart light. It felt like he could accomplish anything and more. Nothing could tear him down, not even the knowledge that a creepy prison was still next to them. "I still can't believe it worked! It actually worked! Nobody's gone. He's gone _forever_. Maybe we should yell something."

"Why?"

Owen smiled. "I don't know. It just feels like we should." He turned back to the view. Taking a deep breath, he yelled, "Nobody is stupid!"

Bethany laughed. She cupped her hands over his mouth and yelled, "Nobody has no friends!"

"Nobody wishes he was funny!" Owen shouted, beaming now.

"Nobody has the worst taste in food!"

"Nobody is like the Grinch on Christmas!"

"Nobody participated in the spelling bee at school but he was the first one to lose!"

"Nobody is embarrassed of his looks, so that's why he's featureless!"

"Nobody is ugly!"

Both of them were laughing — probably hard enough to earn a few strange looks from anyone else who was watching. Luckily, no one else was around. Once Owen gained control of himself enough to form a sentence, he said, "We need to celebrate or — yeah, celebrate!"

She looked at him curiosity, a casual grin on her face. "Oh no. What kind of celebration?"

Owen went through the list of fun things he'd been dying to do. "We can go have a party with the superheroes! Or jump into the Harry Potter books, or maybe even fly around using the magic fairy dust from Peter Pan!" He snapped his fingers. "Oh! Here's another idea: we should go to Narnia and hang out with Aslan. Honestly, I think I deserve at least _that_ after all the stress Nobody put me through. I'm still trying to process it."

"Process it on the way. We gotta get back before your mom knows you're gone." She winked at him, unable to keep from smiling. "You don't want to be grounded anymore, do you?"

"Hey!" Owen said, but he couldn't take her seriously with them both smiling widely. "I'm _already_ grounded. She's at work right now, so she can't exactly know I'm gone."

Bethany stood up. She looked towards the direction of Jupiter City, seeming more at peace than Owen had ever seen her. For once, she looked calm, without a hint of worry on her face. It made his heart swell to see her that way. In that moment, he knew everything would be just fine. They'd never be in any _serious_ danger anymore, especially on Bethany's behalf.

"Um, we can go find your dad right now, if that's what you want," Owen said quietly, jerking his head in the direction of the city.

"That's okay," she said, her hair blowing gently in the breeze. "I know exactly where I can find him. I think I need at least another day to process things before I come back and get him." She looked at him. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," Owen said, placing his hand in her's. Then, he paused. "Wait, but what about Narnia —"

Before he could finish the sentence, Bethany jumped them out of the book.

* * *

" _What_ did I miss?" Kiel Gnomenfoot asked, feeling so shocked that he had to place both hands on the table in front of him.

He had come to the library after a long day at school, hoping to see his friends again. Not only did he see Owen, but he also saw Bethany. They both had looked unusually excited — well, unusual for Bethany. That was normal for Owen — and had filled him in on their story. Apparently, they'd gone to Jupiter City without him, and they'd locked Nobody up with magical chains.

Kiel had to ask several questions before he understood what had truly happened, and he was still shocked. Just like that . . . Nobody was gone from their lives? It seemed like a miracle. He was a little annoyed that his friends had failed to tell him where they were going, since he would've preferred to have a fun adventure over sitting in a classroom all day, but he was happy nonetheless.

Bethany repeated the story for the third time, looking slightly annoyed since it was taking so long for Kiel to wrap his head around it. Once it was explained again in great detail, Kiel finally understood what had happened. At least, he _thought_ he did. So Nobody was gone, hopefully forever. Did that mean the fictional world was saved, too? He really hoped so. It meant his world was safe!

"I can't believe I missed all the action," Kiel said, frowning despite his relief. "You didn't think to invite me along? I'm very impressive in a fight!"

"Sorry about that," Bethany said, smiling as she pat him on the arm. "I was going to go by myself without bringing either of you, but Owen found out I was leaving and basically forced me to bring him with me."

"You needed help!" Owen protested. "I wasn't going to let you defeat him by yourself!"

Kiel nodded in agreement. "As much as I believe you could do it, Beth, I think it's better to have help. Especially against Nobody, of all people."

"I know," Bethany said, looking a bit embarrassed by this. " _But_ it worked out, and Nobody's gone now!" She looked pointedly at Owen and Kiel. "So we don't need to keep saying I needed help! Yeah, I _did_ , but can we stop talking about it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Okay. I know!" Owen said, grinning. Kiel only winked in response.

"So," she said. "I was thinking that we should go over my house tonight. For a sleep over. I know it's a school night, but I'm pretty sure my mom would be okay with it as long as we don't stay up to late." She looked at Kiel. "What do you think?"

He grinned. "I'm in!"

She smiled back, then looked at Owen and folded her hands together. "What about you?"

"Oh." He glanced over at his mother's office, where she was currently working. "Um, I don't know. I'd love to. But I'm . . . grounded."

"You never know. She might say yes," Kiel said.

"Maybe." Owen shrugged, looking at them with hopeful eyes. "I'll ask her when I get home." He checked the time on his phone, then sighed and stood up. "I should get back to work. My mom doesn't want me taking breaks. I'll be at the checkout counter if you need me." Giving them a wave, he walked over to the checkout counter and rested his head on his hand, already looking lost-in-thought.

Smiling to himself, Kiel looked back at Bethany, who's eyes were on a nearby bookcase. She seemed utterly calm and unworried, which was a strange but welcoming sight to see.

"Anything else dangerous we can do? Any dragons that need slaying? Or giants?" Kiel asked her in a joking tone, although he genuinely meant it.

He _missed_ adventures, and he'd missed the chance to defeat Nobody! He'd been looking forward to that, actually. The thought of that was disappointing, but at least he could still have plenty of adventures in the future. He knew that would never change, and he hoped he could continue to go on them with Bethany and Owen, even if they'd just be for fun.

"Not yet," Bethany replied, looking over at him.

"What are you going to do now that Nobody is taken care of?" Kiel asked quietly, placing his hands on the table. "Are you going to bring your father back now?"

She nodded slightly. "Yeah, soon. I'm not sure when, but I should . . . probably talk to my mom about it first. Or after. I don't know. But right now, I'm still just in shock. It feels kind of surreal. I can't believe that Nobody is _gone_."

" _And_ without my help!" he added, which made her laugh.

"Wait, what are _you_ going to do?" Bethany asked, her smile fading. "I thought you'd be finishing the school year here, but . . . I mean, if you want to go back to your world then no one's going to stop you."

"For now, I'm not going anywhere," Kiel told her. "I think I'm supposed to finish out the school year as a German student, but I'll definitely go back to visit Magisteria a few times." He sighed wistfully. "I _miss_ dragons."

"Don't worry," she said, grinning. "You'll get to see dragons! Maybe tomorrow we'll jump into your book."

He smiled at that. It made his heart feel a little lighter at the thought of returning to familiarity, even though he liked being here with his friends and traveling to new worlds. Then he remembered something from that morning, and he tapped his fingers on the table. "Oh, I almost forgot! There's something that Liz told me about, and it's apparently some kind of tradition at your school. That's another reason I'll be staying for the rest of the school year. It's supposed to be fun. It's called . . . Prom?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, it's this school dance that, um, people go to. I've never been, but I'm not surprised Liz mentioned it to you. For some reason, she's really obsessed with dances."

Kiel chuckled. "I kind of picked up on that. Anyway, can we go? I've never been to a dance before. They aren't really a thing on Magisteria, and it seems fun."

"We?" Bethany blinked a few times, and her face turned red. "You mean like . . . just me and you?"

"You, me, and Owen," he said, feeling confused. "Won't he be able to come?"

She released a breath, then smiled, though she still looked caught-off-guard. "Yeah, he would."

"Oh, great," Kiel replied, wondering why she thought only them two would be going. Maybe it was that thing that Liz had said, about two people going as a couple. But Kiel thought that didn't make much sense. The last thing he'd ever do was exclude his other friends from such a great opportunity as this one. He felt glad that he wouldn't be missing this upcoming dance, since it was a rare opportunity.

Even if it was disappointing that he'd missed all the fun of fighting Nobody, everything was resolved now, and the worlds were no longer in danger. It felt nice to have something to look forward to with his friends, and leading up to that time he could visit as many other worlds as he wanted, more specifically his own.

He couldn't wait to be back home again, and he would no longer having to secretly worry about Nobody. He doubted this carefree, happy feeling would fade away. For the first time since he'd come to the nonfictional world, he felt exactly as he'd always been. He felt like his true self again — Kiel Gnomenfoot — and it felt _good_ to not worry about a single thing. Really good.

* * *

"Really? You want to go to your friend's house and sleep over . . . on a _school_ night?" Owen's mother asked as they sat at the dinner table.

"Yes?" Owen said. "So can I go?"

She sighed, looking down at her food. "You _are_ grounded . . ."

"But this is the first time I'm asking you!" Owen said, hoping his voice wasn't as whiny as it sounded. "And you told me to ask you when I want to go over a friend's house, so I am! Please let me go! I _have_ to go!"

She smiled a little. "I don't know about _that_."

"I do!" he insisted. "Bethany is my best friend, and Kiel will be there too. _Their_ parents are letting them do it, and they actually _go_ to school."

"Are you sure their parents are okay with them doing this?"

"Yes, I'm sure! Please, Mom! It's not like I'm going on a quest or something. I'd only be doing that if I were the chosen one, like Harry Potter."

"Owen," she said, sighing. "What did I say about you being the chosen one, destined to save the world?"

He rolled his eyes. "That the real world is exciting enough, and that I can find plenty of fun things here."

"Without . . ."

"Without being a wizard or the long-lost son of a king."

"Or . . ."

"Mom, come on!"

_"_ _Or . . .?"_

"A magician's apprentice, like Kiel Gnomenfoot."

_"_ _Or?"_

He sighed loudly, and she gave him a pointed look."Or an orphan who grows up to fight crime."

"That one was always a bit insulting, honestly. Really? You'd rather be an orphan?" His mother shook her head in disbelief. "Okay, you can go. But make sure to clean your room first. I want it to be spotless."

Owen laughed. As if _that_ would ever happen.

As soon as dinner ended, Owen ran upstairs to his bedroom, then swung the door closed. He turned to his messy room, stared at it for a few seconds, and then pushed a pile of the dirty clothes to the side of the wall. He then made a weak attempt to make his bed, by throwing his blanket loosely over the bed and wiping the wrinkles off of the pillows.

When he was done, he sauntered over to the closet. Squinting his eyes through the darkness, he finally found what he was looking for and leaned over to grab it. He took out the bottle of air freshener and sprayed it around the room, allowing the smell of clean sheets to waft into his nose.

"There," he announced to no one. "Not dirty."

An hour later, he was in Bethany's house, hugging his mother goodbye after she insisted on walking in with him, only to have a long talk with Mrs. Sanderson and re-check his bag and make sure he had the necessary items for a sleepover. Seriously, it was like he'd never slept over someone's house before! He'd had countless sleepovers at Bethany's house, so it didn't make sense why she'd assume he didn't remember the procedure.

Maybe she was just nervous about Owen sleeping in a different house for the first time in a while. That was probably it.

"Did you bring any snacks?" Bethany asked once Owen entered the kitchen, finally free of his mother.

He held up a bag of Oreos, and she smiled. "Perfect. Give me it." She grabbed it out of his hands before he could protest, then opened the bag and started eating.

"Hey!" Owen said, reaching for it. She held it out of his reach. "Those are mine!"

"My mom doesn't have any snacks around besides pretzels," Bethany explained. "This is for your own good, anyway. You eat too much sugar."

"Who are you, my mom?"

"Maybe."

"That'd be _really_ weird, Bethany," Owen said, but he smiled too. "Uh, so where's Kiel?"

"Here!" came a voice from the couch, and he looked over to see Kiel laying there, his wand-knives above his head as he cast various spells.

"You're letting him cast spells in here?" Owen asked, blinking in surprise.

Bethany sighed, though she didn't look uncomfortable about it. "Yeah. My mom is upstairs anyway. I'm letting him do it as long as he doesn't damage my house."

Owen laughed, and Kiel said, "What's there to worry about? I'm not going to damage anything." Then he craned his head towards them and winked. "Not permanently."

" _Don't_ _damage anything_ ," Bethany warned, pointing a finger at him. He only smiled and went back to casting spells.

Then, Owen realized something that he hadn't before. He walked closer to Kiel. "Your wand-knives . . . they're back. Didn't one of them disappear?"

"They did," Kiel said. "But I guess sometime after you defeated Nobody, all of my stuff returned. It was weird. I found out when I came home from the library. But now, I have my cape back, along with everything else that went missing."

"That's amazing!" Owen said, and he meant it. He hadn't realized that defeating Nobody meant Kiel's missing items would be restored, but it made sense. Now, the fictional people were safe, and the worlds wouldn't disappear. It only showed that everything _had_ worked out, after all. Despite all of his doubts that maybe it wouldn't work, clearly it had. The proof was here.

"That shows us even more that Nobody is gone," Bethany said, nodding her head. "It feels so nice to not worry about it anymore."

"Yeah," Owen said quietly, smiling at them. It was almost like he didn't know what to do now that they'd defeated Nobody. He felt so free, like he was no longer tied down to anything. Him and Bethany had saved the world! Just for tonight, he wanted to have a fun night with his friends. All of them deserved it after what they'd gone through. And after that . . .

After that he wanted to visit more fictional worlds, but hopefully, it wouldn't lead to any more danger. Seeing his friends was at the top of his list, too. They didn't need to fight any more evil, so this could just be for fun purposes. Obviously, he'd see Charm and Kara right away. Out of all his friends that he'd been dying to see, they were the most important.

Since it was getting late, Bethany brought over blankets from a closet upstairs, and the three of them half-heartedly made a blanket fort for them to sleep in. Kiel was already on the couch, so he decided to sleep there, while Owen and Bethany would sleep on the floor. Owen didn't find it very comfortable, but wrapping himself in about three blankets helped, although it still didn't feel as comfortable as his own bed.

They talked long into the night, first about the books they wanted to visit next, which somehow escalated into a debate between Owen and Kiel about who would be better in a fight: Batman or Iron Man? As they started that conversation, Bethany seemed to quickly grow bored, so she'd taken out a book and decided to read it.

Eventually, after Bethany's mother ordered them to go to sleep and promptly turned out the lights, Owen's energy started to wear off. Maybe it was the fact that the day had been so eventful and dangerous, or that he was once again safe, but the warmth of the blanket and his friends' quiet voices were making Owen drowsy. His eyes began to close and he was unable to keep them open anymore.

Before he knew it, he had fallen fast asleep, and his head was filled with dreams of getting an acceptance letter to Hogwarts, becoming to High King of Narnia, and getting to be Kiel Gnomenfoot again. Except this time, his heart wasn't taken out by Dr. Verity, and Charm confessed that she liked him.

Unfortunately, he was ripped from his pleasant dreams only a few hours later. And it wasn't for a good reason.

* * *

A strange noise stirred Bethany awake. Slowly, she opened her eyes, feeling groggy. It was dark out still, which didn't give her any motivation to stay away. Pulling the blankets further over her body, she started to close her eyes again, and her breathing steadied.

Then, she heard the noise again, which sounded like a heavy scraping noise against the ground. She had _not_ been dreaming it. She sat bolt upright and pulled the covers off of her before leaping over Owen, who was asleep on the floor next to her. As quietly as she could, she crept out of the living room and down the hallway, goosebumps forming on her arms.

Bethany didn't understand why she felt afraid, but her gut told her that something was up. This had never happened before, and she didn't have a pet, so there wasn't an explanation for it. Maybe her mother was awake? That could be possible, but why would she be downstairs at 3:00 am in the morning?

Bethany squinted, trying to make out anything in the darkened hallway. She could hardly see. The scraping noise was heard again, and it was louder this time. She held her breath, her eyes wide as she tried to search for the source of the noise.

Something was _definitely_ wrong.

Then, there was a sharp hiss, and the silhouette of a large, monstrous figure emerged from the end of the hallway. Bethany watched with horror as it came closer and closer, and it was then that she saw what it was: a giant snake. She gasped. A snake?! There was no way this could be anything but fictional. It was too huge to be normal. But if it _was_ fictional, how had it gotten out of the book?

She backed away as the snake advanced towards her, it's eyes fixed on her and it's mouth opening and closing, as if it was preparing to eat her. She backpedaled into the kitchen and searched wildly around for a book to grab. She opened drawers and cabinets for something, _anything_ that could be useful. There wasn't even a cookbook. Seriously? Why didn't her mother have any cookbooks?

This was _not_ good.

"Owen! Kiel!" Bethany yelled, grabbing a kitchen knife before she turned back to the giant snake. It covered up the entire hallway now, and it was slowly slithering into the kitchen. She edged away, stepping in front of the living room just in case the snake decided to try attacking her friends.

"What?" Kiel asked, rubbing his hand over his face. Then, he looked over at her, and he shot out of the couch, all tiredness gone. He shook Owen's shoulders. "Wake up!"

As Owen slowly awoke, Bethany faced down the snake, simultaneously trying to search for a book that might be nearby. The snake hissed at her, then opened it's mouth and lunged forward. She screamed in surprise and hit the floor hard, landing right underneath the snake's head.

"Hey! Get away from her!" Kiel shouted, and a second later, the snake was blown backward into the end of the hallway. Breathing hard, Bethany got to her feet, Owen and Kiel appearing at her side.

"Are you okay?" Kiel asked, looking her over. Protectively, he stepped in front of her, blocking the snake in the hallway.

She nodded shakily. "Y-Yeah."

"What's going on?" Owen whispered.

"I don't know," Bethany said, feeling sick to her stomach. "I . . . I don't —"

Another noise was heard from behind them, and they slowly turned around to see a dragon flying out of a book, followed by another, and then another. Two of them crashed right through the ceiling, while the next roared, and flew straight for Bethany, Owen, and Kiel. They threw themselves to the ground.

Owen made a choking noise. " _Oh my god_ _they're escaping from the books_!"

"I-I know! This is terrible," Bethany breathed, her heart racing out of control. How had things escalated so quickly? What was going on? Why were the fictional characters, specifically monsters, escaping from their books?

"Come on!" Kiel shouted, and Bethany had just enough time to see a huge grin on his face before he leapt from the floor and cast spells at the dragon, which had crashed into the kitchen.

"Do you see any books?" Bethany asked Owen, helping him to his feet. The window exploded next to them, and they quickly jumped away as a witch on a broom flew just past her house.

"There's that book over there," Owen said, pointing at the one the dragons had come out of. They ran to it, and Bethany started to pick it up, but it jumped out of her hand, and they both leapt backward again as yet another dragon flew out of the book.

She forced herself to pick the book up again, ignoring the fact that any other character could jump out at a moment's notice. She glanced at the cover, which said _Dragonology_. Right. She'd been reading this last night, since Kiel really wanted to see dragons again. _That_ was inconvenient. Why did this always seem to happen?

Holding the book open, she ducked past Kiel and the dragon he was fighting and charged towards the giant snake, which had somehow managed to climb halfway up the stairs.

  
"Alright, you get to live with dragons now!" she shouted, and dived right at the snake. It vanished inside the pages of the book, and she grunted as she crashed into the stairs. Her head spun, but she managed to grab the book again and snap it shut, hopefully keeping any other monsters from escaping.

Then, she heard a shriek from the top of the stairs, and she looked up to see her mother standing there, looking terrified. "Bethany?!”

"Mom!" Bethany choked out, her heart nearly stopping right then and there as her worst fears rolled into one. She scrambled to her feet, the book underneath her arm. "I-I can explain everything."

"I think you'd better. Get your friends and get in the car. _Now_."

* * *

_  
"_ _I, I can remember standing by the wall. And the guns, shot above our heads. And we kissed, as though nothing could fall . . ."_   
  



	24. Everything That Could Go Wrong Has Gone Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As their town is under attack by fictional creatures, Bethany, Owen, and Kiel hurry to fix their mistakes.

_**Alive (by Sia)** _

_"I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing. I'm alive . . ."_

* * *

Eleven days.

Sometimes, it was hard to keep track of things. Especially when stuck inside a jail cell for the umpteenth time. The only thing she'd really been able to do was count to make time pass quicker. Counting the days gave her a way to keep track of time . . . not that it really mattered. She'd probably tire of it by day three-hundred or so. It wasn't like she'd be leaving anytime soon, so she didn't exactly need to know how many days she'd been here. It helped with the boredom, though. And the loneliness.

Kara should've realized that she had made a mistake by letting herself get locked up again, but it was too late for any of that. It was eleven days too late, and without a time bracelet there was no way to reverse anything. Maybe she was supposed to just let life happen and not go back in time to change it, even if she didn't like the way her life was going. If there was anything the universe was teaching her, it was that.

Her prison cell — if that was even what it could be called — was a small room with one door and no windows. It'd given her a couple of days before she realized there was even a door, because the room was so dark that nothing could be seen. She hated how dark it was, and how everything was eerily silent. She had no one to talk to but herself, and the person who occasionally came to bring her food never spoke.

"Solitary confinement", as it was called, was certainly harder to deal with than the time prison. Being here almost made Kara miss the time prison, even though it'd been a horrible experience. But she knew she was supposed to be there, just like she was supposed to be here. It was better to be here, no matter how much she longed to be free. But she never would be. Not if the world continued to be in danger because of her.

If she weren't locked up, the entire world would die off. She'd try her hardest to avoid that outcome. She'd lock herself up for the rest of her life, if she had to. She had to keep the world safe, no matter how much everyone hated her. Her very existence was putting the world in jeopardy, and she couldn't live with herself if she were the cause of the world dying. She'd feel guilty forever.

Strangely enough, though, the end of the world wasn't as concerning as it used to be. Maybe it was because she was in complete darkness and silence, unable to communicate with anyone, but she wasn't as scared as she had been. Kara was more scared that she'd never see daylight again. Being alone in the darkness was slowly driving her crazy. It gave her plenty of time to think, but there wasn't much she could do besides that.

A small part of her wondered if the world was truly going to die because of her. All the signs pointed to it, but a part of her hoped that somehow, she'd be free someday to start anew, not having to worry about where her actions would lead her. It was wishful thinking, but it was all Kara could dream about. It was all she'd ever wanted.

Saving the world from utter destruction was all she'd tried to do, and she certainly had tried endless times. _Countless_ times. It was hard to imagine a time when she wasn't trying to stop something from happening. She made mistakes without even trying, and when she tried to fix them, they fell apart even more.

Really, she'd never been able to imagine much of anything until now, since she was stuck in a dark room with nothing else to do. Often, she envisioned what her life would be like if her mistakes and burdens fell away. It would be wonderful if she could be a normal, harmless girl for once. But it just wasn't her. Normal wasn't Kara Dox, and no amount of dreaming could change that. Not even here.

Kara liked it best when she wasn't awake, because her dreams were the only time she was able to escape. There, she saw no darkness. In her dreams, there was Owen. He was her closest and only friend, aside from her other selves. He was like a ray of sunshine in her otherwise dark life, and being with him again always made her happy. She thought about him every day, too. It was hard not to think about him, especially because she missed him more than she'd ever missed anyone.

Once, maybe a couple of days ago, she could've sworn she'd heard Owen's voice. She was fairly sure it'd been only a dream, but then again, it was hard to decipher dreams from reality when everything was dark all of the time. It probably was just a dream. Either that, or she was already going crazy from being here. Could a person go crazy without knowing it?

When Kara heard him speaking to her, she remembered seeing his face, just like she'd seen every time she fell asleep. He'd been laying in a bed — maybe it was his — and he was talking in a quiet voice, as if he didn't want to wake anyone up. "If you're out there, I'll get you out of that prison, Kara," she'd heard him say. "I'm pretty sure you can't hear me saying this, but if you can . . . I hope you're okay. I don't know . . . I had a bad day today. My mom caught me sneaking out, and well, I guess I wish you were here."

Unlike her other dreams which she didn't remember too well, she remembered the dialogue perfectly. It felt so real. Hearing his voice made her miss him all over again, and it made her partly wish that she'd never given herself up to the time agents. She really _had_ wanted to go with him though. It would be amazing to leave her world behind and go with him. She _knew_ it would've been.

But out of fear, she chose to keep him and the rest of the world safe. That was one thing she regretted, but it was too late to change anything.

Having him in the time prison had surprisingly made her life a lot better, even though he wasn't meant to be there. Owen being there had brought her a sense of comfort that she couldn't explain. For once, she hadn't felt lonely. She'd even felt less afraid when he was by her side. He was always there for her, even during the times she was sad or felt hopeless. She was very glad he wasn't here with her now, or else she'd feel worse.

Every day, Kara hoped and prayed that Owen had returned home safely, and that he was okay. She wasn't sure. For all she knew, he could still be in that dinosaur-invested jungle. A part of her doubted this was true, but without much else to think about, it was easy to envision the plenty of scenarios her friend could be in. She wished justice could be brought to Nobody, the villain who'd put Owen in the time prison.

Owen didn't deserve what Nobody had put him through, and he certainly hadn't deserved to be stuck in a time prison with Kara. He was the best, and probably the kindest person she'd ever known. The least she could hope for was that he was safe, happy, and healthy, now that he was away from the time prison . . . and her. She'd done all she could to help him. She hoped it was enough. All she wanted was for him to be happy.

It made Kara feel a little bit better to know that she, along with the Countess, were locked up. And the Countess was even more dangerous than her, so it was crucial that she never escape. Kara wondered how that woman was coping with solitary confinement. She was probably going crazy already, unlike Kara, who was pretty sure she'd have another few more weeks before that happened. Or so she hoped. The idea of her going crazy wasn't very pleasant to think about.

Kara listened hopefully for the familiar sound of the slot in the door creaking open, where food and water were regularly deposited for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That was the only way she could tell what time it was, aside from the rare time she was allowed to leave her cell.

That moment had brought her some form of entertainment, even though the soldiers were as emotionless and harsh as the ones from the TSA. That'd been on her third day here, because the authorities had wanted to question her about her time traveling felonies. That sort of thing. But she was grateful for even that moment, because for at least ten minutes, she wasn't in complete darkness. Unfortunately for the days after that, she'd been stuck in this enclosure, unable to do nothing else but think.

She shifted around on her cot, which was nothing more than a blanket with an uncomfortable pillow, and slowly edged towards where the door was. It was too dark to see anything around her, but from experience she knew that the door was somewhere nearby.

She crawled towards it until her hand came in contact with the wall, and she slumped against it, pressing her cheek against the metal door as she listened for any noises. As always, there were none. She kept hoping she'd hear some sort of sound. The only thing she ever heard was the sound of the slot opening and closing, and the plate of food being placed on the floor.

Sometimes Kara found herself singing softly to herself to pass the time, which always made her think of Owen for some reason. There was no one to hear her, so she didn't care. She couldn't care less if anyone did. It was better than talking crazily to herself . . . even though she already had talked to herself before. Not her specific self, but her future selves. They never were bad company, even though they normally warned Kara about threatening things to come in the future.

As Kara continued to press her ear against the door, the door suddenly swung open. Surprised, the girl fell back, landing hard on her elbow. She had to blink several times to adjust to the light that came from the hallway, since the lights practically burned into her eyes. She could make out the form of a tall man, who was the first person she'd seen in eight days.

"Hello?" Kara whispered, her voice hoarse from not using it for several days.

"Kara Dox," he said in a deep, monotone voice. "Come with me."

Her heart leapt. She scrambled to her feet, using the wall for leverage since she hadn't walked anywhere in quite a long time. The man turned around, and she quickly followed him out, trying not to feel _too_ excited. It was hard not to. She'd come to appreciate even the smallest things like getting to leave her room. She hated being in there. She never knew when she'd be able to leave, or if she'd ever leave again.

As the man led her down the hallway, Kara whipped her head around, wanting to capture the entire scenery with her eyes. It was weird to see again after days of being in the dark. Everything was brightly lit, almost comparable to a hospital. Everything was pure white, including the uniforms everyone wore. Kara's own outfit had been swapped once she was locked up here; while she still wore a jumpsuit, it was now bright white. Somehow, it hadn't gotten even a speck of dirt on it.

The prison here was also much more secured, since no prisoners were allowed to wander about. Unlike the Time Security Agency, the jail cells here had no bars. They were just like Kara's cell, with the same heavy metal door, which was twice her size. Each door had a number on it instead of name, which made her shiver.

Did that mean the prisoners were only referred to as numbers instead of their actual names? Did that mean _she_ was referred to as a number? If she stayed here for the rest of her life, would they eventually forget her name, and start using the number "four" or "seven" to replace it?

They continued on until they reached the end of the very long hallway, where the guard retrieved a card from his pocket and scanned it against a device that was connected to the door. A beeping noise was heard, and the doors abruptly swung open, releasing a wave of cold air into Kara.

As the guard placed the card back into his pocket, Kara eyed it with more curiosity than anything. Obviously, she wouldn't try to escape. She was a danger to everyone. It was much better to keep the world safe than to let this terrible future happen. But if the prison were to . . . get destroyed like the last one . . . she'd at least know how to get out of her cell with this card.

On the other side of the door was another shorter hallway, which branched off into different rooms. Several guards were positioned along the wall, all wearing black helmets that covered their faces. Kara cast an apprehensive look at them before drawling her eyes to the floor and keeping them there, staring at the guard's feet in front of her. Not a single part of this place made her feel good.

They walked into the next hallway until they came to a closed door. The guard stopped so abruptly that Kara nearly slammed into him, but she drew backward at the last second. She watched as he scanned his card against the door, then escorted her through. The room they entered was small, with nothing but a large, buzzing machine in the corner with various wires poking out of it, a small metal table, and a metal chair in front of that.

Standing next to the machine was a woman, who was wearing the same white jumpsuit as the rest of them. When Kara entered the room, she gestured, and another guard closed the door behind her, locking it shut. The noise echoed in Kara's ears, and she remembered once again how high the security was here.

"Hello, Kara," the woman said with a smile, yet her cold tone did not match her expression. "Do you know what this is?" She nodded her head towards the machine.

Kara swallowed hard, then shook her head. She had to clasp her hands in front of her to prevent her entire body from shaking. What was the machine supposed to be? Just looking at it made her a little queasy, so she averted her gaze from it and chose to glare at the woman.

"It's going to be very useful for us. We're going to use it to locate all the little mishaps in time. _Your_ mishaps." Once she was done talking, the woman studied Kara, as if waiting for a reaction. Kara dug her fingernails into her palms but said nothing, shame filling her. It was her messing around with time that had caused the future in the first place.

"And then," the woman continued. "We're going to fix them."

"Fix them?" Kara repeated, her voice barely a whisper. "Fix them . . . how?"

"Oh, Kara," the woman said with a chuckle, looking at her the way an adult might when they were talking to a young child. "We've heard all about your felonies and violations. You've been disrupting time for years. These mistakes have been building up, and now they've caused a future that we must prevent. With this." She tapped a finger on the machine. "We can see into your memories, and we'll be able to see the precise moments where you've ruined time."

They could see her memories with that? The thought of them doing that made Kara very uncomfortable, but what else could she do? There was nothing she could do to stop them. And it wasn't like they were doing it to taunt her; they only wanted to stop the future from happening, and so did she. Maybe this _would_ help. If locking herself up wasn't enough, this could help in small ways too.

But if they fixed her "mistakes in time", did that mean her memories would change? For three years she'd been a time traveler. Would she still remember her millions of trips through time, or would the memories be altered in some way? More importantly, would this even change the future?

"I think we can learn a lot from you," the woman said. "In the past, we tried doing this with another time prisoner, but they unfortunately resigned after a few sessions." She stared intently at Kara, almost daring her to speak. "You'll help us, won't you?"

"Yes," Kara said, wondering why a sense of dread had overcome her as she said it. "But how do I know this will change the future? Where's the proof?"

"I suppose you'll just have to trust us," the woman murmured. "We're experimenting with it, that's all. With enough practice, our organization believes it will work."

Kara nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She was afraid. She didn't like this idea at all, but there was no backing out of it. These were time agents, and they were never going to relent. She had to do this. It was for the greater good of her future, so maybe some time agents poking around in her brain wouldn't be so terrible.

"Sit." The woman gestured to the chair at the center of the room. Nervously, Kara walked over and slowly lowered herself onto the cold metal chair, placing her hands on the table.

She watched as one of the guards approached the machine and picked up the bundle of wires, which weren't only wires like Kara had assumed. It was a device that was shaped like a helmet, which was made partly of metal as well as wire. Attached to the end of the device was a single wire, which connected the device to the machine.

As the guard fidgeted with the device, the other guard took Kara by the shoulders, causing her to jump. The woman nodded at the guard holding the device, and he slowly approached her. She tried not to squirm as the pressure on her shoulders increased. She felt something being strapped onto the top of her head, which caused her to instinctively flinch.

Once the device was secure, the guard continued holding her by the shoulders, while the other stepped back and retreated to the wall. Kara turned to look at the woman, trying to ignore the way her heart hammered in her chest. She clutched the edges of the table for support, digging her nails into the cold surface.

"Thank you for your cooperation," the woman said, typing something onto the machine. "We're going to begin. This may hurt a little."

Then, she pressed a button, and without warning, a barrage of images flashed across Kara's vision. They were going at a far faster pace than she could make sense of. A pressure filled her head, subtle at first, but it grew as the seconds wore on. Kara gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, moving around in her chair as the pain worsened.

"Kara," the woman warned. "Be still. _Don't_ give into the pain, or else we won't be able to get the correct information."

Kara could barely hear the woman's voice. She tried her hardest to concentrate on these images — because surely they were important — but they flew by so fast that she couldn't tell what they were. Each image overwhelmed her more than the last, and the pain in her head intensified until she could not take it any longer. Feeling as though her brain might explode at any moment, Kara began to scream.

"Keep her still!" she heard the woman shout, and her shoulders felt like boulders were pressing into them. Still screaming, she grabbed desperately at her head, forcefully ripping the device off in the process.

With the device gone, the pain subsided. Gasping in relief, Kara rested her weary body against the chair, all the energy zapped from her. Her screams died off immediately, and tears flooded her eyes, falling in streams down her cheeks. What _was_ that? Why had it hurt so much?

"Take her back to her room," the woman said coldly, and Kara was lifted from the chair.

"No! No, I tried everything! I tried to help, I —" Kara shouted, her voice strained. Once she was set onto the ground, she blindly threw a punch that landed nowhere, stumbling from the effort. The guards grabbed her by the elbows and began dragging her out of the room. She fought against the guards, trying desperately to get out of their hold, but she felt so weak that she doubted it would do anything.

They dragged her down the long, bright hallway until they came to her room. The door was opened, and Kara shouted in protest before she was shoved inside, where she landed hard on her back. Her face still coated with tears, she made it to her feet just as the door slammed shut, leaving her in utter darkness. Fear seized her. Not again!

"NO!" Kara screamed, her voice breaking as she banged her fists against the door. "I don't want to be here! Let me out! _Please_!"

Her face crumpled, and she gave up, letting herself slide to the floor of her cell. She never liked showing weakness, especially to the time agents that could care less about her well-being. It was impossible not to though. Especially after what that machine had done, and the pain it had caused her. She wasn't even sure why she was still crying. Maybe because of the pain, or maybe because of being locked up again.

Leaning her head against the wall, Kara continued to sob, and for some time she heard nothing else. Her body shook as her tears continued washing over her face like a waterfall. She buried her head into her hands, and for what felt like the millionth time, she wondered what she'd done wrong.

* * *

The town was under attack.

It didn't take long to see it, especially when they walked outside. Everywhere, all around them were fictional characters. This was something that no one could miss. It was _too_ _big_ to miss. Screams echoed around them, and people were fleeing their destroyed houses, not even looking where they were going. Police sirens wailed in the distance. It was a disaster. It was just like when the Magister had come to the real world, except now, none of the characters were simply locked in a tower.

The fictional characters were out in the open, and it was impossible to avoid them. There was a popular saying, something about "the world turning upside down", which Bethany vaguely remembered from her past conversations with Owen about the broadway show, _Hamilton_. Given what was happening, she had hardly any time to think on it.

The four of them raced to the car, wearing nothing but pajamas. With the house being attacked left and right, it'd been too late to grab anything. Their bare feet slapped soundly against the driveway, which was freezing cold since it was still February. Bethany was the only one with socks, since she preferred wearing them when she went to sleep in the winter. Even those barely warmed her, and she shivered the whole way as they made their way through the dark.

All of them were reasonably panicked — except for Kiel, who was enjoying himself. Bethany's mother retrieved her car keys, and with shaking hands, she pressed the button that opened the car. They piled inside — Owen and Kiel in the backseat, and Bethany in the passenger side — just as a loud roar echoed across the neighborhood, and the house opposite theirs lit on fire.

"Oh my god," Bethany could hear Owen whimper from the backseat, and she threw a glance over her shoulder to see him staring out the rearview window.

"What is it?" Kiel asked, turning around in his seat to look at it. Out in the street, fictional monsters were running or flying everywhere, some even attacking the people. She didn't know how much safer they'd be in the car.

Bethany had to put a hand over her chest, because she was having trouble breathing. She'd had panic attacks before, but never because of something this huge. The Magister escaping his book had been one thing. This was another thing entirely! _Everything_ had gone wrong. This was the worst possible thing that could happen! The _worst_! And now, her mother knew her secret. She hoped the floor would swallow her up forever.

" _What_ is going on, Bethany?" her mother demanded as she turned the car on. Her expression was a frighting mixture of both terror and rage. "What is this? What are these fictional characters doing here?! How did they get here? Did you jump into books? Have you been jumping into books?"

"I have," Bethany whispered, not knowing what else to say.

She tried to slow her breaths, but her adrenaline was so high that she couldn't stop shaking. She deflated into her seat, playing with the ends of her hair. She was too embarrassed to look at her friends, who were probably giving her pitying looks right now. She didn't want them to feel bad for her.

"And after years, _years_ , of telling you never to jump into books because of what happened to your father!" her mother cried. "What did you do? You brought fictional characters here!" Her voice rose to a shout, and Bethany flinched, not sure if she was more afraid of her mother or the attack. "I don't know what to do with you! God, what am I _supposed_ to do?"

"I'm sorry," Bethany managed to say, unable to look her mother in the eye. She deserved this. After years of hiding and sneaking around and lying, and all the guilt that had been building up, it felt perfectly reasonable that her mother would react this way. She knew she'd been doing the wrong thing by going behind her mother's back, but it'd been the only way she could look for her father. Now she had to pay for it. She'd probably be grounded for the rest of time.

"It wasn't her fault," Owen protested, then quickly looked away when Bethany's mother glared at him.

"You knew about this?" she demanded. "You knew about her powers?" Her friends only nodded, their eyes cast to the floor. "What else has been going on that I don't know about?"

"More than you think," Kiel replied, and to Bethany's aggravation and horror, he winked.

"Don't, Kiel," Bethany whispered, shaking her head over and over. Owen face-palmed.

" _Are you trying to be funny_? You think this is a _joke_? Huh?" Bethany's mother shouted, and now all three of them shrunk in their seats.

"I wasn't trying to be funny," Kiel said. Then, he cracked a hesitant smile. "Well . . . maybe a little."

Her mother stared at him for a second longer before looking at Bethany, shaking her head as she muttered things under her breath. "We're going to have a _very_ long discussion later, and you're going to tell me every little thing you've lied to me about. I'm sure there's a lot I don't know about. I can't even express how angry I am right now! All this time, I thought you were actually doing what I asked you to do!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Bethany stuttered, wondering how it was possible for her to feel so guilty, furious, shameful, and terrified all at once. Along with that, she was having a nervous breakdown. _And_ it was three in the morning. Could this day get any worse? Absolutely anything that could go wrong had gone wrong, and right now, it seemed like nothing could be done to fix it. "I was only trying to find Dad."

That was her biggest problem. Every time she'd jumped into a book, the reason had always been to find him. Even the quest for defeating Nobody had been intended not only to save the fictional world, but also to bring her father home. She got reckless, hardly considering the consequences it might cause.

She either thought too much or too little, but when it came to her father, she never stopped to think before she leaped. Not even once.

Something shook the earth, and Bethany was reminded once again of what was happening outside. "Can we get to the library?" she asked, her voice trembling despite her efforts to speak clearly.

"Bethany!" Bethany's mother scolded. "We are _not_ going there. I'm not allowing you near a book ever again! I won't ever let you do that!"

"No, we _need_ to get there!" Owen pleaded. "Please, Mrs. Sanderson! It's the only way to put the fictional characters back! They're going to destroy the world if they stay here!"

"It'll take ages to put them all back," Bethany said, frowning. "But we can't get rid of them without books. There's no other way! Mom, can you drive us?"

Her mother gave her a warning look. "It's too dangerous. My answer is no."

Disappointment and even anger blossomed in Bethany's chest, and Owen said, "Well, if you won't let us go to the library, then we can use Kiel's magic!"

"Magic?!" Bethany's mother gasped.

Undeterred, Kiel replied with confidence. "I'd love to, but my spell book is at my house. We'll need to get it back, if Mrs. Sanderson is willing." He frowned. "Isn't that kind of torturous, though? I'm already a bit tired from fighting that dragon. If I cast any more spells, I'll be exhausted soon."

"You have magic," Bethany's mother stated, her face unreadable now. Kiel nodded. She frowned deeply. "I'm guessing you're a . . . fictional character. Yet another one that Bethany took out of their book."

"I don't really like the term 'fictional'," Kiel said. "But yes, I am. I'm Kiel Gnomenfoot. You know, from the greatest book series of all time."

Bethany's mother only shook her head. "Lucky for you, I've never heard of it."

"We need Kiel's magic," Bethany said, looking directly at her mother. She clasped her hands together to stop their shaking. "At least drive us there! We need to stop this before it gets any worse! And we need books to do it —"

"I said _no_! You are not jumping into any more books, Bethany. I don't want to lose you, just like we lost your father! Do you understand me?"

"C'mon, Mrs. Sanderson!" Owen protested. "Listen to Bethany! We need books and Kiel's magic if we want to stop them! Don't you want to get rid of them?"

Bethany gave Owen a grateful look. She slammed her hands on the seat. "Exactly! There's a chance we can still stop the fictional characters. We just need —"

Her mother narrowed her eyes. " _Do you understand me_?"

"I don't!" Kiel said. "I get that you're against fictionals, which is highly insulting since I'm fictional myself. But we've done many more dangerous things than this. This'll be fun!"

"Yeah," Owen said in a much quieter voice. "All you have to do is drive us. Please?"

"Please, Mom?" Bethany requested hopefully, knowing that her mother would likely say no. She'd been hiding her trips into books for years. How would her mother ever forgive her now, much less help her get rid of some fictional characters that had escaped their books?

"I don't know . . ." Bethany's mother sighed deeply, stared at Bethany, then reluctantly nodded. The distraught look on her face made Bethany's heart twinge in pain. "But this is the last time I'm allowing you to do these kinds of things. The last time! And after that, no more. It's very dangerous, and to know that you likely have already gotten yourselves hurt . . ." She placed her hand on the wheel and started slowly pulling out of the driveway. "You'd better explain yourself once we have the time for it. I'm very against this, Bethany. _Very_ against this. I hope you know that you're never, _ever_ going to do a thing like this again. Is that clear?"

"Yeah," Bethany said in a weak voice, turning her gaze to the window. Her face burned. It should be impossible for everything to go so badly, but she should've known by now that it wasn't. She was the only one to blame for this. None of this was supposed to happen, and she didn't even know why it had.

She was so tired of making mistakes. That was all she seemed to do. She felt so ashamed for thinking everything would work out once she defeated Nobody. Things didn't work out that way, not in real life. Something had gone terribly wrong, and it could've had something to do with her and Owen locking Nobody up with the chains. But she didn't know, and she didn't want to try piecing it together right now. Her brain was barely comprehending anything right now, what with her anxiety and fear skyrocketing through the roof.

They pulled out of the driveway, almost slamming into a goblin that was running after an unfortunate person. Bethany's mother spun the wheel around and put the car in drive, pressing her foot on the gas pedal. They navigated through the dark street, the car's headlights doing little to help them see. Fictional creatures were everywhere, and several times they were close to hitting their car. They hadn't stopped yelling through the whole process.

They had just reached the road when a giant stepped in front of them. Bethany's mother shrieked, slamming on the brakes and sending them all falling forward. Terrified, Bethany craned her head up, giving her just enough time to see the giant's enormous face before the car started to shake. Her mouth dropped open, and beside her, her mother screamed. A loud groaning noise filled Bethany's ears, and above them, the roof was slowly crushing itself inward.

Owen let out a scream as the roof grew more and more dented every time the giant hit it. "It's gonna crush us!" His voice rose an octave. "Out of the car, out of the car!"

Bethany opened her door with much effort, since it was partly crushed. She fell to the ground with a grunt, then quickly pushed her hands beneath her to rise to her feet, blowing the hair out of her face. Beside her, the giant pounded it's fist into the car, causing a loud beeping noise to erupt from it. Bethany jumped. Her heart racing, she broke into a run to get out of the giant's reach, catching up with her friends and mother, who had the same idea as her.

"What are we going to do?" Owen asked in a hushed voice once she reached them. They backed away into the sidewalk, staring with wide eyes as the giant threw it's fists into the car, crushing it further.

"I don't know. We have to do _something_ ," Bethany said, her teeth chattering. Whether it was from the cold or the fear, she couldn't tell. "The car's gone. The fictional monsters are everywhere!" She glanced at her mother, who looked like she was about to faint. With the car gone, where else could they go? What could they do without books or Kiel's magic? Bethany winced, realizing she needed to think of something quickly.

"Okay, I have a plan," Kiel said, pulling out his wand-knives. "I'll fight the giant with the remaining spells I have. And every other creature I come across." He grinned, but Bethany could tell that even _he_ looked a bit worried.

"That's not a plan," Bethany retorted. "You can't handle them on your own. I have my shape-shifting powers too, but even _that_ won't hold them off."

"Shape-shifting powers?" Bethany's mother repeated, seeming like she wasn't really focused, as she was busy staring with horror at the giant.

"It'll be fine!" Kiel said. He winked at Bethany and Owen, but it seemed more forced than usual. "I can distract them while you escape somewhere."

"What?" Owen said, his jaw dropping. He shook his head. "No! You can't go out there! We have to go to the library right away! We can get the books there!" He looked wildly around, shivering in his pajamas. The giant eventually got bored from hitting the car and tossed it to the side, sending it hurtling into a random person's house. It matched off into a different direction, it's footfalls shaking the ground beneath Bethany's feet.

They watched in silence before Bethany glanced at her mother, then spoke again to her friends. "Wait . . ." She furrowed her brows. "I don't know if we _can_ go to the library. If these creatures are jumping _out_ of books . . ."

Owen's eyes widened. "You're right! Then maybe the library wouldn't be the best place to go. The fictional characters would be all _over_ the library! There are _thousands_ of books in there! Unless we can sneak our way in somehow, I don't know how we'll get there without getting into more danger."

"Then we get my spell book and cast some spells that will destroy the books, and the library," Kiel reasoned. "Won't that stop the problem? The monsters can't escape anymore that way."

Owen looked horrified. "We can't destroy books! That's my mom's library you're talking about!"

"Right," Kiel murmured. "Sorry."

"We need to find some way to stop the creatures from jumping out of their books," Bethany said, watching as more fictional monsters emerged from houses and flooded the streets. "And then we need to locate all of them." She massaged her aching head, pulling at her hair. "And _then_ we need to put them back into books, find out what's causing it, and stop whatever's happening somehow. I have a feeling something very bad is going on. Ugh. None of this was supposed to happen!"

"You think it had something to do with Nobody from earlier?" Owen asked quietly. Bethany didn't respond. If it was, that would mean that she and Owen were the cause of this mess. She couldn't take more guilt. No, it couldn't be from what they'd done. They'd locked Nobody up for good, so this was entirely a different problem. The characters escaping their books had nothing to do with that, Bethany convinced herself.

"It'd be much better if characters like Harry Potter were popping out instead of monsters," Owen added. "What about the Percy Jackson characters? Or —"

"Kara?" Bethany offered, giving him a smug smile despite the situation. He gave her a look in response.

"I know this isn't going to be fun for you guys," Kiel said. "But look on the bright side. When things are as bad as they can get, what's there to worry about?"

Bethany rolled her eyes. She'd heard that plenty of times. Didn't he know her well enough by now? She always worried! The only time she'd never been worried was when she was fully fictional, which had been a relief. With the way her thoughts raced around her brain, she wished she could shut them off sometimes. It would really help her to be calm, especially in a situation like this where life had gotten as bad as it could get.

"A lot of things!" Owen said. "This is really horrible!"

"Agreed," Bethany said, nodding at Owen. She wasn't sure how much more anxious she could get, which was saying plenty. "There is _everything_ to worry about, and we have to save our whole town before more bad things happen, when enough bad things have already happened!"

The four of them drew further back into the trees as a group of dragons flew past. ""We need to have a plan," Owen said, looking back and forth between Bethany and Kiel. "A _good_ plan. Everyone's life is in danger with them here. If we find a way to put them back into books, we'll save the town. How we'll do that, I'm not really sure. But we've gotta get to the bottom of this, and finding some books or —" He snapped his fingers. "Or even sheets of paper! That would be the best option, especially since Kiel gets tired after using magic."

"I'll be fine if I use magic," Kiel said. "Yeah, I tend to get tired when I use it in this world, but it'll help to get rid of the monsters. Fighting them sounds fun anyway!"

"It really doesn't," Owen countered. "There are practically millions of them everywhere! This isn't the fictional world, Kiel. We're not in a book! It's real life! There's no easy way to fix this. We're in so, _so_ much trouble."

"Yeah, I know." Kiel did a little shrug, his brows knitted. "But where's the fun if there's no challenge? I'll be able to help you out, too."

"Um, no, that's not —"

"I'll definitely be better in a fight now then when I was fighting Oliver," he continued, apparently not hearing Owen. "That boy was _crazy."_

"Paper sounds like a good idea," Bethany said, her frustration growing. "No fictional characters would be jumping out of it that way. But . . . where would we get it?" Her brain spun, and she glanced worriedly at her mother, who remained silent and frozen in fear. "Maybe we should go to Kiel's house first, if we can make it there. With his magic, maybe we can —"

All of the sudden, a loud, blaring noise erupted from a distance away, sounding awfully similar to a civil defense siren. That was when Bethany realized — it _was_ a civil defense siren. Their town had never needed to use it before, but it made sense that someone was turning it on now. So this wasn't just going on in her neighborhood. It was going on everywhere in her town, and if she could guess, it could've even been going on throughout the entire _world_.

"Um, what?" Owen blinked. " _What_ is going on now?"

"What is that noise?" Kiel asked, watching as some of the creatures made noises of distress from the insanely loud siren.

"Our town's civil defense siren," Bethany's mother piped up, finally talking again after several minutes of silence. "It's an emergency population warning for approaching danger."

"Approaching?" Owen repeated. "Isn't it a little late for that?"

"Yeah," Bethany said. "But no one could've known about this."

Not knowing what else to do, she took another small step backward. The sound of police sirens and fictional monsters was deafening, and she wished she could make the noises go away. They had to do something, and with the civil defense siren blaring, she knew they probably wouldn't have much time.

"Paper," Bethany said, narrowing her eyes. "Let's find some paper."

* * *

It'd taken a lot of convincing to make Bethany's mother agree to let them go, once they assured her that they would try to be as safe as possible. She was still very against the idea, but she seemed to realize there was no other option, so she let them go. She had even decided to stay behind to help other people, which wasn't much of a surprise to Owen. This whole situation must've been mind-blowing for her, and she didn't have the same agility as Bethany, Owen, and Kiel anyway.

Amidst the chaos of the fictional creatures and people running around, things was feeling more and more like a fever dream and less like real life to Owen. The run to Kiel's house had resulted in them almost getting attacked by a group of gargoyles, but they'd managed to outrun them. Maybe it was because of the situation, but Owen was having trouble remembering that he _wasn't_ in the fictional world.

Once they finally got there (where there thankfully weren't any fictional characters around), Kiel grabbed his spell book to take with him. Then, insisting that, "I'm never going to leave my cape behind!", he put his cape on, although both Owen and Bethany thought it might attract unwanted attention to him.

Now equipped with at least one form of defense, they set off in search of some paper. Owen knew it'd be much easier to just grab books and use them to trap the monsters. But it was impossible to tell if the creatures would keep jumping right back out of them. Granted, it _should_ be impossible for fictional characters to jump out at all. There'd never been a time — aside from when Kiel had used his spell to get here — where a character had jumped out without Bethany's help.

So how had characters randomly appeared out of their books?

Owen knew nothing about what was happening, or more specifically, _why_ it was happening. It was all so confusing! It was a complete mystery to him, which made him feel even more uneasy. Mysteries were the absolute _worst_. He'd stopped reading them after getting trapped in that Doyle Holmes book. He was up for anything except mysteries — they just had too many hidden clues and twists that made no sense.

As the three of them walked out of Kiel's house and traveled down the chilly street, Owen's thoughts were on his mother and his beloved library. With the state the town was in, he doubted his mother was doing much better than the rest of them. But he couldn't help but worry, anyway. His own house had loads of books in it, so there was no way his mother was safe. He really hoped she was okay, and he hoped their plan would work.

Their town was in danger, and Owen had a feeling it had something to do with Nobody. Maybe this had been a side effect of Nobody being locked up? Once again, it meant that this whole mess could've been his fault. Sure, it'd been Bethany's idea, but he hadn't stopped her! Maybe he should have. What if it had made things worse by locking Nobody up?

Owen took a deep breath. Okay, no, there was no proof to say that his and Bethany's quest had caused this. Maybe it had, but there was no way of knowing. Even as he told himself this, there was a familiar sinking feeling in his stomach, and it wouldn't go away. What if it was actually his fault? Deep down, he couldn't help but blame himself, even if there wasn't any proof that it _had_ been his fault.

"You alright, Owen?" Kiel asked him, visibly cold as he tried to warm himself. They were walking along a mostly-empty street. A lot of houses were destroyed, but it seemed that the fictional creatures had already moved through here.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Owen lied, forcing a smile. "Just cold." He looked over at Bethany, who was on Kiel's other side. She'd been quiet ever since they left Kiel's house, and was most likely more afraid than she let on. Owen knew better. He knew she was just as worried — if not more — than he was.

This whole thing seemed impossible to fix, especially when three kids were trying to put thousands of fictional characters back into their books. Owen didn't know how they'd achieve it, or how they'd even find where all the monsters were. They were scattered everywhere, which meant it'd take days to put them all back into books. It was clear that this wouldn't go unnoticed by anyone, either. If they weren't already, the News would be all over it soon enough.

Somewhere very close by, a roar echoed across the town, and the ground below them started to vibrate. Owen, Bethany, and Kiel stopped in their tracks as a T-Rex — just like the ones in Owen's nightmares — emerged from behind an intact house. Owen stopped breathing. It was one thing to see it in his dreams; he could always wake up and find himself back in his own bedroom. But this was real life, and he wasn't in _Pick The Plot_ anymore. This was no longer just his imagination. It was real.

The dinosaur stepped closer, it's eyes now fixated on them. Owen's legs had turned to roughly the consistency of jelly, and he was suddenly unable to stop them from wobbling. Then, a hand laid on his shoulder, and he jumped.

"It's okay," Bethany said quietly as Kiel stared at Owen with concern. "Me and Kiel will handle it."

"Yeah." Kiel winked. "Sit back and relax! Act like you're reading a Kiel Gnomenfoot book! That will surely take all your fears away."

That made Owen smile in spite of himself. Bethany smiled a little, too. "Hey, not everything is about _your_ books. _I_ was apart of a book series, too. Also, I'm pretty sure there weren't any dinosaurs in your series."

"Okay, _Twilight Girl_ ," Owen said, and Kiel laughed.

He felt relieved that he wouldn't have to fight a dinosaur again. This time, he had his friends to help him out. Not that he could fight much of anything, anyway. All he had were his time powers, and in this situation, he didn't see how they could be helpful. As always, he was the sidekick that sometimes, _sometimes_ , was helpful. The only thing he could do was come up with an elaborate plan and try not to get hurt along the way.

Another heavy footfall made them all come back to their senses, and they turned to see the dinosaur walking closer to them, loudly sniffing the air. Too afraid to move, Owen could only watch as Kiel leapt forward casting a spell that made an impossibly bright light shine into the dinosaur's eyes. The T-Rex growled, whipping it's head around in confusion.

Giving Owen one last look, Bethany ran forward and transformed into a rocket, hitting the dinosaur in the chest and sending it falling backwards. Kiel then shouted something, and ice appeared on the ground beneath the T-Rex. It was unable to regain it's balance, and between being blinded, it fell to the ground, creating a mini earthquake. Owen ran over to stand beside his friends, and they all stared at the creature from a safe distance away.

"It'd be helpful if we had some books right about now," Bethany muttered, and Owen and Kiel nodded their agreement.

"Isn't there a spell that can trap it somehow?" Owen asked Kiel, who was swaying slightly on his feet, looking completely winded. "Maybe we could even use a shrinking spell, or a spell that'll keep it from escaping."

"Good idea, Owen!" Kiel said, yawning despite his efforts to stay awake. "I don't know how long the paralyzing spell could last, but maybe the . . . the shrinking spell . . . will." His eyes briefly closed, only for them to snap open again. He lifted his wand-knives and pointed them at the dinosaur. "One shrinking spell, coming right up."

Before they could do anything, however, a car's engine was heard behind them, and a man's voice rung out. "Hey! What do you think you're doing? Get away from there!"

Kiel quickly pocketed his wand-knives, and the three of them turned around to see a large bus with blackened windows. The bright lights that shone from the bus almost blinded Owen, and he and Bethany lifted their arms over their eyes to see better.

"Hello?" Owen shouted, squinting his eyes.

"Who's there?" Bethany called.

"What did I say?" the same voice asked. "Get in the vehicle before you hurt yourselves!"

Glancing one last time at the dinosaur behind them, Owen and his friends ran towards the vehicle and came around the side, where a man in a military outfit was standing at the door. He stepped back, ordering them to come inside.

"Wait, where is this taking us?" Owen demanded, refusing to step in the bus. For all he knew, this could definitely be a trick. He didn't want to get captured again when he could be getting rid of the fictional characters here. They didn't even have the paper yet!

The man sighed. "We're evacuating the people of this town to a safer location. It's necessary for you all to be somewhere safe while we figure out how to get rid of these . . . things. There's a large hotel an hour from here that'll fit all of you, which is where we're going."

Owen nodded, feeling a lump in his throat. Their plan would have to be postponed, unless these people could handle the fictionals on their own. He stepped onto the bus, which was surprisingly warm. He shivered, but he wasn't focused on the temperature anymore. The bus was filled with people he didn't recognize. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He recognized a few faces from the people he'd seen at the library, but he didn't see many people his age.

He walked towards the back of the bus, only to stop moving as he saw not only Mrs. Sanderson, but also his mother.

"Mom?" Owen said, relief flooding through him. He was even more relieved to see Spike and Bark Vader on the seat next to her. His mother looked up with a gasp, then leapt from her seat and pulled him into a tight hug. His eyes started to water, so he closed them and hugged her back.

She then pulled away. "I was worried about you! _Never_ go running off like that again! Bethany's mother said that you and Bethany and Kiel were trying to save the town."

"Sorry," Owen said, giving her a bright smile. "We won't." His mom took a shaky breath, then smiled and looked over at Bethany and Kiel, who were standing behind him. She hugged them, too, saying something about how happy she was that they were safe.

Bethany went to go sit with her mother, so Owen and Kiel shared the seat behind where Owen's mother was. Owen leaned his head against the seat, wondering how everything had gone so badly. It was good to know that they were being taken somewhere safe, but they also needed to get rid of the fictional creatures! Owen really hoped that the authorities be able to do the job for them. He wasn't sure if they could, but right now, he only felt exhausted and relieved.

"I guess school's out," Kiel whispered to Owen as they rode past a deserted school building. For the first time since the fictional invasion, Owen laughed.

* * *

They'd filled both Owen's and Bethany's mother's in on everything that had happened. While Bethany had quietly told Mrs. Sanderson a much more in-depth story about the years she'd been jumping into books, Owen and Kiel told Owen's mother much of the same. They'd left out plenty, such as the times they'd been in immense danger. Which was almost _every_ time they'd been in a book, but their parents didn't need to know that. It'd only horrify them further.

Owen's mother had been disbelieving at first, and even seemed to be in shock. Owen remembered exactly how he felt when he first discovered Bethany pulling herself out of _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_. He hadn't been able to handle it at first, either! If his mother fainted too, he'd feel a lot better about things.

It must've been a huge shock for her, but after the fictional characters had invaded, she realized they were right. Unfortunately, she hadn't fainted. Not yet, at least. It seemed that Owen was the only one who had when he learned the truth, which was embarrassing enough to think about.

Somewhere along the bus ride, Owen had even found the courage to tell her about _Pick The Plot_. It wasn't easy, but he'd left out a lot of details. Kiel had helped him recount some things, too, since he had read the first few chapters of the book. Owen explained that a girl named Kara had gotten him through it, and she'd become a great friend to him. Owen's mother agreed that she was incredible, and could be compared to a superhero.

The impossible had happened, and Owen was glad that no one else knew about Bethany's powers. If they did, there was no telling what they'd do to her. Would they get rid of her, just like they would get rid of the fictional characters? The same could go for Kiel, who was fictional himself. Hopefully, no one would find out who they really were. If anyone besides their parents did, they'd be in danger. And they'd be in a _lot_ more trouble than they were already.

When thousands of questions were answered and things finally quieted down, Owen leaned back against the seat, trying to get comfortable. As expected after casting all of those spells, Kiel was exhausted, and had fallen asleep almost instantly. His head was resting against Owen's shoulder, not giving Owen much room to move around.

Once he finally was in a position that seemed at least a little comfortable, Owen closed his eyes, focusing on the hum of the engine. He tried to fall asleep on the bus for his own sake, but he couldn't do it. He wished he had a book to read. His mind was running in circles, and this day had been far too crazy. He wasn't sure if he could ever sleep with the knowledge that today had actually happened. It felt like a dream — and not a good one.

So instead, Owen let his imagination run wild. At first, he wasn't able to imagine much of anything. So he imagined what he wanted to happen.

He imagined the creatures all getting captured and put back into their books. He imagined saving the worlds and being called a hero. He imagined jumping into books for fun again, simply enjoying himself with his friends and not having to worry about a single thing. That made him imagine going to the fictional world again, which lead to him imagining seeing Charm again and telling her the truth . . . about him not being Kiel Gnomenfoot.

It was difficult to even imagine her doing it, but he tried to imagine her accepting him for this, and even becoming his girlfriend. Once that happened, Owen would try to act cool while he secretly screamed inside. However, every time he tried to imagine that, he couldn't. He didn't know why. Maybe his imagination couldn't picture anything he hadn't really seen before? That made sense. Although, couldn't authors picture things they hadn't seen before? He thought so.

If Owen wanted to be an author, he'd have to learn to do that. The last time he'd truly imagined anything was a day or two ago, when he'd been working at the library. Maybe Jonathan Porterhouse or that James Riley guy could help him with strengthening his imagination, since they were authors. Or maybe he'd just have to practice that on his own.

Somewhere at the front of the bus, he could hear voices speaking. He tilted his body to the side and peered out into the isle, where he saw a stressed woman talking to the man from earlier.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," the man was saying, his forehead creased from worry. "It's no longer safe to stay here. As far as we know, this isn't happening in any other part of the world, so the best we can do is evacuate you to a safer place while our military comes in and gets rid of these monsters."

"But where are they all coming from?" the woman asked in a trembling voice. "This is all so impossible!"

"We're not sure, yet," the man said. "But we'll figure it out soon, I promise. Some people think they saw them crawling out of _books_. I guess we'll have to investigate all the libraries. Maybe even destroy some of the books and the libraries themselves, if the monsters are actually coming out of there. We don't have enough information right now, so once we do some investigating, we should be able to tell where these things are coming from."

Owen made a choking sound. They going to _what_?! They couldn't destroy the library! They just couldn't! That would _not_ be good. If that happened, his mother wouldn't have a job anymore. Owen would never get to spend his afternoons at the library with Bethany and Kiel, he'd never get to visit the fictional worlds ever again, and he'd never get to see his other friends again. Out of any possible future that could happen, this was surely the worst outcome.

As images of his mother's library burning down filled his head, the woman shook her head. "I-I don't think they're coming out of books. That sounds crazy."

"This whole thing is crazy," the man said, and Owen released a breath. Whew. There was only so much time before the people actually figured out where the creatures were coming from, and when they did, Owen _really_ hoped they wouldn't destroy the library. What if they destroyed books, too? The thought was horrifying.

Books had always been his greatest comfort, and they'd been there for him when he had no one else. All his life, he'd been surrounded by them. He'd fallen in love with the stories they told, and they were what kept him dreaming at night. Owen had always lived by his imagination, deciding long ago that he preferred daydreaming over real life.

But out of all the millions of impossible things that his imagination could conjure up, books being destroyed wasn't something he could ever imagine. Even now, in the face of a fictional invasion, he still could never imagine it. It would never happen. It _couldn't_ happen, and he would never, _ever_ let it come to that if he could do something about it.

Their conversation died down, and Owen shut his eyes, feeling a wave of tiredness wash over him. He must've fallen asleep at some point, because when he opened his eyes, the sun was peaking out over the horizon. The bus was no longer moving, and was now stationed in front of a hotel. Many people were already awake, looking bedraggled and worried. The man was at the front of the bus, answering questions that people had.

"How long are we going to be here?" an old man asked, who was a few feet away from Owen.

"We're not sure," the man in the military uniform said. "But it shouldn't be more than a few weeks, or maybe longer."

"A few _weeks_?" Owen repeated, glancing at the boy magician next to him. How were they going to save the world now? Who knew what could happen in that amount of time!

Kiel rubbed his eyes, looking equally tired. "I don't know why they can't let us stay in your town. I can take those monsters down with my magic within seconds. These guys? They obviously aren't as unique as I am."

"We'll be safer here," Owen replied, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was needed elsewhere. He knew it wasn't right to sit in a hotel and wait for someone else to do the job for them. But what choice did they have? They didn't have a choice in this matter. He was just a fifteen year-old kid, and having a broken arm didn't help his case.

After everyone was woken up, they were escorted off the bus. Owen grabbed Bark Vader and hurriedly connected her leash to her collar before dragging her along with him. Owen flinched as his bare feet touched down on the cold sidewalk, and he stared up at the hotel, which, in all honesty, was the best thing he'd ever seen. Since he and his mother never went on trips, he'd never been to a hotel before. Owen had always wanted to go to one, but he never expected his first stay at a hotel to be for reasons like this.

Next to come out was Kiel, who's cape blew slightly in the wind as he looked at the group around him. He went to stand beside Owen, hugging his spell book close to his body. Carrying Spike in the crook of her elbow, Owen's mother hopped off the bus shortly after, having nothing with her but a small backpack. She smiled at Owen, but he could tell she was worried.

More people exited the bus and clustered in a group in front of the door, some holding bags and some empty-handed. That was when Owen noticed another bus parked right in front of theirs, and two more were pulling into the hotel's driveway. He realized that they must've been holding all of the townspeople, and there were likely more buses coming.

Bethany climbed off the bus, being one of the last people to do so. There were bags under her eyes, and her eyes were red, which made Owen wonder if she'd gotten any sleep. She quietly sidled up beside Owen, Mrs. Sanderson following close behind her.

"Did you get any sleep?" Owen asked Bethany, frowning.

She only shook her head, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I couldn't."

"Me neither," Owen said. "Well, I guess I _could_ , because I actually did fall asleep. But for a while, I couldn't do it. Too much happened yesterday. I still can't believe it happened!"

"I know what you mean," Bethany said, yawning. "How'd you sleep, Kiel?"

"Great!" Kiel said. "Although I really could use some food right now. You think they have any pancakes here?"

"Oh, _breakfast_ ," Owen murmured, his eyes lighting up.

If there was anything to look forward to right now, it was that. Thinking of breakfast made him think of Kara, and he remembered her words as clearly as if she was right beside him. _Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I hear,_ she had said.

"Probably." Bethany shrugged, giving them a tired smile. "I would love that."

The two buses — now empty — drove away as two more buses rolled up, coming to a stop in front of the sidewalk. The man in the military uniform clapped his hands, grabbing everyone's attention. "Come inside, everyone! This hotel has generously allowed you to stay here for as long as needed. Once you go inside, you and your families will be escorted to your own room. Once everyone is settled in, there is also a store right across the street for anyone that needs it. The hotel will provide you with food and showers, but I'm sure you'll want to get clothes and other supplies." He smiled good-naturedly. "Unless you all want to keep wearing pajamas."

This released some of the tension in the crowd, making some people laugh a little. Owen glanced down at his own clothes, unable to prevent the blush from rising to his cheeks. He was wearing light blue, _Star Wars_ themed pajamas. To save himself the embarrassment of being teased, he had to get some new clothes right away.

"Follow me," the man said, moving to push open the door. He and a hotel worker held the double doors open as the group walked through, piling into the lobby. The hotel wasn't anything fancy, but it was big, which was all that mattered. Owen didn't know if he could take being cramped in here with hundreds of other people.

Once everyone was inside, a woman started calling families forward, where they were taken to their individual rooms. Owen watched as family after family were guided upstairs, each looking a mixture of tired and scared. Luckily, Owen did not have to wait long for his name to be called, since families were being called by their last name. Good thing his last name was Conners, or else he might become bored out of his mind!

As his mother started to follow the woman, Owen tugged on Bark Vader's leash and nudged Kiel. Since he wasn't apart of a family, it was better that he share a room with Owen before the authorities discovered he was fictional. "Come with me and my mom."

"Why?" the boy magician asked, then seemed to realize the reason. "Oh, right. That's a good idea."

"What are you doing?" Bethany whispered.

"Kiel's going to stay in my room," Owen explained. "We're just going to pretend he's my brother or something."

"Yeah," Kiel said, winking. "Don't we look alike?"

Bethany snorted, then quickly covered her mouth as people nearby gave her weird looks. "You guys should get going."

Owen nodded, giving her an uneasy smile before he and Kiel quickly caught up with Owen's mother. As Owen walked up the stairs, he thought back to the fictional monsters flooding his town. Confusion and fear filled him. It was hard not to worry when he was an hour's drive away from the scene, and he couldn't do anything to help. After everything that had gone down, he had no idea what to do now.

What would this mean for the fictional world? And what would happen when the authorities discovered the monsters were coming out of books?

* * *

_"I have made every single mistake that you could ever possibly make. I took and I took and I took what you gave . . ."_


	25. Locked In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions only grow higher as Bethany, Owen, and Kiel try finding a way to get back to their town — and the fictional world.

_**The Kids Aren't Alright (by Fall Out Boy)** _

_"_ _And in the end I'd do it all again. I think you're my best friend. Don't you know that the kids aren't all, kids aren't alright . . ."_

* * *

  
Still a bit groggy from the bus ride and the events of the early morning, Kiel and Owen trailed behind Ms. Conners as they made their way to their hotel room, which would be their home for the next week or two. They were on the second floor, and the hallway had dozens of closed doors, each with a number on them. They reached the middle of the hallway, where the woman opened the door for them and left them with three cards.

Kiel was the first to go inside. Pushing past Owen in the doorway, he walked inside the room and was slightly disappointed to see two beds, a dresser, a closet, and a bathroom. Not much. Apparently, this hotel offered only what was necessary and not anything helpful or fun, like books that they could jump into.

"Put your things away," Ms. Conners said as she walked into the room, placing her backpack on a chair beside the window. "I guess we should follow that man's advice and go to the store."

"What about Spike and Bark Vadar?" Owen asked, peering into the bathroom.

"We'll keep them here."

"What?" he exclaimed. "But they've never been away from home before! What if they think we abandoned them?"

"Alphonse never missed me when I was away," Kiel said, earning a glare from Owen. Kiel gave a _what?_ look in response, but his friend looked back at his mother.

"They won't think that. Don't worry about them," Ms. Conners said, running her hands through her hair. Her face was paler than usual. "They'll be safe here. Come on, let's get going before everyone gets to the store first. You boys ready?"

"I don't have any money with me, so I guess," Owen said, shrugging.

He unhooked Bark Vadar's leash, allowing the dog to happily walk over to Kiel, where he scratched her head. Meanwhile, Spike retreated to sit on the windowsill, his black hair gleaming in the sunlight. It was seven in the morning, so the sun was low in the horizon, offering enough light to see by.

Kiel glanced around for somewhere to put his spell book and wand-knives. He didn't like the idea of leaving them behind, especially because he'd never been here before, but he couldn't risk someone finding his belongings. He stuffed them underneath one of the beds, hoping that that would be a good place to put them.

He was about to follow Owen and his mother out the door when Owen reminded him of something. "Uh, you know that you're still wearing your cape, right?"

Of course he knew. Did he want to take it off? Definitely not. He'd barely been able to wear it when he was in the nonfictional world. He _missed_ it! Kiel crossed his arms, ready to protest, but Ms. Conners beat him to it.

"I don't think you should wear that, honey," she said gently. "Everyone's on edge right now, and I'm afraid what would happen if they find out who you are."

"I get it," Kiel said, forcing a smile as he tried to brush away the small twinge of annoyance he felt. It had came on so suddenly, once the realization came to him, that he might be staying in this hotel for longer than he'd like.

Why couldn't they just fight the monsters and have some fun? Why did this "military" have to take control of that? Didn't they know who Kiel Gnomenfoot _was_? He could handle anything these monsters threw at him _and_ more. A part of him wanted to take that military guy down, steal one of those buses, then spout off something snappy and daring as he drove away. Just so these people knew who they were dealing with.

Unfortunately, Kiel knew that he couldn't do that. Not without his friends, at least. For now, leaving wasn't really an option. Although it left a bad taste in his mouth to think of someone else fighting those monsters instead of him, there was nothing he could do about it.

Kiel just didn't understand why the monsters — fictional, just like him — were escaping their books. It didn't help that Owen and Bethany didn't know, either. He had no idea what it meant, and it worried him. Last time he checked, the fictional world had been dying until Bethany and Owen defeated Nobody. _Kiel_ had almost died because of the state that the fictional world was in. What state was the fictional world in now?

With the monsters jumping out of books on their own . . . it didn't make any sense. He had so many questions that just couldn't be answered. Was the fictional world worse than before? Was it better? Had something gone wrong in his own world? He might never know. With the way things were looking, he wasn't sure what the outcome would be.

"Sorry," Owen whispered as Kiel joined him at the door again, now cape-less. They started walking down the hallway. "I just don't think it's a good idea to wear that. I heard some people talking on the bus, and the man from earlier thought that the monsters could be jumping out of books. He wasn't sure, but he said that they'd investigate the libraries. And he said that if it was true, he'd destroy the libraries, _and_ the books inside."

Kiel's eyes widened. "What? He said that?"

"Yeah," Owen said quietly, his voice faltering slightly. "I don't want that to happen. That _can't_ happen! And if they find out those monsters are fictional, they'll find out that _you're_ fictional, too."

"They won't find out," Kiel said, feigning confidence. He partially believed himself, only because he wasn't sure if that would happen. "I'll make sure they don't. And if they destroy the libraries, I'll turn them all into bugs or something." He winked, which always seemed to ease his friend. Owen smiled.

They ventured downstairs, where the lobby was still quite crowded. People were walking up and down the stairs, sticking in close groups. Some were heading down a hallway, where Kiel assumed was where they'd be eating breakfast. He searched the room for Bethany, but it was crowded, and he did not see her. He guessed she was already in her room. Or maybe not, given how many people were still waiting to be assigned rooms.

After informing a hotel worker that they'd be going to the store, the three left the building. The cold air seeped into Kiel's skin, causing goosebumps to form on his arms. He'd gotten used to having a coat with him when he went outside. He shivered, his face stinging from the cold. Hopefully this store would have a pair of shoes he could get, although he really preferred his black boots.

This whole situation was inconvenient. If he could go back to Bethany and Owen's town, he could put a stop to all of this. Not to mention, he could also fight the monsters if he was there. He was pretty sure he could handle them by himself, as long as he had enough energy. But he wasn't going to complain about it, even if he really wished that he could go back to the town.

They crossed the street quickly, setting off at a light jog. Once they finally made it to the store's entrance and shuffled inside, Kiel's entire body felt numb. He shook out his arms and legs, trying to jostle the warmth back into them as he looked around the store. It was brightly lit, with ten checkout counters at the front and a several hallways, which led to different sections of the store.

"Clothing section's this way," Ms. Conners said, pointing at a sign on the wall. Still shivering, Kiel and Owen hurried after her as she walked over to the clothing section. Maybe it was because he'd never seen this on Magisteria, but Kiel was surprised. He'd never seen so many different types of clothes in one area. Shirts of all sizes and colors were piled on tables and hanging on racks, practically overflowing.

He'd been to a few stores before with Bethany and Owen, but never one like _this_. Kiel was used to wearing one or two outfits, which were both black. Everything here was so colorful, looking like nothing he'd ever worn before. There were so many clothes, too. Almost too many to choose from!

Kiel moved his head around, looking for any black shirts nearby, but Ms. Conners' voice cut through his thoughts. "If you need me, I'll be over at the women's section. Come find me when you're done!"

She walked away, and Owen nudged him in the side. "Let's start looking. We can get something for you first." He started walking through the isle closest to them, looking through the shirts. "What size are you?"

Kiel chuckled. "Size?" He ran his hand along a long-sleeved green shirt, which had a symbol of a star on it.

Owen shook his head. "Never-mind. Um . . ." He turned back towards Kiel, meeting his eyes. "See anything you like?"

Kiel knit his brows, then shook his head. He hadn't seen anything that looked remotely black, so no. "I haven't. Does this place have _anything_ black?"

Owen started to say something, only for his eyes to widen at something behind Kiel, and he ran over to it. "Wait . . . I think I see something!" Kiel's hope lifted, but once he caught up with Owen, he sighed. It was a black shirt . . . but it was several sizes too small.

"Guess we'll have to find you something in a different color," Owen said, stifling a yawn.

Kiel tried to push away his slight disappointment. In all honesty, as long as he didn't have to wear anything _too_ bright, he would be fine. Maybe there'd be a light shade of gray? Or a very dark purple? Or even dark blue would work, despite the fact that he hardly ever wore that color. 

"Ah, it'll be fine,” Kiel said. “I look much better in black, but I'll have to work with it. I'll be okay if I don't wear black for a few days."

"Maybe this is a good thing," Owen said, prompting Kiel to raise his eyebrows. "Before you say _anything_ , hear me out. Just in case the military discover that the monsters are fictional, it's better that you look as different from your real self as possible. Wearing black will make you look _more_ like Kiel Gnomenfoot, and we don't want people to know that."

"But I _am_ Kiel Gnomenfoot!" Kiel said loudly, earning a strange look from a woman walking nearby. He winked at her. "Oh. Hello, ma'am! We're just —" He cut himself off, quickly looking at Owen. He was the one with the best imagination, after all, and Kiel wasn't sure how he could make up a believable excuse on a whim.

"Practicing a . . . script! We're trying out for the _Kiel Gnomenfoot: Magic Thief_ play at our school." Owen offered, cringing. He forced a smile at her. His statement sounded more like a question, but if the woman noticed, she didn't say anything. Instead, she continued walking at a quicker pace, looking very confused.

Kiel quickly lowered his voice, looking back at Owen. "Okay, but I don't see why I _can't_ wear black. I just don't understand how that has anything to do with anyone finding out who I am. I've worn it all my life. No one suspected anything at school, and I wore black there."

"Yeah, but this is different," Owen said, glancing around. "We're actually in trouble now. _Real_ world trouble."

"Relax, Owen," Kiel said, although he knew just how serious the situation was. He patted his friend's shoulder. "Trust me, it's going to be okay. I know how to hide my identity. If it makes you feel better, I'll wear a different color. They won't suspect a thing." Then, he added, "Not that I have much of a choice, anyway."

Owen smiled, his shoulders relaxing. " _Thank_ you. Don't worry, though. I'm sure you'll get to wear black again soon enough, at least once we know for sure that no one knows you or the monsters are fictional."

"Sure," Kiel said, shrugging with a smile of his own. It wasn't much of an inconvenience, anyway. It was disappointing, sure, but it wasn't worth worrying over. As long as he blended in more, the people here wouldn't suspect a thing. As he scanned the area around them for something that looked appealing, a fantastic idea slowly formed in his head. He grinned. "Hey, I've got an idea. A really good one, actually."

"What is it?" Owen asked, not looking at him as he searched through a rack of clothes.

"I'm still kind of pretending to be German, so maybe we could find something . . . I don't know, German? That could help me blend in better too, since these guys are trying to get rid of fictionals like me."

Owen dropped his hand, stepping away from the rack. "Yeah, okay. But I'm not sure if there'd be anything in here that's German. Is there?" A thoughtful look appeared on his face.

"Maybe not," Kiel said. Just as he said that, he spotted a man in a red uniform walking past the men's section. "Hey, we should ask that guy over there. He looks like he works here." He flashed a wink at Owen and started towards the man, who looked over at them as they approached. "Do you have anything German?"

Owen coughed. "What my friend means is: do you have any _clothes_ that might look German? Specifically, like, a shirt?"

"Wow, I never get asked _that_. As a matter of fact, we do!" the man said, giving them a large grin. "Follow me." He led them to the other end of the men's section, where piles — some neat and some messy — of clothes were on top of tables. The man started shuffling through one of the messier piles. "We only have a few clothes that have designs based on different countries, but no ones been buying them."

"That's perfect!" Kiel said, as the man retrieved a few shirts and handed it to him.

"Do you kids need anything else?" the man asked, straightening up as he finished rearranging the rest of the shirts back into their pile.

"Nope," Owen said, smiling. "Thank you, though. We're just looking for some new clothes."

"Wait . . ." The man looked them up and down, seeming to notice for the first time that they were both wearing pajamas. His eyes widened. "You're — you're from that hotel across the street, aren't you? Your whole town was evacuated there."

Owen's smile faded, and he exchanged a look with Kiel. "Um, yeah. We _are_ from that town. But how do you know about that?"

"It's been all over the News," the man said, his friendly facade crumbling as he stared at them more worriedly. "Something about these . . . monsters appearing out of nowhere and attacking people. Believe me, it's hard for _everyone_ to believe. Everyone who's up this early, anyway."

"Did the News say anything else?" Owen asked. "Anything about where they're coming from . . . or if it's happening anywhere else in the world?"

The man shook his head. "No, no. It's only happening in your town. All they're talking about is the destruction and the attacks, but no one knows where the monsters have come from. I can't believe that monsters are real. _Actually_ real. I mean, who would've thought they were? I've only seen them in movies."

_This isn't good_ , Kiel thought.

"Well!" he said, clearing his throat. "It certainly has been a crazy day, as you can probably imagine. We're just going to get the rest of our clothes and head back to the hotel."

"Yeah, we should get back," Owen added, looking nervous. "We're both really tired, and my mom will be worried if we're gone too long."

They started to back away. The man only looked confused, but he nodded in understanding. "Of course, go get some rest. I'm sure you need it."

"Yep, we do," Owen said, forcing a smile. Luckily, the man seemed to take a hint, and walked away from them, disappearing around the corner.

" _That_ was close," Kiel breathed. A grin grew on his face as he realized that their secret was still hidden. "Good news, no one knows about them being fictional! Which means they will never know about _me_ being fictional!"

"They still might find out," Owen whispered.

"They haven't yet," Kiel reminded him. "And I don't think they will. No one suspects anything, anyway!"

"There's still a chance that they could! I mean, I _hope_ not, but with the way our luck is turning out lately . . ."

"I'm sure they won't," Kiel said in his most reassuring tone. "They're nonfictional, after all. What's harm could _they_ do to a bunch of monsters twice their size?"

Owen grinned. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Kiel only winked, then looked down at the clothes in his hands. There were three shirts in total, so he gave two of them for Owen to hold as he unfolded the other one, holding it up for both of them to see. "That's definitely German."

"What does it say?" Owen asked, peering at it. "I don't know any German."

Kiel stared at the unfamiliar word at the center of the shirt, which was bright red. On the numerous occasions he'd attempted to study German words, he'd picked up on a lot from the language. But although he recognized it as German, he had no idea what this word meant.

After a minute of trying to analyze what it meant, Kiel shook his head. "I really don't know. I'm sure I've heard of it from _somewhere,_ but I've got no idea what it means." He glanced at Owen. "Should I get it?"

Owen nodded encouragingly. "Sure. Whatever it means, it definitely _sounds_ cool. ' _Scheisse_ '."

"It does," Kiel agreed. "Alright, I'll get it." He took the other clothes from Owen, placing them back onto the table. "We should get some new clothes for you, now."

"Don't you want more than one shirt?"

He frowned. "Should I get more than one?"

"Of course!" Owen said. "We have no idea how long we'll be here. It doesn't hurt to have some options." With that, he walked down the aisle, grabbing a few shirts and holding them up beside Kiel. Apparently deciding that they'd fit, Owen declared that they'd get those clothes, too. Not that Kiel was very happy about it, since they weren't black. But he'd have to work with it.

Once they were done picking out Kiel's new attire, they moved onto Owen, spending the next fifteen minutes grabbing an assortment of shirts and pants that looked like it'd fit him. As it turned out, they finished much quicker than Owen's mother, who'd been searching for some new clothes for herself. They stayed there for an hour more, waiting impatiently for Ms. Conners to finish. When she finally was, they bought their items and went back to the hotel.

"Too bad Bethany missed out on this," Kiel said, voicing his thoughts aloud as they carried their bags up to their shared room. "We should've gotten her something. She's probably going to need some clothes, too."

"That's very nice of you to think of her," Ms. Conners said, giving him a knowing smile that felt strangely similar to the looks Elijah used to give Kiel when he talked about Bethany. "I'm sure her mother will take her soon. Trust me, it'd be a disaster if you tried to get her something. You should _never_ buy a girl any clothes."

Owen frowned. " _Never_? But . . . why not?"

"First of all, you're fifteen year-old boys. Do you think Bethany would like any random shirt that you get her?"

"I . . . maybe?"

"Sure she would!" Kiel said.

"The answer is no," Ms. Conners said with a small laugh. They continued walking down the long hallway, which had a few other people walking down it. Right before they got to their specific room, someone opened the door next to theirs. Someone recognizable. It was then that Kiel realized — it was the girl from his chemistry class.

"Kiel, du hier bist!" the girl with short brown hair exclaimed, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "Hallo. Du bist mein Nachbar!"

_Her again?_ Kiel thought, rolling his eyes. Of all the people to be next door to them, it _had_ to be the girl who spoke fluent German.

"Hallo," he responded, not knowing what else to say.

"Was passiert?" the girl asked.

As if he'd been cast with a forget spell, all knowledge of German words seemed to slip from his mind. So Kiel did the only thing he could do: he winked. Next to him, Owen awkwardly waved. "Uh, hello. Who exactly are you?"

"I'm Louis," the girl said in a completely American-sounding accent, surprising Kiel further. She didn't even have a German accent! He'd never even heard her speak English before. Or maybe he had, but he never payed much attention in Chemistry class — or in school, for that matter — so he wasn't sure.

"I'm Owen."

"Nice to meet you. I'm in Kiel's chemistry class! Are you from Kiel's German exchange family?"

"What exchange family —" Ms. Conners started to ask, but Owen quickly cut in, forcing a smile.

"We are! I'm guessing that you're German, too?"

"No." Louis smiled. "I'm just in a very advanced German class. I've been speaking fluently since I was in sixth grade."

"That's interesting," Owen said, which made Kiel want to roll his eyes again. He didn't often get annoyed, and he didn't roll his eyes very often, either, so this would give him a great reason to.

"We'd better get to our room," Kiel said in a fake German accent, and out of the corner of his eye, he could tell that Owen was trying not to laugh.

"Oh, okay. Bis bald!"

"Bis bald!" Kiel replied with a wink, forcing a broad grin. As Louis walked away, he told the others, "That meant 'see you later'."

"I hope that you have some explanation for what just happened," Ms. Conners said, looking immensely confused.

"It's better if you don't know," Kiel muttered. He glanced over at Owen, who was quietly laughing. Kiel glared at him. "We aren't telling Bethany about this."

"Trust me, we definitely are," Owen said, a grin on his face. Kiel sighed. It looked like he still would have to pretend to be German. He might as well put that shirt to good use, now that he had it.

They stopped in front of their door, and Ms. Conners pushed it open. After greeting Owen's pets, Kiel dropped the bags he was holding to the floor, feeling more tired than he wanted to admit. Even though he'd been awake for hours, he hadn't gotten much sleep. Once again, he felt exactly the same as he had a few days ago, when he'd been taking 5-Hour Energy just to stay awake.

"I'm going to head down for breakfast," Ms. Conners informed them. "If you want to come, just make sure you take care of Spike and Bark Vadar first. I need to get some coffee."

"Okay! I'll be there soon!" Owen said, sitting on the bed as he scratched Spike on his belly. They watched as she walked out the door, closing it behind her. Owen looked at Kiel. "Want to get breakfast?"

Kiel yawned. "I would love to, but actually, I think I'm going to stay here for a little. I need to catch up on sleep."

"Me too," Owen murmured. He removed Spike from his lap, tossing the cat towards the floor, who landed right on his feet. He stood up. "Okay, I'll be back soon. I'll see if I can find Bethany, then. She's probably at breakfast." With that, he got to his feet and walked out of the room, leaving Kiel alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Bethany, as Owen soon realized, was not at breakfast. Neither was her mother.

After waiting in the buffet line for what felt like an eternity, Owen carried a plate of pancakes around the dining hall, looking for a place to sit. It was a huge room, almost as big as the school cafeteria back home. The dining hall was still beginning to fill up, and the families were already starting to sit down at random tables. He searched the room for Bethany or his mother, but for some reason, he couldn't see them anywhere. Maybe his mother had already eaten without him.

He considered one table with some boys his age, but they ignored him as he walked over, so he continued walking, pretending like he knew where he was going. He didn't, of course. There were so many strangers here, and although he recognized some of them from the library, he couldn't exactly sit with them. Many of them looked stressed or scared anyway, and Owen didn't know if he wanted to talk about the fictional monsters again. He'd rather take his mind off of that for now.

He found an empty table to sit at, then plopped down and starting eating. He felt a feeling of familiarity by being all alone at breakfast. It was similar to when he was at school, before he became friends with Bethany. Sitting by himself wasn't exactly new. Over the years, he'd become adjusted to it. He had passed the time by reading a book, but inwardly, he'd always wished that someone would've sat with him.

It was easy to get lost in fantasies of the fictional world, but once he tuned back into the real world, Owen would realize once again that he had no friends. Not ones that cared to hang out with him outside of school, at least. Remembering that time made him more grateful for his friends now. If he hadn't met Bethany on that fateful day, none of that would've changed. Becoming her best friend meant that he had someone to sit with, and that in itself had been life-changing for him.

He wondered if he should've followed Kiel's example by getting some rest. Normally, Owen never woke up as early as three in the morning to start his day. He was exhausted, and would definitely benefit from a few extra hours of sleep. Everyone was just as tired as he was after what had happened. Despite how tired he was, though, he doubted he'd be able to get any sleep at all if he tried. Not after the crazy day he had.

As he ate, Owen kept looking over his shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bethany's bronze hair. He guessed that she was in her room or something, because he didn't see her anywhere. Oh well. It wasn't like this hotel would be impossible to navigate around. It was huge, but Owen felt hopeful that he'd see Bethany again soon. Of all the things to look forward to, that was all he got.

He was pretty relieved to hear what the store employee had said. It was good news that this attack was only happening in one spot. And they hadn't found out anything yet about them being fictional, which was a relief too. But it was hard for Owen to feel optimistic about that, when there was still the possibility that they _would_ find out. And when they did, he'd be too late to stop them.

He was farther away from home than he'd ever been before, and that made him worried. If something worse happened . . . no, he couldn't think like that. Kiel was right. Owen couldn't keep overanalyzing this. Not when the military hadn't discovered anything about the monsters being fictional. So far, they were fine.

He just wished that they'd had time to put the creatures back into their books. Bethany was right; it _would've_ taken forever to do. There was also the problem with the fictional characters still jumping out of their books, but if that hadn't been the case, the town would've been saved. Between Owen and his friends, they could round up all of the fictional characters and put them back into books. That would've solved everything!

Owen trusted the police and the military. Here in the real world, they solved problems. They weren't like the versions in the movies or in books, where there were too many cliches. They'd never fought monsters before, but they had the right equipment to do it. They had guns and other weapons that Owen had probably never heard of. If anyone could handle this situation, it was them.

There were dozens of them who could fight back better than Bethany could using only her half-fictional powers. Kiel had his magic, and although he was incredible at spell-casting, he always tended to get tired quickly when in the nonfictional world. And Owen . . . well, he only had his time powers, and he had no clue how that would help anyone.

Given that there was no one to talk to, Owen finished eating quickly. He stood up from the table and hurried across the room, adding his empty plate to the pile of dirty dishes next to the kitchen. He glanced around the room, taking in how crowded it was. People were continuously walking inside, and the room only seemed to grow more packed as the morning went on.

Not wanting to get stuck in the crowd, Owen squeezed past a group of men at the entrance and navigated through the people-filled lobby, which was somehow just as crowded as it had been an hour ago. Why were there so many people still here? He craned his head to look out the window, and he saw why. There were three more buses parked outside — just like the one he'd come from — and people were emerging from them.

Owen could hardly believe what he was seeing. He'd been here for an hour at the least, and people from his town were still being transported here! _That_ was why it was starting to feel crowded. He hoped this hotel would be big enough to fit everyone. As far as he could tell, there were ten floors, which meant there'd be plenty of rooms for everyone to stay in. That should be enough to hold everyone, but if people kept crowding around the lobby, Owen wasn't sure if he'd even make it to the stairs.

Since the stairs had too many people blocking them, Owen pushed through the large group, making his way over to the elevators in the corner of the room. He mumbled apologizes as he squeezed past people, who glared at him, not seeming too happy about being pushed. Finally, he broke out of the crowd and arrived at the elevators, which were currently empty since the group was busy listening to the same man from earlier, who was informing them about their situation.

Owen hit the elevator button, and he looked back to the crowd, observing their reactions. All of them looked confused and scared, and a few even looked angry as the man continued talking. Owen felt sorry for them. As shocking as it had been for him, Bethany, and Kiel for this to happen, it was nothing compared to what the other people were feeling.

The people here had spent their whole lives living in a boring world where nothing unusual happened, only for something _very_ unusual to happen. Owen knew exactly how they must've felt. Before he met Bethany, his whole life had been as predictable as everyone else's. The real world didn't have magic or anything very exciting. All it had was school and chores, along with the thousands of other normal, boring things it had. The only thing that had allowed Owen an escape from it was his imagination.

The elevator dinged, and the doors slowly slid open. Owen stepped through and hit the button that would lead him to the second floor. He shrunk back into the elevator, placing his hand on the rail and allowing the doors to close shut.

With the sounds from the lobby blocked out, Owen noticed for the first time that there was a small screen next to the buttons. On the screen was a woman holding a microphone, who was standing in front of a destroyed street. There were debris everywhere, and Owen could barely make out a few dragons flying around in the sky.

He gasped as the realization struck him. This was his _hometown_.

He recognized the street as somewhere he'd driven tons of times with his mother, since they used to come there often. Behind the woman was a row of stores, which looked slightly less damaged than the buildings with books in them. He recognized one of the stores as the Napoleon Bakery. Owen had been going there since he was little. It was hard to look at his town and remember that it was completely abandoned and destroyed. He'd grown up there, and seeing it now brought back so many fond memories.

"I'm here to report that all residents of the town have been evacuated to a safer, temporary place for them to live," the woman was saying, her microphone held close to her face. "In the meantime, the town is off-limits to everyone except the military and police, who have swarmed the area early this morning. They have started to try getting rid of these terrifying monsters, and as far as we know, this could take a matter of days or weeks, or maybe even months. We all have many questions about what's been going on, like, what are these monsters doing here? How did they get here? And what do they want from us?"

"Excuse me?" a voice asked, but Owen shook it off, assuming it was coming from the TV.

"Look out!" a voice from behind the camera said, and the camera suddenly crashed to the ground, showing a view of two huge, clawed feet. Owen gasped, trying to peer closer at it to get a better look. There were screams, followed by a few gunshots in the distance. He watched as the creature continued walking, it's huge feet inflicting loud tremors in the ground, causing the camera to shake violently.

"Excuse me, is this your floor?" a voice asked, and it took Owen a moment to realize that it wasn't coming from the screen. He glanced up to see a middle-aged woman, and quickly backed away from the screen.

"Oh. I'm sorry! Um, yeah, it is," Owen said, blushing hard. He'd gotten so distracted that he hadn't even noticed the doors opening. As the woman walked onto the elevator, he scrambled off of it, his heart pounding. His hands started shaking, so he slid his good arm underneath his broken one, attempting to support it.

Things weren't looking too good back home. It seemed even worse now that it was daytime. The events of this morning had felt like a dream, but this only confirmed that it was real. There was no imagining it. Monsters were all over the place, wrecking houses and buildings and even hurting people. And the only thing that Owen could do was sit back and hope that the authorities would handle this, just like they always did. With their fighting skills, they'd fix this problem in no time.

. . . Right?

* * *

It'd been four days, and Bethany was already sick of this place.

First, she'd been assigned to the ninth floor, which meant that she was not only separated from her friends, but the elevator was always crowded with people by the time she got to it. Second, no one was allowed to leave. Aside from going to the store across the street, everyone was forced to stay inside the hotel. According to a hotel worker, they were for safety reasons. But Bethany could care less about safety. Not when there were much bigger problems that she could be dealing with.

Being here made Bethany feel trapped, and it wasn't helping that every time she checked the News, the military was still struggling to fight against the fictional monsters. She couldn't tell how much progress they'd made. All she knew was that she _needed_ to get out of here soon. It didn't feel right to be here when she should be out there, putting the characters back into their books. She was the only one who could do it. She couldn't take another week of being cooped up inside this hotel, where it was too crowded for her liking.

Early on Friday morning, Bethany awoke to the sound of rain pounding against the window. Despite the fact that it was morning, it was still a bit dark out, due to the gray clouds that covered the sky. Blinking slowly, she threw a glance at the alarm clock on her bedside table, which read 7:30 am.

Normally, she never woke up this early unless it was for school. But this wasn't normal, and Bethany often found herself waking up early, because she felt too anxious and restless while being here. How could she sleep in with fictional monsters roaming around? It was practically impossible, and it definitely didn't help that she didn't have any books nearby.

One way or another, she was going to get to the bottom of this. She was determined to. Neither her or her friends understood why this fictional invasion had happened in the first place. She'd had four days to think about it, and unfortunately, no solutions had come to mind.

Most of all, Bethany hated that she was forced to stay here, forced to follow the rules and watch her town crumble. There had to be _something_ she could do to put a stop to this, but whatever it was, she didn't know. She was unable to leave, unable to jump into books, and unable to fix anything. It wasn't a very good feeling.

Tossing onto her side, Bethany stared out the window for a few minutes, watching the rain drip down the glass. She tried to focus on that instead of her worries, keeping her eyes only on the rain. Her stomach rumbled, and she sighed deeply, flinging the covers off of her and sliding out of bed. In the bed next to her's, she could make out the sleeping form on her mother.

After telling her mother about what she'd been hiding, Bethany knew that she'd lost a lot of her mother's trust. For years, she'd been keeping secrets from her mother, only to expose all of them merely four days ago. Like a bird being set free from it's cage, it had felt good to get them out. Bethany was officially done was secrets. They'd given her so much guilt, and she was relieved that she didn't have to keep them anymore.

But now, her mother had grown more overprotective and irritable than before, checking to make sure that Bethany wasn't going to jump into any books every time she left the room. As things cooled down, she'd grown calmer when Bethany was around, and was able to converse with her in a normal tone. Bethany knew that she should've expected this reaction from her mother. It was understandable, especially after the fictional invasion. If it weren't for the entire town being locked in a hotel, she would've probably been just as grounded as Owen was — if not more.

Pulling her hair into a ponytail, she threw on a sweatshirt and sweatpants, not feeling the desire to do much of anything. The only thing she wanted to do was get out of here and find a book to jump into, and unfortunately, that wasn't an option. Bethany pulled on a pair of sneakers — ones that she had bought on her first day here — and opened the door, shutting it as quietly as she could behind her.

Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Bethany walked to the elevators, which were empty for once. She jammed her finger into the button that would lead her to the first floor, hoping that maybe some breakfast would energize her. The floor dropped beneath her, quickly pulling the elevator downwards. Right before she reached the bottom, the elevator opened, and she looked up to see Kiel standing in the hallway.

"You're up early," she said, raising her eyebrows.

Smiling, Kiel went to stand beside her in the elevator. He was wearing a bright red shirt, which had a word printed in white that she didn't recognize. It looked like it could be in a different language, but she was too tired to properly analyze it.

In a tired voice, Kiel explained, "I tried going back to sleep, but I couldn't, so I decided to get some breakfast."

"Good choice," Bethany said, smiling back. "Honestly, the only thing I like about this place is the food. That's the _only_ thing."

"Not the incredible people?" Kiel asked in a joking tone.

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she didn't respond as the elevator shuddered to a stop, and the doors slid open. They walked out into the lobby, where hotel workers and a few older people were walking around. The rain seemed to be even louder down here, and it was all Bethany could hear for a moment.

As they crossed the room on their way to the dining hall, the sound of the door opening made Bethany's head turn. Automatically, her eyes landed on the man entering the lobby, who seemed to be soaking wet. Her feet suddenly stopped working, and she stopped in her tracks. It wasn't just any random person. It was _Mason Black_.

"Beth?" she heard Kiel ask, but she wasn't focused on him. She hurried over to the author, who looked exhausted and worn out. Mason's eyes landed on her, and he grabbed her arm urgently.

"Bethany," Mason said, stumbling a bit. "Something happened. Something bad."

"What?" Bethany asked, her ears ringing loudly. She stared at the man, her heart rate increasing. What was wrong? Had something worse happened? Why was Mason here, looking like he'd just run ten miles through the rain?

"The chains you used to lock up Nobody," he said, his eyebrows knitted with worry and regret. "They . . . failed."

"What?" Bethany repeated, feeling suddenly faint. Her world began to spin, and she took a step away from him, letting his hand fall to his side. The other noises around her seemed to fade away as her mind swirled like the chaos of a tornado. " _No_. No! I locked him up. Everything's fine now. There must be a mistake."

He shook his head weakly. "There _was_ no mistake. Nobody has gotten too powerful. He rewrote himself to be immune from the chains, and now he _has_ escaped."

As bad as things seemed before, this was twenty miles beyond that. It was like a dozen of bricks had fallen on top of her. He had _escaped_? There was _no_ way. There couldn't be! It was impossible, wasn't it? This had to be a joke!

Bethany wanted to scream, but instead, she concentrated on breathing in and out, desperate for someone, anyone to tell her that everything would be okay, that this was all a lie. But deep down, she knew it wasn't a lie. She _had_ locked Nobody up, hadn't she? She had seen him fail to fight against the chains with her own eyes! How had he managed to escape?

"That can't be possible," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "You _have_ to be lying. You have to be."

"I'm not," Mason croaked. He slumped into a chair that was next to the door, looking exhausted. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do now. He's too powerful."

"No!" she shouted, her breathing becoming less steady. She felt her body heating up as anger filled her from head to toe. She felt much too hot, all of the sudden, as if her entire body was on fire. Rage filled her, as she thought of the faceless man — alive — who'd caused so much harm to her, her family, and her friends. "That can't be true! You're lying! You're _lying_!"

"I'm sorry, Bethany." The man sighed. "But it's true. It's why your town was overcome by fictional characters. It's because of _him_."

Suddenly, everything made sense. All this time, she'd thought that the fictional monsters escaping their books had been a random occurrence. She hadn't stopped to think that it could be linked to Nobody. But fictional characters had never managed to escape from their books before. It _couldn't_ just be a random coincidence. It made sense now, because when Nobody had escaped from captivity, he likely would've been angry at Bethany and Owen, and wanted to have revenge.

Maybe it was an accident or maybe it wasn't, but his escape from the chains must've caused this whole fictional invasion to happen. That meant it _was_ her fault, after all. She'd caused this. There was nothing left to do now except go back to the fictional world and put a stop to this. With Nobody still alive, he would destroy the fictional worlds. Bethany would have to defeat him, for good this time. And she would.

She set her jaw. "There has to be another way. Isn't there? Aren't there any other weaknesses you know —"

"I don't." Mason sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. You'll have to find another way to stop him."

Bethany could only stand there, shocked into silence. What other way could she stop him? She couldn't think of one. She'd never planned for this to happen, and it felt like her nightmares were becoming real all over again. Only this time, it was worse. She opened her mouth, trying to form an answer, but Kiel grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the side. "Bethany, are you alright? Who is that? What's wrong?"

"You know how I locked Nobody up with those chains? Yeah, um . . . he escaped."

Kiel's eyebrows shot up. "He did? But — but _how_?"

She only shook her head, still shaking from anger. She clenched her fists, trying to ignore the tightness in her chest. "I don't really know. But we have to tell Owen. We need to get out of here and go back to the library.”

He frowned. "I thought the military said that your town is off-limits to everyone."

Bethany looked at the ground, her mind running in circles. "They _did_ say that. But we don't exactly have any books with us. The only place that I know we can go to is the library. And we have to go _now_ , before it's too late."

"This can wait, you know," Kiel said, but Bethany could see him practically dancing from foot to foot, anxious to finally get on with it. "We don't have to go over there just yet."

"We can't wait. He's too dangerous. The longer he's roaming around the fictional world — doing who know's what — the more damage he can do. Come on, we gotta get going." She threw a glance at Mason Black, who was still slumped over in the chair, then started to walk away. Kiel grabbed her again, gently fitting his hand into her's. She turned back to him, an unexpected shiver going through her.

"Just relax for a minute, Beth," Kiel said in a gentle voice. "Don't worry. We'll figure out our plan for how we're going to escape this place, and then I _promise_ we'll beat him."

Bethany nodded, offering him a strained smile. She squeezed his hand, and a warm sensation pulsed through her arm, all the way up her body.

"I still don't get why you didn't tell me or Owen about this Mason Black guy. And then you went off on your own quest to chain Nobody up," Kiel said, stepping closer to her with a frown. "Why hide it? Why not tell me? You even hid it from Owen, until he caught you on your way there."

Bethany sighed, dropping his hand. She couldn't look him in the eye. "You wouldn't have agreed with me. You would've said I was being stupid for believing him about Nobody. And then . . . when I went to lock up Nobody with the chains, I couldn't tell you about it because you only would've gotten hurt. I thought doing that would change things, but I was wrong."

"Yeah, you were wrong," Kiel said. "I would've agreed with you if you had told me. Sure, I'd still be a little annoyed that you kept something like that from me, but I would've gone with you. You know that."

"I know," she said, looking back at him. "That's what I was afraid you'd say."

He gave her a confused look, tilting his head slightly. "What? Why?"

She let out a short laugh. "You're Kiel Gnomenfoot, remember? You wouldn't even question it if came to you putting yourself in danger."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"No." Bethany shook her head. "It's not bad to be selfless. But I don't want you _or_ Owen to get hurt because of me."

"Beth, you can't control whether we get hurt or not. I'm your friend, and so is Owen. We're in this together. This is too big to handle on your own. Besides, I've been itching for a good fight. This Nobody guy has been _really_ getting on my nerves, and it's been a little boring around here."

She smiled slightly at his words, then tilted her head towards the ground. "It's just that . . . this whole thing was my fault. I needed to fix it by myself, you know? I became too reckless. I know I should've stopped jumping into books, but then I found my dad, and nothing else mattered besides that. I just wish that I'd been more careful. Maybe if I was, Nobody wouldn't have separated me. I went a little crazy when you went back to your world."

Her eyes widened at the last thing she'd said — about her going crazy when Kiel was back in the fictional world. Was that true? She figured that the only reason she was feeling that way was because she had vowed to never jump into the fictional world again. Of course, there was also the fact that Kiel had been gone.

During those few months, she was so, _so_ tempted to jump into his book, just to see him, to hug him, to talk to him without Owen hovering around. But she had made a promise to herself, and it was to give up on the fictional world. The fictional world had only brought her peril, and after Fowen tried drowning her, well, that was that. She was completely done endangering herself and her friends. Bethany was glad that she'd made the decision to go to Jupiter City. If she hadn't, she would never have found her father.

"I went a little crazy, too," Kiel admitted quietly, surprising Bethany. She wasn't used to him being so open about his feelings. He cleared his throat, flashing her a wink. "But all of that is behind us. We have a world that needs saving, and we have your father to find. Defeating Nobody should be easy if we get enough people to help us."

Nerves ran through Bethany's body. Her heart pounded harder the more she thought about facing Nobody for the final time. "But what if we _can't_ defeat him? What if this is all just too big for us? What if he's too powerful?"

"We're gonna figure it out," Kiel said. He smiled at her. "I didn't come all this way to rejoin your two halves for nothing."

She didn't know what to say to that, so she only nodded, her throat suddenly tight. Hoping she wasn't about to start crying, she threw a glance back at the author of the _Doc Twilight_ comics. He was still sitting in the chair, his eyes closed as he leaned his head against the wall. Clearly, it'd taken him a while to get here. Bethany didn't know how any of this had happened, but she did know that they would need to go back to the fictional world, one way or another.

Not bothering to wait for Owen to wake up, Bethany and Kiel went to his room as fast as they could, knocking loudly on his door until he answered it. The sound of barking hit Bethany's ears, and she smiled in spite of herself as she heard groaning from the other side of the door.

"Owen!" Bethany shouted, pounding her fist against the door. "Open up! It's me and Kiel, and we have something _really_ important to tell you!"

"I think he's awake now," Kiel whispered, then added in a louder voice, "Owen, can you open the door?"

"Getting it!" a voice from the other side grumbled, and they both stepped back as the door swung open, revealing a grumpy-looking Owen with very messy, bedridden hair. He stared up at them with half-lidded eyes, a frown on his face. "What was so important that you couldn't wait to tell me?"

Bethany sighed. "This is going to sound crazy, but you have to believe me anyway. Mason Black showed up, and he said that Nobody has escaped from the chains we put him in. Nobody's _alive,_ Owen. That's why all of this is happening, with the monsters escaping from their books. It makes so much sense now! But now, Nobody's free, and he's going to keep destroying the fictional worlds with his pure possibility, or whatever that was called. This is _really_ bad. We need to come up with some type of plan and get out of here right away. As soon as possible, if we can."

She stared at Owen and waited impatiently for him to respond. Instead, of a panicked reaction that he'd normally give in this type of situation, he blinked slowly, his frown deepening slightly. Finally, he seemed to somewhat understand what she'd said, and rubbed his eyes. "Oh, no. Okay. _Wow_. This is horrible, but can we please talk about this later? I'm hungry, and I'm pretty sure I'm too tired to interpret anything you just said. What's for breakfast?"

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Bethany, Owen, and Kiel were sitting together in the dining hall, eating food as they started to go over their plan. They were all considerably more awake than before, so Bethany went over everything that Mason Black has told her, not leaving a single thing out.

"So?" Bethany said, looking at Owen as she placed her hands on the table. "Got any ideas?"

Her friend looked puzzled. "Why are you asking _me_?"

"Because you always have ideas with that huge imagination of yours, and we can't just sit here and do nothing while Nobody is free," she told him.

"Don't make fun of my imagination," Owen said, although he didn't look too confident as he said it. "My mom says it's a gift."

"It is," Kiel said from next to Bethany as he ate an apple, which made Owen smile.

" _Also_ , you always make up the most genius, villain-proof plans," Bethany said, trying to grab Owen's attention again. Once he looked at her, she leaned back in her chair. "So, can you think of anything?"

Owen looked thoughtful, biting his lip as he looked around the room. "Well, I think we definitely need to find an easy way out of here — without getting caught by any of the hotel workers. They're everywhere, so we'd have to navigate around them somehow. That'll be hard. And . . . I'm not sure if trying to escape is the best option, either. I'm still grounded, and now that my mom knows everything, she'll —"

"We can't worry about that," Bethany interrupted. "We just won't tell our moms about it, and by the time they find out we're gone, we'll already be in the fictional world."

Owen sighed. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I feel really bad about running away _again_. Not that I ran away before, but, you know. She'll think that I'm never coming back."

"She won't think that," Kiel said. "I'm sure that neither of your moms will. Besides, it's for a good cause! They can't keep you here."

"I guess not . . ."

"He's right, Owen," Bethany insisted. "And this quest is more important than probably anything any of us have ever done. We have to go, and we can't worry about the consequences of our actions. Yeah, my mom will be furious when she realizes I'm gone, but I'd rather deal with that _after_ we get back."

Their table went silent for a few long seconds, and Bethany stared at Owen, waiting expectantly for him to agree. He really wasn't going to back down from this, was he? She didn't think so. She knew Owen better than anyone, and she also knew that he'd want nothing more than to save the fictional world.

Suddenly, Owen's eyes lit up, and a small smile came to his face. "Actually, I _do_ have an idea. What if we searched around? You know, to see if there's any books that we can find?"

"Are you serious?" Bethany deadpanned. "Right. You are." She sighed. "I've looked everywhere in this place for books, but I haven't seen _any_. I'm pretty sure the hotel doesn't have any."

"You never know," Kiel said. "Maybe you weren't looking hard enough. Or maybe one of the people from your town has one. We should ask someone."

Now that she thought about it, it _did_ sound like a good idea. It would be convenient, too, since then they wouldn't need to try finding a way to escape the hotel. If someone here owned a book, they could easily get to the fictional world that way.

Feeling a bit hopeful, Bethany stood from her chair. "I'll be right back," she told Owen and Kiel, then made her way around the tables, towards the first one that was occupied.

"Excuse me, sir?" Gathering her courage, she stepped in front of a middle-aged man, who was drinking coffee. "Do you happen to have any books?"

The man looked up at her with a confused expression. He shook his head. "Sorry, I don't."

Forcing a smile, Bethany turned around and walked to the next table, where a group of older women were. She clasped her hands in front of her and cleared her throat, hoping that these women would have something useful. "Hi, sorry to interrupt. Do you have any books?"

"No," one of the women said, after glancing at her friends. "Sorry."

"It's fine," she muttered, trying not to lose her patience. She went to the next table, and then the next, then the next. To her great frustration, none of the people here — not _one —_ had a book that she could borrow. Well, _that_ was just great. How was that possible? Didn't anyone read these days? Did _anyone_ here own a book?

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kiel asked, his concerned tone irritating her even further as she stomped back to their table.

"Did you find any books?" Owen asked.

Bethany glared at them, unable to keep the annoyance out of her voice. She waved her empty hands at them. "Does it _look_ like I found any?"

"Well, no—"

"Are you kidding me?" She groaned, slamming her hands on the table. A few people glanced her way, giving her alarmed looks, but she ignored them. She collapsed into the chair. "There's not a single book in this place? No one thought to _grab_ one? No one thought they'd want something to read?"

"Not when they were running for their lives!" Owen said, which made her roll her eyes. "So this just means that we don't have another choice. We don't have any books to jump into, so we have to get to my mom's library." In a quieter voice, he added, "I just hope it's not destroyed."

"It won't be," Bethany said. "And even if it _is_ destroyed, the books will probably still be there."

"True," Owen muttered, not looking too hopeful about the idea.

"Enough thinking!" Kiel said, a gleam appearing in his eyes. "Let's sneak our way out of here and get going! I can cast some spells that'll distract them, and we can sneak past them while their preoccupied with that." He grinned. "Sometimes it's good to just take action."

"We need to have a plan, though!" Owen said. "Our town is filled with the military, not to mention tons of fictional monsters. We could get caught easily, and then we'd _never_ get to the library."

"So we use magic, then."

"Only for emergencies," Bethany said, crossing her arms as she leaned forward. "Owen's right. We have to be careful. And it'd probably be better to leave once it's dark out, so we can blend in. But if we find a way to get there — maybe by car — I think we can get into town without anyone noticing."

"By car?" Owen repeated, dumbfounded. "Who would drive us? We took a bus here, and I didn't see any cars in the parking lot. And if there were, _my_ mom wouldn't drive us, and neither would yours!"

"I've driven a police car before," Kiel said.

"Wait, _what_? You have?" Bethany asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

"In Doyle's book. It's kind of a long story. You weren't there," Owen whispered to her. "How about Mason Black?"

"I don't think he drove here," she said, feeling like they were running out of ideas. "He seemed pretty exhausted when he got here, almost as if he ran the whole way here. I didn't see any cars in the driveway, either."

"Okay," Kiel said. "So all we have to do is sneak our way out of the building and find some way to get back to town. Shouldn't be _that_ hard."

"Yeah." Bethany huffed, mulling over his words.

The idea sounded good enough, but she just didn't know how they'd sneak out of the building. It was risky. There was also the factor that they needed to find a way to get to town, and she didn't see any cars or buses laying around. If they managed to get to town, they'd also have to sneak around the military and police, along with the fictional monsters that were definitely still roaming around.

It wasn't going to be easy, but Bethany knew that they had to get back to the fictional world as soon as possible. One way or another, Nobody was going to destroy the fictional world with his pure possibility, and he'd rewrite it the way he wanted. She couldn't let that happen, especially when her friends lives were at stake, along with the other thousands of fictional worlds out there.

Most importantly, her _father_ was still there. If Nobody finished what he started, she'd never see her father again. If that happened, she would be devastated. She would've fought for nothing, and Nobody would've won. She was determined to put a stop to Nobody's plan, before it was too late. It wasn't a choice.

Someone cleared their throat from behind them, and all three of them turned around in surprise to see none other than Liz, looking shocked.

Bethany cringed, her stomach twisting itself into a knot. "Hi, Liz."

Owen's eyes widened. "H-How much did you hear?"

"Just enough to know that you're running away," the girl said, crossing her arms. She stared at Bethany with a hurt, maybe even betrayed, expression. "And something about going back to town, where all of those monsters are. Why would you _do_ that? That's so dangerous!"

Bethany exchanged a look with her friends, swallowing hard. They only stared back at her with a cautious expression, waiting for her to say something. If Liz had heard everything they had said, then there was no point in lying about it. Bethany had never wanted to tell her the truth, since she wanted to keep her powers a secret for as long as she could. But at that moment, she knew that she didn't have a choice. She couldn't just pretend it never happened.

She took a deep breath. "Let's go somewhere private. It's . . . kind of a long story."

* * *

_  
"_ _And with the black banners raised as the crooked smiles fade. Former heroes who quit too late . . ."_


	26. Back To The Fictional World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bethany, Owen, and Kiel make their way back to the fictional world, but not without major obstacles blocking their path.

**_Undercover (by Fenech-Soler)_**

_"_ _Do you wanna take back that summer? Wanna go undercover? Wanna break out this fever? Wanna make you decide . . ."_

* * *

  
"So let me get this straight," Liz said, pacing around the room. "You have powers. The power to jump into books. You've been jumping into books for years, looking for your dad, and when you were twelve, you and Owen started going on these adventures into books. Then you got in _tons_ of danger, and a villain called Nobody _split you into two halves_ , and now you're rejoined. Oh, and you defeated him a few days ago, but now he's alive again, and that's why all of the monsters have suddenly attacked our town."

The four of them had gone up to Owen's room to talk, since his mother was currently taking Bark Vadar for a walk. Between Owen, Bethany, and Kiel, they'd given Liz the only explanation that they could. Liz had heard too much already, and it was clear that they couldn't just make up a lie. Owen hadn't been sure whether they could even trust her with this information or not, but he knew that they didn't have a choice.

Either way, he didn't know how he could make up a simple lie about something _that_ big. Escaping the hotel to go back to the fictional world to defeat a faceless man that wanted to wipe out the fictional world? Yeah, that would be hard for _anyone_ to lie about! Unless you were an expert liar. Which, Owen wasn't. And since Bethany had been friends with Liz for a while, he figured she could be trusted. Maybe she could even help them escape!

"That pretty much sums it up," Bethany said, glancing at Owen and Kiel. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her knees brought up to her chest.

Liz stopped pacing, giving her a perplexed expression. "Now, the three of you need to get back to the fictional world to . . . fight him?"

"See, I told you she'd get it!" Kiel said from his spot against the wall.

"Actually —" Owen began, but Bethany cut him off.

"Yep. That's why we have to get back to town," she said in a confident tone. "Tonight, if possible. We don't have another choice. We _have_ to go."

"But . . ." Liz trailed off. "I can still hardly believe any of what you're telling me! But if you're actually going to fight this guy, well, it seems really scary."

Owen nodded. "Yeah, it is. But it's not like we have a choice."

He knew exactly what she meant. He was scared to return to the fictional world, but only for the reason of fighting Nobody. Seeing his friends again was what made him partly excited, but he knew that this wasn't going to be a fun mission. Stopping Nobody _would_ be hard. No matter what he tried to tell himself, it would be.

"And you," Liz said, looking at Kiel as if for the first time. She smiled in disbelief. "I can't believe you're not German! This whole time . . . you were actually faking it?"

Kiel winked. "Yep. Beth was the one who figured it out, though. After she found out, she accused me of not being German, and then she also —"

"What?" Owen interrupted, feeling surprised. "When did _that_ happen?"

"Before you got here. It happened in December."

In the almost-two-weeks that he'd been back in the real world, Owen had never heard about Bethany accusing Kiel of not being German. As much as he'd thought he had caught up on, there were apparently still some things that he didn't know about. It bothered him that — once again — he'd missed out on yet another thing. But he was used to the feeling by now. Unfortunately, he'd missed out on plenty of things during his time in _Pick The Plot_. He really wished he hadn't.

"Can we not talk about _that_ specific moment in my life?" Bethany asked, her face turning red.

Kiel only nodded, and he redirected the conversation. "Anyway, yes, I was faking it. I needed to hide my identity somehow, just in case anyone thought I was who I actually am."

"You used your real name though," Liz pointed out with a smile. "You couldn't have used a fake one?"

"Huh. I never thought of that."

"So . . . what are we going to do now?" Liz asked, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. She stared at Kiel, who went silent.

"'We'?" Bethany repeated, raising her eyebrows.

"Sorry. I mean, _you_."

"I don't know," Owen said, his eyes drifting to the floor. "We were trying to figure out the best way to get out of here, and the only way to get back to town is to drive. Only problem is, I haven't seen any cars in the parking lot, those buses from earlier are gone, and it's not like we can walk there. We need to find _something_ that could drive us."

"A car, probably," Bethany added. "I'm not sure how we could get anyone to drive us, but have you seen any laying around?"

Liz began to shake her head. "Guys, I don't know . . . this is _really_ a terrible idea. What if something bad happens to you? What would I tell your parents?"

"Nothing!" Bethany said quickly. "Either way, we're going to get there somehow. So have you seen anything that we might be able to borrow that'll get us there?"

Liz looked towards the window. "Well, I did see a parking lot somewhere behind the hotel. I don't think it was too far from here. Maybe five minutes?" She shrugged. "There were a bunch of cars there that were just sitting around. But why can't you ask your mom to drive you?"

"It's complicated," Bethany said. "I can't exactly tell her about this."

"That sounds like a good idea!" Kiel spoke up. "This parking lot, wherever it is, should have what we need. We can borrow a car there."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Owen asked, frowning. "I mean, borrowing a _car_? Do you know how illegal that is?" Bethany rolled her eyes, but he ignored her, adding, "I don't know if that's a good move, especially since none of us know how to drive!"

"I do."

"Um, _no._ You don't."

"We'll go there tonight," Bethany decided for them. "Once we're ready." She looked at Liz. "You won't tell my mom, right?"

Liz shook her head. "I don't like this idea, but I won't. I _promise_ I won't."

Bethany smiled, then added, "But we're going to need your help, now that you know everything. This place has so many hotel workers everywhere, and we can't exactly sneak out without anyone noticing. If we can make up a plan, can you try to keep everyone away from the doors?"

Liz nodded, smiling. "I'll try! But what about your trip to our town? Shouldn't I come for that?"

Owen glanced at Bethany, blushing a bit. "I'm sorry, but . . . you're going to stay here."

"Oh. How come?" Liz looked surprised, but Owen could tell that she looked relieved.

"We need someone to make sure we aren't stopped along the way," Bethany explained. "It'll only be a matter of time before people realize that we're gone. Plus, you're safer here."

"Yeah!" Owen added. "All you have to do is help us get out of here! I'm sure my mom will figure out right away that we're gone, but she'd definitely try to stop me if she knew what we were doing."

"But what if more monsters keep jumping out of books?" Liz asked.

"They won't."

"You sure?" Kiel asked, looking uncertain.

Owen thought about the situation back home. Although the fictional creatures were still everywhere, the military had yet to find out where they were coming from, which meant that they weren't jumping out of books anymore. If they were, the military would've seen it.

"From what I've seen on the News, they only jumped out of books on the night it happened, and after that they stopped,” Owen said. “Now the military are just trying to track down and kill the monsters who got out."

"I could get rid of those monsters _much_ more efficiently than those guys," Kiel said. "With magic, I could do that in seconds."

"And then you'd probably faint or something," Bethany said, a tiny smile on her face.

The boy magician winked.

"I think I have an idea," Liz said, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "Kiel has magic spells, right? Maybe one of those can be used to distract everyone while you leave?"

"That sounds like a good plan," Owen said, feeling hopeful that their plan _could_ work, after all. It wasn't impossible. It would only be tricky to find a way to sneak out of here. Between the four of them, he knew they'd figure this out, and their plan would be successful. Or so he hoped.

Reaching underneath the bed, Kiel grabbed for his spell book. He tried to open the cover, but the book snapped at him. " _Hey_!" He pointed a finger at it. "Bad book! Don't do that again! I know I haven't used you in a while, but could you try to have some manners?" He looked over at Liz, who appeared to be in shock as she stared with a horrified expression at the magical book. "Sorry about that. This is my spell book. It's not _usually_ this grouchy, but whenever this happens I always need to pry the pages open. Kind of annoying when that happens, honestly."

"Could you _please_ concentrate?" Bethany asked him with a sigh. "Just find a spell!"

"Alright!" Kiel responded. "No need to be impatient, book-girl." He looked back at his spell book and cleared his throat. "Give me a spell that'll cause an awesome distraction!"

"No explosions! Or fires!" Owen quickly told the spell book, resisting the urge to reach out and grab it. The last time he'd even used it was when he was back in the seventh Kiel Gnomenfoot book. The spell book had seemed to hate him back then, but the first time Owen had used a spell, he'd felt a warm, comforting feeling wash over him. Almost like drinking hot chocolate on a cold day.

He watched as the monstrously huge spell book flipped open, the pages moving so fast that he could hardly see the words on them. Gradually, the pages slowed, and came to a halt. Owen and Bethany hurried over to stand beside Kiel, and Owen peered at the spell on the page.

"'The Embodiment Of Illusion,'" Owen read. "For creating illusions." He turned to look at his friends.

"Does that mean it'll create any kind of illusion?" Bethany asked. "Like distracting our parents and making them think we're here, when we're really not?"

"Yeah," Kiel responded. "The spell always works differently every time I've used it, but it should change to fit the situation. All Liz needs to do is cast it right before we leave, so she can make sure that no one is watching us."

"I'm _what_?" Liz whispered, still looking reasonably scared of the spell book as she inched further away from it.

"Wait, Liz is casting it?" Owen's eyes went wide. "But she doesn't _know_ any magic!"

"Neither do you," Kiel reminded him.

"The spells are easy to cast, even if you don't know magic,” Bethany said, biting her lip. “I cast a location spell to find my dad, so if she uses magic, I don't think it'll be any different.” She glanced at Liz. "Do you think you could do it? But — only if you're okay with it."

Given how scared she looked, Owen expected Liz to say no, but she took a shaky breath. "I-I guess I could. I want to help you guys." Tentatively, she stepped closer to them, staring at the spell book with wide eyes. "So how do I use it?"

"All you need to do is put your hands on it. The book will teach you the spell," Kiel said, bringing the spell book over to Liz. He held it out in front of her, and the book began to glow.

"You can learn a spell by reading it, but you can only cast it once without the spell book," Owen explained. "Then you'll have to recast it."

Nervously, Liz slowly placed her hands over the pages. She seemed afraid, but she stayed rooted to the ground as light slowly swept up her arms and into her body. Once the spell was complete, she stepped back, looking somewhat more at ease. "That felt really nice! Now what? I just say the words to the spell?"

Kiel nodded. "Yeah. Once the time is right for it, of course." He glanced at Owen and Bethany, a grin forming on his face. "I'm _so_ ready for a good adventure, and to fight some villains again!"

Owen had to smile at that. Truthfully, he was excited to see his other fictional friends. But that was the only thing he was looking forward to. Adventures in the fictional world could be fun, but missions like these always turned out dangerous. He'd seen that plenty of times, so this trip would be no exception. There were so many ways it could go wrong, and with Owen's luck, _everything_ could easily go wrong. The very idea of facing Nobody for a final time was enough to make him shudder. Things hadn't turned out so good last time. There was no predicting how well this time would go.

"And dragons," Kiel continued, closing his spell book and placing it back underneath the bed. "I _miss_ dragons."

"Dragons sound terrifying," Liz murmured.

"Oh, they're not at all!"

Bethany laughed a little. "Trust me, they are."

"Yeah, they are," Owen said, smiling.

"You'll come around some day," Kiel told them. "If you didn't know, dragons are actually very nice pets!"

"Do _you_ have a dragon as a pet?" Bethany questioned, raising her eyebrows.

". . . No. But I'd _like_ to."

"I would love to have one as a pet," Owen said, only for his smile to fade as he heard footsteps just outside the room. "Oh, my mom might be back any minute. We should start getting ready."

"When's the best time to leave?" Bethany asked, lowering her voice. "Eight? Nine?"

"Eight," Owen confirmed, although he wasn't sure himself when the best time to leave was. "It's better if we leave earlier, while it'll be dark out."

His friends had been right: leaving at night was a better option than leaving during the daytime. But if it were up to Owen, he would've left right now. After hearing the disappointing news that Nobody had escaped from the chains, he knew they couldn't waste more time here. He knew that leaving at night would be the safer choice, though. It'd be easier to sneak out that way.

All of the escapes he read about in books usually happened at night, because it was easier to hide in the dark. That was how each escape attempt in the Kiel Gnomenfoot books went. With Kiel escaping along with them, Owen doubted this would be unsuccessful. This would work. Kiel had done this millions of times, so he wasn't worried about that part.

He was more worried about what his mother would think when she realized he was gone. She'd think he had run away again, which, he technically _was_ doing. He felt terrible that he had to make her worry again; he'd put her through three years of stress. But he didn't have a choice. Saving the fictional world was his greatest priority right now. He couldn't live with himself if he stayed behind for the sake of safety, only for Nobody to win.

The thing was, Owen assumed everything had been under control. He'd placed his trust in the military and the police, hoping they would take care of the fictional creatures that were still out there. Somehow, it'd only gotten worse. He'd assumed that he and his friends were safe, but he was wrong. They weren't safe, not with Nobody still around and the fictional world in danger.

As the others left his room to deal with their own lives and get ready for tonight's adventure, Bethany hung back, her eyes filled with worry, and an intense kind of determination. Sensing that she was about to confess something, Owen braced himself.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It has to be me," she said, her voice unusually quiet.

Owen blinked. Well, he hadn't been expecting her to say _that_. At all. "What?"

"I have to be the one to defeat Nobody," Bethany said, fumbling with her hands. "This is my fault. All of it is. The monsters escaping their books, and now, _Nobody_ escaping captivity. I have to be the one to defeat him, not anyone else. I'm responsible for this. It's better that way, so no one else gets hurt."

Owen's stomach dropped. Why would she say that, especially after what had gone down with Nobody in Jupiter City? For a moment, all he could hear was the pattering of rain on the window. "Are you crazy? _You'll_ only get hurt, Bethany. It doesn't have to be just you who defeats him. It didn't work when it was just the two of us. You know how badly that went, right? I know we can do it if we get all of our friends."

"No, I _know_ that." She sighed, looking somewhat frustrated. "But if there's some way to fix this on my own, that's what I would rather do. I get that me, you, and Kiel are going to the fictional world. I'm not going to try leaving you behind like last time. That was a really bad plan on my part. But I'm just thinking . . . it might make things _worse_ if anyone else is involved."

He frowned. "I'm pretty sure things _are_ as worse as they can get! Having our friends with us will make it a lot easier. Plus, Nobody escaping is _my_ fault, too. Don't act like all of it is your fault. I know exactly how you feel. You can't stop me or Kiel or anyone else from doing this. I'm going. No matter what."

"Yeah, I know," Bethany muttered in recognition. She didn't look very happy about it, but at least she wasn't about to do anything reckless this time.  
  


Suddenly, the door swung open. Both of them froze, only to see Owen's mother in the doorway. She was holding a recently-walked Bark Vadar on a leash, who barked when she saw the two fifteen-year old's in the room. Upon the arrival of Bark Vadar, Spike retreated underneath the bed to hide on top of Kiel's spell book, not looking too pleased that the dog was here.

"Vadie!" Owen yelled, his worries from a second ago vanishing. He grinned as the dog tugged out of Owen's mother's reach, darting over to Owen and Bethany. The two of them kneeled down, laughing as the dog licked both their faces.

"Bethany, what are you doing here?" Owen's mother asked, a surprised smile on her face.

"Oh, nothing much. Just hanging out," Bethany said, sharing a look with Owen. She scratched Bark Vadar's head, and the dog licked her again, which made her smile.

"Well, I saw your mom while I was walking Bark Vadar," his mother said, unhooking Bark Vadar from her leash. "She was wondering where you were."

"She was?" Bethany glanced at the door, then stood up. "Okay. I'll go check on her."

Patting Bark Vadar one final time, she went to the door, saying goodbye to Owen and his mother. As his best friend walked into the hallway and closed the door behind her, a knot formed in Owen's stomach at the thought of what tonight would bring. He felt nervous, and maybe even a little excited. All he could do was wait with growing impatience for that time to come.

Soon enough, he'd be back in the fictional world, and he wouldn't be imagining or dreaming it. He'd be on adventures again, and probably not the most exciting kind. He'd be with his friends. He'd be where he should've been all along. The place that held his greatest fantasies and adventures and fears.

The fictional world.

* * *

By nighttime, it had stopped raining, which allowed a full moon to rise high in the sky. After another night of eating dinner and doing their own activities, things were beginning to die down. The rooms were a bit less crowded than they were during the daytime, although plenty of young adults still hovered around the dining hall and the other hallways. It usually didn't empty out until ten or eleven o'clock, which was when the doors of the hotel were locked.

While his mother was talking with other adults, Owen found his chance to sneak out of her notice and run up to his assigned room. Pushing open the door, he went straight to the chair in the corner of the room, which was where his mother's backpack was sitting.

He didn't have a lot of time — maybe thirty minutes — before they would leave. He felt his heart racing as he unzipped the backpack, tossing out his mother's things and throwing in a few bottles of water, along with an extra pair of clothes just in case.

Once Owen was finished packing, he threw the straps over his shoulders and stood up, feeling shaky. A strange feeling hung in the air, one that told him he may never come back here again. He glanced around the room, and his gaze lingered on Spike and Bark Vadar, who stared back at him expectantly.

It saddened him that he had to leave. The weeks he'd spent here, simply enjoying himself while he hung out with Bethany and Kiel, had been wonderful. Hopefully if this all worked out, he could go back to doing that again. He missed going on adventures that were actually fun. He preferred that over getting into dangerous situations.

He took a deep breath, walking over to his pets and individually petting them for what hopefully wouldn't be the last time. This was it. He couldn't turn back now. He was going on the greatest, possible most dangerous, adventure of his life. And he didn't have enough faith in himself to imagine this turning out well for him, but he believed in his friends.

He had to believe that they would defeat Nobody. It didn't hurt to have some optimism, despite how badly everything had gone last time him and Bethany had faced him. This time, he'd be ready. He _was_ ready.

Maybe this time, he'd finally be useful instead of the sidekick that he always thought of himself as. He didn't want to ruin things even more, which was something he always tended to do. Time and time again, he'd missed things up. First with what happened with the Magister, then with Fowen, then with Nobody. He was tired of doing that.

For once, he wanted to be the hero that everyone looked up to. He wanted to be just like Kiel, who always knew who to do. All his life, he'd dreamed of being one. Maybe his time powers would prove to be helpful, and he would save the fictional world, along with his own world. With his friends by his side, they'd be an unstoppable team.

With this in mind, Owen forced himself to walk out of the room, away from the safe, comfortable life that he'd grown used to. He was scared of what might come in the future, but he also couldn't brush away the small bubble of excitement in his chest, which was growing as he imagined being on an adventure with his friends again. There was no backing away from it now. Using the elevator, he hit the button that would lead him to Bethany's room and made his way over.

He reassured himself that their plan would work, that this adventure would be fun instead of scary, and it'd be everything he'd ever dreamed of. He knew the second part most likely wouldn't be true, but it didn't hurt to have some hope.

Surely, this would go better than last time. It had to, because the fictional world would die without his help. And if the fictional world died . . . he couldn't even _imagine_ it. He loved books too much to ever let the fictional world fade away, and nothing — not even his fear — was going to stop that.

He knocked on the door, and Kiel opened it. Behind him, Bethany and Liz were sitting on the floor, in the middle of a conversation. They fell silent as Owen poked his head inside. "Everybody ready?"

"Yes?" Liz said, looking slightly pained.

Bethany rose from her seat on the floor. "I am. We were just going over our plan. But . . . if my mom finds out about all this, we're going to get into so much trouble."

"Same thing with my mom," Owen said, trying to block out the guilt he was already feeling by running off again. It wasn't like he had a choice, though. He couldn't just sit in this building for weeks and do nothing.

"I'm ready!" Kiel announced, and Owen looked over to see that the boy magician was once again wearing his normal attire, aside from his shirt, which was the same German one he'd gotten on the first day they came here. Out of all of them, he looked the most excited.

Bethany took a deep breath. Unlike Owen, she wasn't wearing a backpack. The one she owned was back at her house, where the fictional monsters were likely still hovering around. "Let's get going. Liz should cast the spell once we're downstairs, right?"

"Yeah," Kiel replied. "Right after she casts the spell, we'll be able to get out the door without anyone noticing. There's no way this can go wrong! We have a solid plan, so nothing bad will happen. I have a really good feeling about this."

"Great," Owen said, mustering a smile, although he really would've loved to have one of Kiel's pep talks right now. Since Kiel had always been his favorite character, and was now his best friend, his words of motivation never failed to make Owen feel more confident about things.

The four of them left the room and made their way to the lobby, which wasn't too crowded at this time of night. People were walking up and down the hallways, either heading to the back of the hotel or towards the elevators. Hotel workers were behind the front desk, on either sides on the door, and spaced out around the lobby.

"Ready to cast it?" Kiel asked, looking at Liz.

The blonde girl looked nervous, and she kept glancing around the room, as if expecting someone to catch them. "Guys, I don't know if this is really a good idea . . ."

"Trust me, it _is_ a good idea," Bethany prompted. "Come on. All you have to do is say the spell."

Slowly, Liz nodded. "Okay. Here goes nothing." She took a deep breath, then recited the spell. As soon as the spell was cast, a light emerged, covering the entire room until it was ten times brighter than before. As quickly as the light had come, it went away. After that, there was nothing.

Owen frowned. "Was something supposed to happen?"

"Just wait," Kiel said, and a second later, thunder roared so loud that Owen nearly jumped out of his skin. Everyone gasped. Some distance away, at the back of the hotel, various loud crashing noises were heard. This got everyone's attention, and they began to head to the direction of the sound.

Bethany grabbed Owen's and Kiel's hands, yanking them over to the door and pushing it open. "Thank you, Liz!" she shouted, and they raced off into the dark night. The three of them took off at a run towards the back of the hotel, headed in the direction that Liz had seen a parking lot in.

As he ran, Owen quickly threw a glance back at the hotel, a sinking feeling in his stomach. Here he was, leaving his life behind to go on a crazy adventure. Soon enough, his mother would know he was gone. He'd never live it down.

The thought quickly flew from his mind as they got to the back of the building, running past an empty garbage bin before cutting through a line of trees. With how dark it was, Owen nearly tripped several times over tree roots and ditches. Panting, he pushed a branch out of his face and broke out of the trees, arriving right behind his friends.

To Owen's joy, they were now standing in a parking lot. He couldn't tell how many cars were there, but he could guess that there were maybe ten. They were all turned off, some looking a bit older than others. Now that they found cars, what next?

"Do you know how to hot-wire a car?" Owen asked his friends, unsure what any other option would be. After all, none of these cars were currently on. Without keys, they couldn't even get it started.

Bethany snorted. "Of course I don't! You watch too many movies."

"That sounds fun," Kiel said, smiling at them. "What's 'hot-wire' exactly? I've heard Charm talk a lot about wires, but never about hot-wiring them."

"Never-mind," Owen said, biting his lip. "Um, maybe we should just look around? Maybe there's a car that's still on." He kept his tone hopeful, but he wasn't very optimistic about that. None of the cars looked like they were on, but at least it'd give them something to do while they thought of a plan.

They split up, each taking separate rows of cars to observe. As Owen peered in each dark car, he heard Kiel make exclamations every now and then, but they weren't about anything too important. Clearly, none of them had thought this through. He'd hoped that the cars would be accessible, which they were, but he'd wrongfully assumed they'd be turned on! Why didn't he think of that?

"Guys!" Bethany called, after a few minutes of them searching. "There are car keys in here."

Owen looked over at her, a disbelieving smile on his face. She was peering into the window of an old-looking car, which looked like it'd been through a few accidents. He couldn't believe their luck. "Really?"

"Yeah," she said, stepping away. Owen and Kiel ran over, observing the car.

"Can we really take it?" Owen asked. "What if it doesn't work anymore? It looks like it belongs in an antique shop."

"There's only one way to find out," Kiel said, walking around to the side of the car. He looked excited. "Come on! Get in."

Owen's eyes widened. " _Kiel's_ driving? No way! Remember how badly that went last time? In the police car?" He sighed when the boy magician only grinned. "Right. You don't, because you were having fun."

"You can sit in the back," Bethany told him. "And no one will catch us. Everyone's in the hotel."

Kiel grinned. "Yeah. Think of it as an adventure! Sit back and enjoy the ride, and think of it like you're reading a Kiel Gnomenfoot book!"

"That's _so_ reassuring," Owen said sarcastically, looking over her shoulder to make sure nobody was about to stop them. By that, not _Nobody_. Well, no one.

Kiel opened the front door and slid into the seat. Owen piled into the backseat, hastily buckling his seatbelt. Bethany climbed into the passenger side and shut the door, buckling her's as well.

"You never told me you could drive," Bethany said, smiling a little.

"I don't," Kiel said, then pulled the car into drive and slammed on the gas. Everyone held their breath as they fell back into their seats, holding onto the nearest handle. They drove around the other cars sitting in the parking lot and flew past the gate, making it to the road. Kiel quickly turned the wheel, and they all fell to the right as they made a sharp turn onto the road.

"Last time I drove with you, it felt very similar to this! We're definitely going to die!" Owen told Kiel through gritted teeth. This was probably the _worst_ way possible to avoid getting caught. And it was an easy way to get killed! They were all being reckless, but did they have much of a choice? Not anymore.

"Hey, can you be more positive?" Kiel asked, turning around to look back at him. "Out of everyone here, I'm the only one who's driven a car before, which makes me the most experienced. So can you be more supportive? Because all I'm hearing is Kiel this and Kiel tha—"

"Kiel!" Bethany suddenly gasped.

At the same time Owen shouted, "Kiel, you aren't wearing your seatbelt!"

Kiel whipped around just as Bethany grabbed the wheel and turned it to the right. The car had started to drift into the other lane, which was filled with oncoming traffic. Owen felt sick at the thought of what could've happened.

"You have to stay in between the two lines!" Bethany scolded.

"I'm trying!" Kiel shouted, his hands jerking the wheel back and forth. The car swiveled in and out of the lane, almost causing a collision with other cars. The car swerved to the right, taking out a mailbox and causing the mirror on Bethany's side to shatter. The impact sent Owen crashing against the back seat, banging the side of his head.

"Kiel!" Owen said angrily. 

Kiel only winked in response. The car started to drift into the other lane again, right in the path of a truck. Bethany put her hand on top of Kiel's, forcibly jerking the wheel to the right. Kiel brushed her off and turned the wheel a little too hard, sending them momentarily crashing onto the sidewalk.

"Turn left!" Owen screamed, barely able to breathe anymore. Kiel did as he said, narrowly hitting a car but managing to get back into the lane without injuring anyone. Owen held onto the car handle, panic resonating in his body. "Okay, that's it. We're switching places. _I'm_ driving."

"No, you're not!" Bethany shouted, turning to look at him. "That's an even worse idea than Kiel driving. You've never driven before, and you have a broken arm!"

"So he's the better option?" Owen shouted back.

"Better than you would be!"

Kiel accidentally swerved again to the left, and this time both Owen and Bethany yelled his name. He quickly straightened the car out. "This is fun, right?"

"No!" Owen yelled. "Kiel, pull over! We're stopping right now."

"No we aren't!" Bethany shouted, shaking her head. "We need to get to town, and we don't have much time. This is the _only_ way to get there."

"We should've taken a bus," Owen said, feeling sick and afraid all at once. He couldn't stop shaking. "Or we should've walked."

"We don't have money. And walking would've taken too long. Remember the drive here? It was an hour."

"An _hour_?" he cried. Panic bubbled in his chest, and he almost felt like he'd have another panic attack. He couldn't stay in this car for an hour. Not with Kiel driving like a maniac! "Okay, no way. _No way._ I'm not doing this."

"Stop freaking out. Everything's fine!" Kiel said, but even he sounded nervous. The wheel darted back and forth in his hands, but he seemed to have gotten a better handle on things. Then, they heard a weird noise, and the car started to vibrate intensely. "Uh oh . . ."

" _Uh oh?_ " Bethany repeated. "What do you mean 'uh oh'? What could be worse than what we're dealing with already?" Then Kiel pointed at something, and she whispered, "Oh, no. Oh _no_."

"What?" Owen demanded, leaning forward to see. He couldn't tell what they were looking at. "What's going on?"

"We're low on gas," Bethany explained, glancing out the window. "We're _really_ low on gas. Our car could break down, and we'll be stuck on this road forever! That _can't_ happen. We have to get to town! We have to get to the library!"

"It's okay," Kiel said, giving her a reassuring smile. "We'll make it. We have enough time to get us there."

"We need to get gas right now," Owen declared. "But where?"

As if on cue, he saw a sign for a gas station on a billboard. "Look!" He pointed to it, and everyone turned to look. "The sign says there's a 7-Eleven at the next exit. That's only twenty minutes away. Think we can make it by then?"

"If we drive fast," Kiel said, then grinned and jammed his foot on the gas.

The car sped up, and everyone was once again breathless. They almost got into a few more collisions, but Kiel managed to avoid each one, cracking a joke to lighten the mood. No one took their eyes off the road until they spotted the 7-Eleven in the distance, gleaming brightly in the dark. The gas station was completely deserted except for a single person who was working at the cash register inside.

Kiel took a hard turn and slammed on the brakes, causing Owen and Bethany to gasp and fall forward. They almost crashed into a parked car but Kiel quickly jerked the wheel to the left, turning their car around and pulling it into park. Everyone was breathing heavily.

"I hope you know that I'm really not enjoying myself!" Owen said as he opened the car door. He was still shaking, and there was a knot in his stomach. He wanted to yell at Kiel for putting him through such a traumatic experience, but he knew his friend had already been yelled at many times tonight, so Owen kept his mouth shut. He hopped out of the car, followed by the other two.

"Do you guys have any money?" Bethany asked, glancing nervously at the cashier inside the store.

Kiel shook his head. Owen dug through his pockets, but he didn't have any either.

"I don't even know what I'd do if I _had_ money," Bethany muttered. "My mom always uses her credit card when she gets gas."

"So does my mom," Owen said. "I don't even know how to get gas. I never thought I'd need to know until, you know, I actually learn how to drive when I'm sixteen, like the rest of the population!" He shot daggers at Kiel and Bethany, who gave him guilty smiles.

"Sorry," Kiel said, winking at him.

"Anyway . . . I think we need to find some other option," Bethany said, turning to Kiel. "Kiel, can you use a spell?"

Kiel nodded, taking his wand-knives from their sheathes. "I can distract him! Or I can use a forget spell. Whichever is more fun."

"Maybe you should make him fill up our gas for us. And pay for it too."

The three of them grinned mischievously at Bethany's statement, and Kiel winked. "And _then_ I'll use a forget spell. Nice thinking, Beth."

Owen could've sworn he saw her blush, but the thought quickly escaped his mind as they watched Kiel walk into the store. There was some shouting and commotion, but a minute later the cashier walked out of the store with a dazed look on his face. He took a credit card out of his wallet and put it into the slot, then clicked a button and took out the gas pump. He put the gas pump into the car, and the three watched as the gallon count slowly rose up. A minute later, there was a clicking noise, and the man returned the gas pump to it's holster.

"Very helpful of you," Kiel said, giving the man a wink. Owen couldn't help but giggle.

"Sure. Happy to be of service," the man replied in a monotone voice. Then he blinked, and the cloud left his eyes. He shook his head, clearly confused. "Wait, did you kids just hypnotize me and make me pay for your gas? This is against the law! You have to pay for gas! I'm calling the police _right now_ —"

Kiel quickly mumbled something, and the man stopped talking, the dazed look returning to his eyes. He blinked a few times, then smiled. "Huh. I'm not sure why I walked over here. Can I help you kids?"

"No, thank you," Owen said, grinning at him.

"Yeah," Bethany added, suppressing a smile. "We just got gas."

"Oh, okay." The man peered into the car, but Owen blocked him from getting any closer. The man frowned, but said goodbye and walked back inside.

"Ha!" Kiel nudged Owen in the side, looking a bit more tired than before due to his spell-casting. "Impressive, huh?"

Bethany lightly swatted him on the arm, then got back into the passenger side. "Let's get going. If we're lucky we'll make it to town before the driving curfew."

"When is that?" Kiel asked.

"I think eleven . . . or twelve. Maybe ten? I'm not sure. But since none of us are legal to drive, we need to be careful. If we get pulled over by a cop, they'll send us to the police station. Or even worse: they'll call our parents." Bethany shuddered. "My mom would _not_ be happy."

"Mine wouldn't either," Owen admitted, climbing into the backseat again. "So _please_ try not to kill us, okay Kiel?"

Kiel smiled. "Have I ever let you down?"

"Well, yes—"

The boy magician sighed, then got into the drivers seat and turned the car back on. "No? Exactly. Everyone ready?"

The three of them clicked their seatbelts into place, then held their breath again as Kiel zoomed out of the gas station at a fast pace, the tires squeaking loudly. Owen kept his hand gripped over the door handle, his knuckles turning white.

"I'm pulling up the directions on my phone," Bethany said, glancing down at the GPS on her phone. "It says you need to turn right on Walnut street."

"Walnut street?" Kiel repeated, looking around. "I don't even see—"

"Now!" she commanded, and Kiel made a fast, sharp turn onto a road. Everyone hit their heads and groaned, Kiel included.

"Not. Having. Fun," Owen said in between panicked breaths, rubbing his throbbing head. He was half-expecting his life to start flashing before his eyes.

"We'll be there soon," Kiel said without turning around. "Just close your eyes! Imagine you're reading a nice book!"

"I can't imagine it when it's clearly happening right now!"

"Okay," Bethany said, staring down at her phone. "The next turn is in five miles, so we have a ways to go."

"How long until we get there?" Owen asked, fidgeting nervously in his seat.

"It says twenty-six minutes, but who knows how long this'll take with the way Kiel's driving!"

"You're right," Owen said with a nod, trying not to notice Kiel's jerky movements. "I still vote that I should drive."

"I think we should let Kiel drive," Bethany said. "He's getting the hang of it."

"She's right!" Kiel said. "I haven't crashed into a single thing for ten minutes."

Owen laughed, then shrieked as Kiel suddenly jerked the wheel to the right, almost sending them flying into a nearby tree. At the last second he rightened the car, readjusting it back in between the two lines.

Bethany frowned, both hands clinging to the door handle. "I think my life is flashing before my eyes."

"How is it?" Kiel asked.

There was a slight pause before she replied. "Exciting."

"Mine too. Though I have to admit . . . it got way more interesting when I met you and Owen, you know?"

In the midst of the danger, Bethany grinned. "You have no idea."

* * *

The first thing Bethany noticed was the faint buzz of helicopters in the sky, which flew in circles around a particular area. That particular area, she soon confirmed, was her town. _Her_ town. How could somewhere as average and boring as her town have turned into something like _this_? It was almost unbelievable, despite everything she'd heard on the News.

The rest of the ride had been rough, but somehow, they'd made it to their town without getting into a car crash. All things considered, Bethany had _expected_ a car crash. She was very glad they were at least in one piece, because Kiel clearly had no experience driving.

If Bethany's mother were here, she'd receive a lecture on the dangers of underaged driving. For once, Bethany would've agreed to something like that. Kiel _was_ a very dangerous driver, but surprisingly, they hadn't crashed into anything. That was a good sign, because crashing into something would've meant involving the police, and Bethany couldn't take it if they got into more trouble. They'd never get to the fictional world if that happened.

Bethany could tell they were close when she heard noises that sounded suspiciously like monsters, and she felt a chill go up her spine. The car's headlights did little to help them see, so she rolled down the window, squinting through the darkness for any sign of a monster.

"See anything?" Owen called from the backseat.

Bethany shook her head. "Not yet."

She didn't like feeling this vulnerable. Since she didn't have any books with her, she wouldn't have a way to get rid of the monsters if they decided to attack. She had to hope that the military would take care of them, because she didn't have the time or patience right now to track all of them down. They were on a mission, and they'd have to deal with this problem _after_ they got back.

If they ever got back.

A loud roar, much closer than the others, echoed across the road. Bethany flinched, and she looked over to see a gigantic bear — probably the size of a house — emerge from the trees along the road. With a small gasp, Kiel quickly swerved to the side, and Bethany held back a scream as her head banged into the side of the car. The tires rolled onto the grass, and Kiel turned the wheel to the opposite side, forming a wide circle around the bear before slamming his foot on the gas pedal.

"Stop _doing_ that!" Owen shouted. Neither of them had time to reply, because the bear roared again behind them. Bethany stuck her head out the window and watched as the bear began to charge after them.

"Kiel!" she shouted, ducking her head back inside. " _Drive_!"

"I am!" Kiel said.

"Drive faster!"

Giving her a wink, the boy magician pressed his foot harder on the gas pedal, and Bethany watched as the car sped up. Behind them, the bear was still running after their car, easily gaining speed due to it's large size.

Narrowing his eyes, Kiel swerved in-between the two lanes, which was definitely not allowed. But since the road was empty aside from the bear, Bethany doubted the rules mattered. With each swerve, the bear seemed to grow more confused, and eventually slowed down, clearly not motivated enough to chase down their car.

"That was close," Bethany whispered to no one in particular, her heart racing out of control. No wonder the military had been taken so long to get rid of them. Most of these monsters were _huge_. She leaned her head against the headrest, brushing the long strands of hair out of her face.

After another minute of driving, they came across a street with many damaged buildings on it. Bethany felt her heart sink at the sight of it. She recognized it instantly. She'd driven past here dozens of times, but never had it looked so terrible. She noticed that the streets themselves were also damaged, with some spots indented from the different monsters that had walked on it.

Hopefully when this was all over, she could ask Kiel to use magic to fix this. With the way it looked now, she doubted that living here would even be an option.

Parked in the road ahead was a military vehicle, Bethany noticed. That couldn't be good. Her eyes widened, and she quickly tapped Kiel's shoulder. "Quick. Turn right."

"Right?" Kiel frowned. "That isn't the direction of the library."

"I know, but we can't get caught by these guys," Bethany said. "We'll have to try going around them."

Kiel did as she said, and turned into the next street at a faster speed than she or Owen would've liked. With the help of the directions on her phone, they were able to make their way towards the direction of the library, which Bethany hoped wouldn't be destroyed. For the rest of their drive, they nearly had a few encounters with monsters or the military, but they'd managed to avoid them the best they could, always changing their course when they saw one or the other.

After what felt like ages, they finally pulled onto the street where Ms. Conner's library was. As Kiel turned sharply into the parking lot behind the library, all three of them gasped at the sight of it. Unlike so many of the houses here, it was still standing. There wasn't any damage on it as far as Bethany could see.

She looked back at Owen, giving him a wide smile. "It's still here!"

"I can't believe it," her best friend said, shaking his head. He returned the smile, looking much more relieved and happy than he had throughout the whole ride. "It doesn't make any sense!"

"Many things don't make sense," Kiel told them, then slammed his foot on the brakes, which made them all groan as they fell forward. "How do you stop this thing?"

"Use this," Bethany said, although she had no idea what she was talking about. She pointed to the lever next to the wheel, hoping that could work. Kiel placed his hand on the lever and moved it around several times. A clicking sound was heard, and thankfully, the car stopped moving.

Bethany sighed in relief, then pushed open the car door and stepped into the cool air. Her adrenaline was rushing through her, and the shaky feeling that had entered her a few hours ago still hadn't gone away. There was something so exhilarating and thrilling about being in danger. It could be terrifying most of the time, but for some reason, she loved it. She couldn't explain why.

Checking to make sure there weren't any monsters around, Bethany started forward at a brisk pace, prepared for anything. Since the library was still standing, that meant that all the books would still be inside. She hadn't expected that, and in all honestly, it felt like something was finally working out in her favor. That normally _never_ happened. For once, Bethany thought that things might work out. At least for the next few minutes, before they went to jump into books.

"You know Kiel has a crush on you, right?"

" _What_?" Bethany was ripped from her thoughts, and she turned around to see the source of the voice, only to see Owen. She furrowed her brows, remarking, "No, he doesn't!"

Owen held his hand up in surrender. "Don't shoot the messenger."

Bethany rolled her eyes as she watched him fight to keep a grin off his face. She didn't have the time right now to think any further about what he'd said, so she added, "Come on! We need to get inside the library before anyone sees us."

"I'm on it!" he said, then broke off into a run to the back of the building, taking out a spare key.

Kiel caught up with Bethany, panting slightly. He was clutching wand-knives in both of his hands, and his cape blew around him. "Hey, what did Owen just say to you? Something about me?"

"Just now?" Bethany waved it off, hoping he couldn't see how much her face was beginning to burn. She coughed. "Nothing. He says ridiculous stuff sometimes."

The boy magician laughed, causing a fluttery sensation in her stomach. "True."

They ran the rest of the way to the back of the library, where Owen was fitting a key into the locked door. Turning the key, a clicking noise was heard, and he hurriedly opened the door. The three of them arrived in a very dark library, which seemed eerily silent. Just like they always had, bookshelves lined the room, which were still filled with the same books as always.

They made their way to the front of the library, and Owen flicked on the lights. The room was lit up instantly, looking no different than the last time Bethany had seen it. The bookshelves, along with the books themselves, were in the same condition as before. It was remarkable that it had survived the fictional invasion.

She felt relief wash over her, to know that at least one part of her town would stay the same. Of all the places to be saved from destruction, she would've preferred the library over her own house. She spent so much of her time here, and so did Owen. Many of her best memories happened here. She wouldn't have been able to take the disappointment on his face if the library was destroyed.

"This is it. We're really going to face him," Owen said quietly, his eyes drifting around the library. "I hope this goes better than last time."

Bethany offered him a smile, though she felt the same way. "It will. It's going to be okay. We're gonna recruit some friends, first, so we'll have help."

That made Owen smile. "We're sticking to my plan this time?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I don't really like the idea, but yours _does_ makes more sense. We do need help. We can't fight this on our own."

"Who are we going to recruit?" he asked, his eyes lighting up.

She rolled her eyes, knowing exactly who he hoped to see. "Don't get your hopes up. I'm just . . . I'm not even sure if they'd want to help."

"If they'd _want_ to help?" Kiel repeated incredulously. "Of course they would. Our world is being turned into pure possibility because of Nobody. Anyone would side against him."

Bethany's phone buzzed in her pocket, jolting everyone. She pulled it out and held it in her hand, clicking on the button. "Who the heck is texting me right now?"

It was her mother. There were three missed calls, and one text message, which read: "Where are you?"

She turned her phone on silent, then placed it on one of the library's tables. At Owen's questioning look, she said, "Our phones don't work very well in the fictional world, anyway. And I can't get distracted right now. I'll text her when we get back. I mean, _if_ we make it back."

"Of course we will!" Kiel said, giving her a strange look. "We're not letting Nobody win this time. That I can guarantee."

A small smile formed on her face at his words, and she glanced around the library, ready to take their plan into action. "Okay. We're going to need a few books. _Doc Twilight, EarthGirl_ . . ." She looked pointedly at Kiel. " _Your_ books."

"What about other books that we can use for getting weapons and stuff?" Owen asked.

"Sure," Bethany said, although she didn't want to spend more time than they needed to. "If you see anything that looks useful, grab it."

With that said, she set off to find the Doc Twilight book first. Since she didn't know the library as well as Owen, it took a bit for her to find it. But luckily, ever since that comic book sale back in December, there were still a couple of Doc Twilight comics left over, which, to her slight disgust, had been laying around with the piles of unused comic books at the back of the library. She was surprised that the library still had a copy, given that it was so old.

Hugging the comic book against her chest, Bethany went over to the tables in the children's section to see what her friends had found. She saw that Kiel was looking through the shelves there, and Owen was sitting at the table, flipping through a book.

_Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source of Magic,_ as well as _EarthGirl_ , were on the table. A few other books were, too, such as the first Percy Jackson book, a Harry Potter book, a book about futuristic healing techniques (which she had to admit was a smart idea), a book about medieval weapons, another book about weapons, a sci-fi novel, a cookbook, an Indiana Jones book, and lastly, a Kara Dox book.

"This looks like . . . a lot," Bethany observed. "You know we can't bring all of them, right?"

Owen looked up. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I know. But I was thinking, we could get some books ahead of time that could be useful if we need weapons or food or something. We can jump into the books that have our friends first."

That sounded fair. "Okay," she said, grabbing _Doc_ _Twilight_ and placing it into Owen's backpack. She then grabbed the Kiel Gnomenfoot and Kara Dox books, and put them in there as well. "Just so we can jump into them while we're already in the fictional world," she explained to Owen as he watched her.

Kiel walked over to them, dumping a few more books on the table. "Are we ready to leave?"

"Yeah, I think so," Owen said, after sharing a glance with Bethany. Throwing his backpack on, he stood up, looking a mixture of excited and nervous. She felt the same exact way. She didn't know what exactly to expect this time around, only that it would be dangerous. This would be the biggest quest of her life. She couldn't let Nobody win, and she couldn't let her friends get hurt, either.

She sighed, then picked up _EarthGirl_. Despite the fact that she hadn't wanted to recruit any of their friends in fear of getting others into more danger, she felt her excitement growing. She was going to see her friends again. She was going to see her father again. This was most likely going to be the most dangerous quest of her life, and there was no way of knowing if anything would work out. But hopefully, Owen would be right. Hopefully having a group would be easier than going solo. He was usually right about those kinds of things.

Bethany wished that she could handle this on her own. All her life, that was what she was used to. It was terrifying enough that they about about to face Nobody again, but with their friends? Would they stand a chance? Nobody was more powerful than any villain she'd faced, with the power to rewrite himself into anything. Without hesitation, he'd hurt her friends. He already had hurt Owen, and he'd sent a crazy fictional character called Oliver Bines to get rid of Kiel.

There was only so much she could do to prevent her friends from suffering more than they already had, and sometimes, it felt like she needed to handle it all on her own. If she could, that's what she could do. Most of her actions had led her friends into danger. It was because of her that she'd lost her father. Somehow, she had to prevent that chain of events from happening. Kiel was right: it _was_ impossible to stop it. But it didn't hurt to try. Her friends could _not_ get hurt because of her.

But then again, she'd seen how hurt Owen had looked when she tried leaving him behind before she went to Jupiter City. She remembered the disbelief in Owen and Kiel's eyes when they found out she'd been visiting Doyle behind their back — which had turned out to be a _very_ bad idea. It didn't always work out when she handled things on her own.

Whether she wanted to or not, they'd be recruiting their friends for this. Not that she didn't _want_ to see them, but she didn't want them getting hurt, either. Either way, she didn't have much of a choice. Not after what happened last time. Hopefully things would work out better this time around.

"I'm ready," Bethany muttered, and before she could back out of anything, she opened the book to the last page and placed it on the floor. Owen and Kiel moved to stand beside her. She took each of their hands, and a feeling of familiarity came over her. For the first time in weeks and even years, she felt like herself again.

After what had been years, the three of them were jumping into books together again. Strangely enough, everything felt right in the world.

Bethany jumped them into the book, and the library shifted into the world of Argon VI. Letting go of her friends' hands, she found herself staring at the bright green sun. She breathed in the air, digging her shoes into the planet's rocky surface. Some distance away, she saw a figure dressed in green flying towards them, and she grinned.

"Gwen!"

* * *

_  
"_ _Cause with hearts like ours, we've been lost in the dark. Yeah, with hearts like ours, we should be in love . . ."_


	27. The Supervillain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They reunite with Gwen and return to Jupiter City, where they run into more trouble as they search for another missing friend.

_**Walking On A Dream (by Empire of the Sun)** _

_"_ _We are always running for the thrill of it, thrill of it. Always pushing up the hill, searching for the thrill of it . . ."_

* * *

"Bethany!" a girl's voice shouted, unmistakably Gwen's. As the figure got closer, Bethany could see that it really _was_ Gwen. In spite of the bad turn of events that her life had recently taken, she was overcome with joy. She hadn't seen Gwen in three years, and it was an enormous relief to finally see her again. Yet another friend that Nobody had taken away from her.

A huge grin on her face, Gwen was flying in the air at a speed that was nearly as fast as lightning, and Bethany barely had time to regain her senses before the other girl barreled into her. She gasped in surprise, quickly digging her heels into the planet's rocky surface before she hugged her back. Bethany closed her eyes, simply enjoying the embrace for a moment before reality came back. Her heart pounded in her chest. She wanted to stay there, hugging Gwen forever to make up for the lost time.

When Gwen was around, Bethany automatically felt more positive. Gwen was the happiest person she knew, and just being around her had helped Bethany improve as a person. It made her feel even better that all of her best friends — Owen, Kiel, and Gwen — were finally in one place. Hopefully, none of Bethany's friends would be separated from her, either. All of them meant so much to her. Out of all of her friends (not including Orion, who she considered a brother), she was closest to them.

"I can't _believe_ you're here!" Gwen exclaimed, pulling away a few seconds later to stare at Bethany. "I _knew_ you'd come back! Wow, I have so many questions. How did you get here? What happened with you turning into light? Did you get taller, or am I just imagining things? You look like you've been busy!"

"It's a really long story," Bethany replied, offering a small grin back. "And I'll tell you the whole thing in a minute, I _promise_. But we're going to need your help with something. Something big."

"We?" Gwen asked, and behind them, Owen cleared his throat.

"Hi," he said, a smile on his face.

"Oh!" She quickly turned around, rushing forward and throwing her arms around both Owen and Kiel. "Owen, Kiel. It's _so_ nice to see you again. I'm sorry, I didn't see you at first!"

"That's okay," Kiel said. He looked a bit confused, which made sense, given the fact that he'd only met Gwen once, and Bethany hadn't been with him then.

"Wait, you've met Kiel before?" Owen asked.

"I have!" Gwen nodded enthusiastically. "We met when we were both captured by Nobody. It happened a couple of years ago." She looked at Kiel. "I see that Bethany's here, so how did your spell work out?"

"It worked out a lot better than I thought it would," Kiel said, scratching his head. "It took me three years to perfect it, but it worked."

Deciding that it was too complicated to explain her, Kiel's, and Owen's entire story to Gwen, Bethany chose to bring up their plan to defeat Nobody. "We're actually here for a different reason. You know Nobody?"

"He's the villain who said he was planning on taking over the worlds," Gwen confirmed, knitting her brow. "Is he still going to do that?"

"Yes, and worse if we don't stop him." Bethany took a deep breath. "Gwen, we need your help. Nobody has gotten way too powerful, and he's going to wipe out your entire world, including all of the others, using something called 'pure possibility'. Then, he's going to rewrite the worlds into whatever he chooses, and it's likely that no one would be coming back from that. Me and Owen tried stopping him a few days ago, but we failed, and now we're going to need a better plan _and_ all of our friends if we want to defeat Nobody. I know this is a lot to take in. It's going to be dangerous, so I completely understand if you don't want to com—"

"Of _course_ I'm coming!" Gwen gave her a perplexed look. "Wow, I had no idea that Nobody was going to do _all_ of that! I only knew that he was going to take over the worlds . . . but I had no idea what to do about that. I didn't think much of it, since I didn't see any signs that my world was being destroyed . . ." She trailed off, stepping forward to briefly squeeze Bethany's hand. "I promise I'll help you, no matter what. You're going to need it."

Bethany felt her heart twinge. She should've expected that response, but somehow, she was still a bit taken aback. When she'd asked Gwen to help her rescue her father back when they were twelve, Gwen had agreed right away, despite the fact that she wouldn't have powers. "But . . . are you sure? You don't have to come. You won't have your powers, you know."

Gwen smiled. "I know. That's what friends are for. And I'll never back down from the chance to help you _and_ my new friends." She smiled at the other boys, who returned it. "This is going to be an adventure! I can't _wait_."

Owen laughed a little. "Trust me, it's not going to be _that_ fun. Defeating Nobody is going to be a lot harder than it looks. He's dangerous."

She patted his shoulder. "Any kind of adventure will be fun, Owen. Now that you mention it, I still have my jetpack from when we were in Jupiter City."

Bethany raised her eyebrows, surprised that she even had it. After all, Gwen never would've needed it when she was in her own world. "Really?"

"Yep," Gwen confirmed. "I haven't used it since I have my powers, but should I bring that?"

"Definitely," Owen said. "You still won't have your powers where we're going, and we'll be going to a _lot_ of places."

Gwen grinned, leaping into the air. "Yay! Don't worry, I won't hold you up. I'll go get my stuff. I'll be quick." Without warning, she zoomed away, back in the direction that Bethany assumed her hideout was.

She turned back to her friends to find both of them smiling. Yep, Gwen definitely had that effect on people.

Before anyone could say anything, Gwen came back at a speed faster than Bethany could interpret, her jetpack over her shoulders. As usual, she looked excited. "I'm ready," she said, doing one final spin to look at her surroundings.

"You're only bringing your jetpack?" Kiel asked.

"I guess so," the girl said, shrugging. "I think that's all I'll need."

"What about some weapons? I bet you have something cool around here." He took his wand-knives out of their sheaths, showing them to her. "These are _my_ weapons, but I'm multitalented. So really, I'll be using anything from magic to my fists." He winked.

Gwen only shook her head. "I don't do the whole violence thing."

"Oh." The boy magician sounded surprised, then smiled. "Right, sorry. I forgot. Well, you'll still be able to help us anyway."

"Yeah, you can," Owen agreed. "Like . . . if we need to get somewhere, you can fly us there!"

"That doesn't work with more than one person," Bethany warned, having a distinct memory of when Gwen had tried flying her and Charm in Jupiter City. She shuddered. It wasn't a very pleasant memory, and they'd almost crashed multiple times. She did _not_ want to relive that again.

"Don't worry about that," Gwen said. "I'm a great flyer!"

Bethany looked first to Kiel, who's wand-knives were tucked inside their sheaths, then to Owen, who's broken arm and wary expression made her nervous, then to Gwen, who had her goggles on and her jet pack ready. Between the four of them, this might not end well if they ran into a fight.

"Owen, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, then pulled him aside. "Only me and Kiel are the ones who might do well in a fight. But . . . I don't know about you and Gwen."

Owen shook his head. "Gwen will be fine. She's EarthGirl!"

"EarthGirl with no powers. Remember the last time she used a jet pack?" Bethany sneaked a glance at the jet pack on Gwen's back. "She was carrying me and Charm, and it didn't work out very well. Actually, it worked out _horribly_."

"She doesn't need powers," Owen said. "She's amazing all on her own. Plus, she hates violence. We couldn't get her to fight if we tried."

Bethany sighed. As much as she hated to admit it, he had a point. But that still didn't stop her from worrying. "What about _you_?"

He gulped, then glanced down at his cast. "I'm not sure. I have my time powers, though. I promise I'll be helpful somehow."

"You'll only get hurt." She pointed at his cast, which dangled at his side. "Your arm is _broken_! Do you want to feel _worse_?"

"I'm not just going to hide away! I can't just _watch_ you guys while you do the cool stuff."

She groaned. "This _isn't_ cool, Owen. If you try fighting —"

"I'll be okay," he said quietly, forcing a smile at her. "I have my time powers, you have your shapeshifting powers and your training from your dad, Kiel has his magic, and Gwen has her jet pack. We'll all be fine, Bethany. You gotta stop worrying about us. I'm sure we'll be okay, as long as we get the rest of our friends. Now, can we _please_ end this conversation and get on with it?"

Bethany sighed again, but nodded. They walked back over to Kiel and Gwen, who hadn't seemed to hear them, although the boy magician gave them a concerned look. Bethany only shook her head, letting him know that it wasn't important.

For a few long seconds, no one spoke, and simply took the time to stare at the scenery around them. Then, Gwen looked off into the distance, only to suddenly exclaim, "Oh yeah! I just remembered something weird! You said that Nobody was spreading something called pure possibility, right?"

* * *

As Kiel recently discovered, being in Gwen's planet gave him the power to do so much more than he could even with magic. He'd never experienced this before: being able to fly and having super strength all at once without casting a spell first. It was as exhilarating as free-falling off the edge of a cliff. He was very glad to be back on an adventure in the fictional world, where his magic didn't exhaust him and he could truly be himself again.

After everything that had happened in the nonfictional world — from faking his identity to taking 5-Hour-Energy so he wouldn't die — it was a relief to be where he belonged. Although it was for purposes of defeating Nobody, it felt really nice to be back. He no longer had to pretend to be anything he wasn't, and he wouldn't have to worry about the threat of disappearing in the nonfictional world, either.

This adventure would bring a new type of challenge, but Kiel was more than ready to take it on. With his natural talent and the help of his friends, he was nothing but certain that the fictional world would be saved in no time.

The only thing that he was a bit nervous about was fighting Nobody, but Kiel assured himself that it would work out perfectly fine. Nobody would be defeated in no time. He was Kiel Gnomenfoot, so what _couldn't_ he do? He'd been waiting for this adventure for _weeks,_ and now, it was finally here. He was more ready now than he had been weeks ago.

Kiel hadn't been in the fictional world in so long — nearly three entire months — and he was ready to embark on yet another dangerous adventure. After all, danger was exactly what he'd been longing for. He was always having the most fun when he was doing something thrilling, like having a near-death experience. He'd be having fun as long as no one got hurt along the way, of course. If his friends got hurt, all of his joy would be pushed aside.

He planned on enjoying himself as much as possible on this quest, and he planned even more to enjoy punching Nobody in his faceless head. After all Nobody had put Kiel through, he really deserved it. He'd been wanting to do that for ages now, and since the faceless man wanted to destroy the fictional world, it gave Kiel a great reason to.

Despite his slight nervousness to face the villain again, he felt confident about the idea of fighting Nobody. He was more worried about Nobody hurting Bethany and Owen, since he'd split Bethany in half and had thrown Owen into _Pick The Plot_. This time, Kiel hoped that nothing worse would happen. He and his friends were heroes, so they would have to win this time. Losing wasn't an option. He didn't want to worry about what would happen if they didn't win.

The four of them flew through outer space, pushing past the speed limit that any normal person should be able to do. Even Kiel himself would never have been able to do this, no matter how much he tried to. He'd never been able to move this fast before (and while flying, no less!). As they soared through the air, Gwen was in front of them, leading the way towards their destination.

Every so often, she would point to something nearby, giving them an informative explanation about what it was. All of this, as Kiel soon found out, Bethany had already learned about since she'd visited Gwen's world plenty of times. He couldn't believe that Bethany had never mentioned Gwen until recently. Kiel would never have known who Gwen was beforehand if it weren't for them both getting captured by Nobody, and he didn't think that Bethany had ever mentioned Gwen before that.

Even so, he certainly didn't mind the company. He preferred fighting alone over fighting in groups, but he didn't think a few more people would be so bad. According to Owen and Bethany, they were going to recruit some more people to help them fight Nobody. Kiel wasn't exactly sure who they had in mind, but he could only guess that Owen would want to see Charm.

Kiel wasn't _too_ thrilled about the idea of seeing Charm again, only because he might've missed a few scheduled meetups last time he was in Magisteria. He figured she'd be angry about that, but then again, when wasn't she? Their relationship had always been rocky, and it'd taken years before Charm started to actually enjoy Kiel's jokes.

Despite this, Kiel still missed her, and considered her his friend no matter what she thought. He hadn't seen her in years, either, so it would be nice to see her again. He wondered what she was doing now, or if she even knew about Nobody and his plan to destroy the fictional world. Knowing her, she was probably doing something scientific right now, which would confuse Kiel to no end.

"Here it is!" Gwen announced, abruptly coming to a stop to hover in the air.

"Oh no," Owen whispered. During the whole flight, a goofy grin had been on his face due to his newfound powers that he received since he was in Gwen's world. Now, the smile had been wiped from his face, and he stared with wide eyes at something a short distance away.

Frowning, Kiel came to a stop right after Owen, and looked up to see . . . nothingness. His body went cold at the sight of it. A white wall of nothing stretched for thousands of miles in every direction, covering every spot that Kiel could see. Beyond that, there was nothing to see, almost as if the wall had wiped out part of Gwen's world.

Ever so slowly, it seemed to be moving towards them at the pace of a snail, almost like a threatening storm in the distance. Except this wasn't a storm, Kiel realized. It looked exactly the same as Nobody's prison, which had been pure white, with nothingness stretching in every direction. This was much worse, because it was his _pure possibility_. As he watched, a couple of bright stars began to dissipate as the wall touched it, only to disappear into nothingness.

This was what Kiel had heard stories about, what he'd been warned about, and what he'd dreamt about. This was what was slowly wiping out the fictional world. It would eventually wipe out every world, including all of Kiel's friends and Kiel himself if Nobody wasn't stopped before time ran out. It was Nobody's greatest weapon, and it made Kiel afraid.

Mostly, he felt afraid for the safety of his home planet, Magisteria. He had to see it for himself. With Nobody taking control of everything, there was a chance that his world was already deteriorating. Up until now, he'd always been there, going on quests with Charm to save his people and planet from Dr. Verity. He'd never seen the wall of pure possibility before when he was in Magisteria, and he hadn't gone to Quanterium since he was twelve. How was his world now? Was it being wiped out at this very moment? It made him uneasy just to think about that.

"I saw this white wall the other day after I was flying," Gwen said, a small frown on her face. "It's so far away from my planet that I've never even noticed it before. I have no idea what it is, or how it got here." Her voice grew soft. "I heard it swallowed up two entire planets."

"This is it," Bethany whispered as she stared up at the giant wall. She was standing next to Gwen and Owen, looking horrified. "This is his pure possibility."

"It's so much worse than I thought," Owen said. "He's already been doing this, wiping out the fictional worlds!" He shook his head in disbelief, his mouth hanging open. "It's so . . . _big_. We should've been here earlier. We should've come here as soon as I got out of that book."

"It's okay that we waited," Kiel assured him, despite his own belief that they should've gone to the fictional world straight away. But when it came to his friends, along with _his_ own problems about disappearing, he knew that the break had been needed. "We all needed a break. And we wouldn't have been able to come up with a plan that quickly."

"I know, but if I'd realized just _how_ much danger the fictional world was in, I wouldn't have cared about that," Owen said, his eyes only on the wave of pure possibility. "I mean, I knew it was in danger, but seeing it in person is another thing entirely!"

"Is this the pure possibility you were talking about?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," Bethany breathed. "I've never seen it until now."

"What does it do?"

"I don't really get the science. Not that I really get _any_ science. But Nobody talked like it'd take in the entire fictional universe, and we'd all just become pure possibility," Kiel said, starting to clench and unclench his fists, a habit that he often did whenever he felt nervous or afraid. "Sounds true enough. It looks like the closer it gets, the more it's sucking everything in."

Bethany bit her lip. "We should go. We need to stop this as quickly as possible." Reluctantly, she looked away from the wall, not seeming any happier than the rest of them that it was there. She held Kiel's gaze for a second, and he saw a flicker of determination in her otherwise worried eyes.

"Okay," Owen said as Bethany walked over to him, unzipping the backpack he was carrying and taking out _Doc Twilight_.

"Where are we going?" Gwen asked.

"Jupiter City," Bethany said. "We'll be able to find my dad and Orion there." She sighed. "They're probably worried about me. I've been gone a while."

"Oh, great! I'd love to officially meet your dad! And to see Orion again."

"Orion?" Owen repeated, sharing a confused look with Kiel.

The half-fictional girl grinned. "He's . . . kind of my brother. Not technically, but he lived with me and my dad when I was living in Jupiter City. He fought crime with us. It's about time you've met him. _And_ my dad."

Kiel blinked. He really had missed out on a lot. He didn't remember Bethany ever having a brother, and he'd never met her father before. He'd only been to Jupiter City once, which was when he and nonfictional Bethany were looking for Bethany's fictional self. He hadn't much time to look around or truly experience Jupiter City.

" _Finally_ ," Owen said, exasperated. "I can't wait to meet him! I've waited three years for this." He gave Bethany a look. "And hopefully this time, I'll be able to talk to the superheroes without anyone telling me I can't."

"Hey, don't blame _me_ for that," Bethany said, raising her eyebrows. "We _did_ have a mission to do."

"That didn't mean we couldn't stop to talk to one!" Owen shot back.

"No, we couldn't have. We were in a hurry."

Kiel winked, feeling more excited now that his mind was off of Nobody's possibility wave. "I can't wait, either. Wish I could have been more of a help with that." He grinned. "Finding your dad, I mean."

Bethany rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, throwing a glance at the white wall before looking back at him. "It's okay," she said, a small smile slipping onto her face. "I found him in the end."

With that said, she opened the Doc Twilight comic book to a page at the end and placed it in front of them, where it hovered in the middle of the air. She grabbed Owen's hand. Used to this, Kiel automatically reached for Bethany's other hand, then slid his hand into Gwen's. Bethany looked at each of them in turn. "Ready?"

Owen and Kiel nodded. Gwen grinned. " _So_ ready! Let's go!"

Giving her a smile back, Bethany leapt forward into the air, jumping them all into the book. Kiel grinned as a familiar warm sensation — which he always felt whenever he jumped into a book — trickled through his body. Once he landed on his feet, bright sunlight seared itself into his eyes, and he had to blink several times to adjust to the brightness.

They emerged right in the middle of a sidewalk, making several people jump. It was just as crowded as the last time Kiel had been here, with people sitting on benches, walking along the streets, and driving their cars. What had once been Gwen's world was now replaced by Jupiter City, and now that it was daytime, Kiel could see that this definitely was _not_ an ordinary city.

For starters, this wasn't Quanterium, either. There weren't any guards like the horrible Science Soldiers that Kiel knew from his past. Crowds of people were walking among the streets, all of them looking relatively happy. There was a certain feeling of optimism in the air that Kiel quickly absorbed, and he found himself already smiling.

"This place really changed for the better. It looks incredible!" Gwen happily exclaimed, swinging her arms as she looked around them. "Thanks to Bethany, there aren't shadows anymore!"

" _Or_ the Dark," Owen added, a grin on his own face.

"Hello Jupiter City!" a man's voice boomed from above them. "How are you doing this morning?"

Kiel craned his head up to see a man in a yellow superhero suit flying overhead, waving at the people below. To his approval, he saw that the man had a cape. As people from below cheered and shouted compliments at him, he flashed a bright smile in response. He soared off into the distance, greeting some other superheroes that were also flying overhead a few blocks away.

"Wow," Kiel murmured, feeling impressed as he turned to look at Bethany. "I have a feeling I'm going to like this place."

"Good." She beamed, and he was unable to stop himself from grinning back, a warm feeling erupting in his chest.

"Me too!" Owen said, smiling. Even with the threat of Nobody hanging over them and the threat of the fictional world being destroyed, it seemed that the feeling of optimism was spreading. All of them — even Bethany, who was rarely optimistic — seemed glad to be here. With the happy crowd around them, it was hard not to be.

"Who _was_ that?" Gwen asked.

"That was Captain Sunshine," Bethany said. "He's the chairman of the Lawful Legion."

"Oh." Gwen's eyes widened. "Last time I saw the Lawful Legion, they were all taken over by shadows! I'm not used to seeing their real selves."

"Look, Mommy, another superhero!" a young boy said, pointing at Kiel. The boy's mother tried to shush him, but the boy continued talking. "Look, look, Mommy, look! He's wearing a cape! I _love_ capes! Can we please get his autograph? _Please_?"

"No, we wouldn't want to bother him," his mother said.

"Please please please please please please _please_ —"

The woman smiled apologetically at Kiel. "Sorry. My son loves superheroes. He's kind of obsessed with them." She peered closer at him. "That's strange. How come you aren't wearing a mask?"

"It's not really my style," Kiel told her, then smiled as he bent down in front of little boy, placing his hands on his knees. "I'm not actually a superhero. I'm a magician. But I love capes, too."

There was something he loved about meeting his fans, especially kids who were inspired by his stories. It always felt nice to be appreciated for who he was, despite how most people didn't know he was the real Kiel Gnomenfoot.

The boy only stared at him, unmoving, so Kiel continued talking. "I hear you like superheroes. Have you heard of 'Batman'?"

The boy shook his head, and his mother smiled before pulling him away. Kiel turned back to his friends. "I can't believe he's never heard of Batman. I thought all superheroes were famous."

"He's from Jupiter City!" Owen said. "He wouldn't have heard of Batman."

"But you told me that Batman was the greatest superhero of all time," Kiel said, and he saw Bethany roll her eyes.

Owen nodded. "He is." Then he paused. "Well, there are a lot of great superheroes. Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Superman, X-Men . . ." He trailed off. "There isn't one _specific_ —"

Bethany cleared her throat. "Guys, we kind of need to get going."

"Sorry," Owen said, blushing. "Um, so where's your dad and Orion? It seems like there are a few superheroes around today. Would they be here?"

"My dad? Maybe. But Orion? Definitely not. We're not usually about the whole publicity, fame thing." Bethany's smile faded, replaced by her usual seriousness. "I'm guessing they'll be at the Twilight Cave. That's where my dad's hideout is."

"Which way is the hideout?" Kiel asked.

"This way." Bethany pointed in the opposite direction. "Let's go straight there, first." Then, giving Owen and Kiel a look, she added, "Before we do _anything_ else."

It was still crowded due to the appearance of Captain Sunshine, so Bethany pushed through the crowd, the rest of the group trailing behind her until they were in a less populated area. They walked along the sidewalk, Owen walking alongside Bethany and Kiel next to Gwen as they made their way to the Jupiter Hill Observatory.

Given that the city was big, the walk took a bit longer than Kiel had expected. Then again, he'd never been to Doc Twilight's — Mr. Sanderson's — hideout. This was only his second time in Jupiter City after all, and last time he'd been here didn't give him many opportunities to hang around. He was looking forward to meeting Bethany's father, along with Orion, who was Bethany's adopted brother and sidekick.

He'd been waiting to meet her father ever since he was twelve, and he felt a twinge of regret that he hadn't been able to help Bethany find him. He wished that he'd been able to. It wasn't until he was in his own universe that Bethany had found her father, but nonetheless, Kiel was glad she had.

Even if he hadn't been able to help her achieve that. In the end, Kiel always had faith that Bethany would find her father someday. At least, he'd hoped so, since she had never been the type of person to give up on her goals. The only time she'd done that was when Kiel left to go back to Magisteria.

A mile-long walk later, Kiel spotted the Jupiter Hill Observatory, which was on top of Jupiter Hill. Aside from some people walking around nearby, it seemed to be deserted. After climbing up the hill, they slipped through the entrance, and found themselves standing in a brightly-lit, round room. There were computers all over the room, all which showed different information about space. A giant telescope filled most of the room, and a computer screen below it showed a map of the night sky.

" _This_ is his hideout?" Owen asked, looking around. "It looks more like a regular observatory." His eyes landed on the telescope, and he slowly walked towards it. "The secret entrance to his headquarters wouldn't be opened by the telescope, would it?"

"You got it," Bethany said, briefly grinning at him. "Let's go see my dad."

She stepped forward and typed in a location in the computer underneath the telescope. The giant telescope rotated around until it pointed in a specific direction: the moon. Kiel watched in fascination as the wall behind the telescope disappeared, revealing stairs that led down into pitch-blackness.

Gwen's eyes lit up. "We went inside there to fight the Dark," she told Kiel and Owen, leaning towards them as Bethany made her way to the entrance of her father's hideout.

"Oh, yeah, I remember," Owen said, breaking into a grin. "I helped save you guys. Well, I helped save _Bethany_."

"No way," Bethany said, snorting. "I have it on good authority that _I_ was the one who defeated the Dark."

"Just kidding."

Kiel could tell that Owen was excited, because he'd barely stopped smiling since they arrived here, and there was a gleam in his eyes. Both Kiel and Owen had never met Bethany's father, and after years of hearing about him, Kiel couldn't wait. Since Doc Twilight was a superhero, that already meant he was a great person.

Plus, he was Bethany's father, so he had no doubt that Doc Twilight was someone worth meeting. Kiel was already going over all the things he could say when they met, because, after all, he _wanted_ Bethany's father to like him!

The four of them crept down the stairs, straining their eyes since it was dark. Once they reached the end of the stairs, Bethany frowned, looking back at them. "That's weird. They'd normally be here. Or at least the lights should be on." She turned on the lights, revealing a large cavernlike room filled with computers and various superhero trophies. Aside from that, it was completely empty.

"Huh," Kiel said as he looked around. "Looks like they aren't here."

"Maybe they're out fighting supervillians, or something?" Owen asked, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"I'm sure they'll come back soon," Gwen said.

"I don't know," Bethany said, shaking her head. "Let's split up. See if we can find out where they went."

"Okay," Owen said, and they each wandered in a different direction, searching for answers.

The whole thing felt a bit strange to Kiel. Maybe it was because it was still morning, or maybe because of the weird feeling in the room. Kiel had been in enough situations like this to know that something bad must've happened, but he didn't say that to Bethany.

He was analyzing a box in the corner when Gwen called them over. "Guys! I found something over here! It's a letter!"

The other three ran over to find Gwen standing in front of a table, a note clutched in her hand. There was a pen next to it, and the letter itself looked like it'd been written maybe a few weeks or days ago.

"Who's it from?" Bethany asked as she went to Gwen's side, leaning over to look at it.

Gwen's voice was quiet, lacking the usual excitement it held. "It's from your dad."

Bethany grabbed the letter from her, then quickly scanned it. Her eyes widened, and she looked up at them, not saying anything.

"What did he say?" Kiel asked. When Bethany didn't respond, he moved to read over her shoulder. Owen joined them, and as Kiel read the contents of the letter, he nearly gasped.

_If anyone finds this, Twilight Girl, my daughter, has gone missing. Kid Twilight and I are going out to search for her. If you want to reach me, call me on my radio. Will be back soon._

_\- Doc Twilight_

"This whole time . . . they've been looking for me," Bethany whispered, taking the letter again and rereading it. "This is worse than I thought it would be. _So_ much worse."

"Do you have a way to contact them?" Owen asked. "If not, maybe there's some cool superhero gadget around here we could use to find them, like a tracker."

She crossed her arms. "We don't put trackers on each other. We're superheroes!"

"How do you usually contact them, then?"

"With a radio." She sighed. ". . . Which I don't _have_ anymore."

"We might be able to find it if we all look around," Gwen offered.

"No, we can't. It would be with my dad and Orion, not here."

"Let's find them the old-fashioned way, then," Kiel said with a wink, moving to the stairs. Apparently no one wanted to object, because they all followed him out of the observatory and down the hill, where they began walking back the way they came.

He should've expected that something like this could happen, but honestly, he hadn't even thought of it. Last time he was here, he was so focused on joining Bethany back together that he hadn't stopped to think about what her father would think when she went missing. Now, her father and sidekick were out somewhere looking for her, and they had been for four days.

Kiel felt a twinge of guilt for putting Bethany's father through that kind of stress, having no idea where his daughter was. That had never been his intention. Not in the slightest. Doc Twilight must've been feeling the same way that Bethany did when he went missing for all those years. No wonder he hadn't bothered to come back to his hideout. He must've been worried that Bethany had been kidnapped or something, when in reality, she had only gone to the nonfictional world for a few weeks.

They passed by a school, where a crowd of little kids were running out of, looking terrified. Some of them held books or backpacks, while others simply ran for their lives, ditching their supplies on the lawn. Kiel, Owen, Bethany, and Gwen stopped in their tracks, sharing an equally confused look as they watched the kids run out of the building.

"What's going on?" Owen shouted, stumbling as a kid pushed past him.

Kiel frowned. "Maybe they just hate school?"

"I don't think so," Gwen said. "Look!" She pointed at the entrance of the school, where a teacher was standing, his hands full of papers. Even from far away, Kiel could tell that this was _no_ normal teacher. Not a nonfictional teacher at least, and certainly not the Magister.

"You _will_ learn, and you will realize the importance of school! You will _all_ get detention!" the teacher roared at the fleeing kids. He took a piece of paper out of the pile, then threw it like a boomerang. It reached a group of kids nearest to him, expanding to a larger size as it swirled around them, taking on a box-like shape. The little kids fell to the ground, some of them bursting into tears as the paper box enveloped them completely, giving Kiel no ability to see inside.

"Okay, that's a supervillian," Bethany whispered as she looked on in horror.

"We have to help those kids!" Gwen said, and without warning, she turned on her jetpack and flew over the lawn, landing beside the paper prison.

"Gwen, no!" Owen shouted, but the teacher turned his gaze on her, glaring furiously.

"Do not try to free my students from detention! They must learn the importance of school!"

"But this is mean!" Gwen said, kneeling down in the grass as she started pulling on the box. Instead of tearing away like paper normally did, it stayed still, looking as solid as a rock. The others ran over to her, and Kiel took his wand-knives out, stepping in front of Gwen as he glared right back at the villain.

"Why are you putting them in . . . detention?" Bethany asked. "That's not going to teach them _anything_. I've been there, and it hasn't taught me a thing."

"You've been to _detention_?" Owen asked, his eyes widening.

"Now isn't the time!" she hissed.

"They are _very_ bad students," the teacher replied, apparently not hearing Owen's comment. "They aren't passing my pop quizzes, so I'm teaching them a lesson. Once I round all of those horrible kids up, they will stay in detention for the rest of eternity!"

" _That's_ a little dramatic, don't you think?" Kiel said. "No one cares that much about school nowadays."

"No one _cares_?" the teacher shouted, suddenly zooming down the steps towards them. The four stepped back in surprise as the teacher closed in on them. "If you think you're so smart, I'll give you _all_ pop quizzes then! If you fail, I'll make sure you suffer the consequences!"

The villain snapped his fingers, and suddenly Kiel found himself sitting at a desk, now inside the school. His eyes widened in surprise, and he immediately moved to get out of the chair . . . only, he couldn't. It was as if some force was glueing him down, not allowing him to move a muscle. He huffed, trying to push his chair backward with his body instead. That didn't work either, and the chair stayed rooted to the ground.

Kiel looked down, then sighed in relief. His wand-knives were still there, but he couldn't move anything aside from his head, so escaping was out of the question. This was unexpected, and definitely shocking on so many levels. How could a supervillian have this much power? It felt a lot similar to the paralyzing spell in his spell book, except he had a bit more freedom.

He craned his head around, looking for his friends or the supervillian that had just been here a second ago. He couldn't see either. All he could tell was that he was in a very small room with only one desk and one door. Kiel sighed again. Not knowing what else to do, he looked at the desk in front of him. There was a sheet of paper sitting there, which he instantly recognized as a quiz.

Oh, _that_ was what the teacher had been talking about. A pop quiz. Well, Kiel had had plenty of those in English class. He hadn't done so well on those, but since he was in the fictional world now, there was a chance he'd do great. Hopefully, his natural talent would help him through it. Or else, he would end up in detention, just like the rest of those unfortunate kids.

Kiel tried to lift his arm to grab the pencil on the desk, feeling surprised when he was able to. Apparently he was allowed to move when it involved taking the quiz, but not for escaping. He was annoyed at the idea of taking a quiz when he had been planning to leave anything school-related behind, but this supervillian seemed to be good at what he was doing. He wanted to skip forward to the exciting part, when he wasn't taking this quiz anymore and could go straight to fighting the villain.

Quickly scanning the quiz, he saw that it involved something he wasn't very good at: math. He tended to be better at math than he was at English or science, but he still really didn't like it. Solving math problems just wasn't his thing; that was _Charm's_ thing. She was the half-robotic scientist, not him. He'd never cared much for complicated problems when clearly, magic could solve things much faster.

As fast as possible, Kiel began solving the problems on his quiz, mostly just by writing random answers that were probably wrong. He didn't care about the threat of getting detention. The sooner he got released from here, the better. He didn't have time to analyze every single problem when his friends were in danger. He figured they could handle this perfectly fine on their own, but they _did_ need him nonetheless. Once he got free, his magic could come in handy.

As soon as he set his pencil down, the room around him melted away — the chair included — and the supervillian appeared in front of him, holding four quizzes in his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Kiel saw his friends standing beside him, their eyes on the teacher. They watched with baited breath as he flipped through their finished quizzes, then clenched his fists, squeezing the pieces of paper into balls.

"You _all_ have failed!" he shouted. "Now you must pay the price! _Detention_!"

"Scatter!" Kiel shouted as the teacher threw a piece of paper, narrowly missing the spot that his head had been. He ran towards the stairs, then had to duck as a piece of paper came soaring for his head. Some feet away, he saw Bethany running for the next hallway, not looking behind her as a piece of paper cake hurtling in her direction.

"Bethany!" Kiel called. "Watch out!"

Seeing as there wouldn't be a quick way for her to block it, he dived straight for Bethany, throwing his arms around her as the two of them hurtled to the ground. His arms were still locked around her as he fell hard on his back, and the two of them slid across the floor until they gradually halted to a stop.

"Nice save," Bethany grunted, opening her eyes.

"You can thank me later!" Kiel said, unable to stop himself from winking. 

Then he realized that he was practically laying on top of her, his arms still wrapped protectively around her. Most surprising of all, though, was that his face was practically an inch away from her's. For a split second, he felt heat rush to the back of his neck. He quickly shoved himself to the side and started to help her up, only to be unexpectedly knocked off his feet.

"Ouch," Kiel muttered as he flew backward, landing on his stomach. He glanced over to see the teacher advancing towards him, Bethany, Owen, and Gwen, and he quickly pushed himself to standing.

"This guy is _crazy_ ," Owen said, glancing at them. "My quiz had only _fractions_ on it." He shuddered, and Kiel momentarily remembered how much Owen hated fractions.

"Same here," Bethany said, starting to back away as the supervillian drew closer, preparing to aim another piece of paper at him. "What do you say? Should we attack him from all sides?"

"I have some spells I can use," Kiel offered. "Want me to turn him into a hat?"

She rolled her eyes, grinning a little. "Maybe. But I wanna show him _never_ to mess with Twilight Girl. And we need to get him to jail, where the villains belong."

"We need to take away his papers," Owen said. "Take his weapon away, and _then_ take him down."

"I can do that!" Gwen said. She took off into the air, flying out of reach of the supervillian. Kiel nodded at Bethany and Owen, and at the same time, they charged at the supervillain. Clearly not expecting this, the teacher stared at them for a moment, giving Gwen just enough time to swoop in and grab the stack of papers from his hands.

"NO! What are you —" the teacher began, but Owen threw his shoulder against him, and Bethany swung her leg out, knocking him off his feet. Before the supervillian could get back up again, Kiel quickly cast a spell, which caused snakes to appear from the tips of his wand-knives. The snakes curled around the supervillian, weaving around his body until he was unable to move his arms.

The supervillian stared at them, red-faced and enraged. "You won't get away with this! You will _learn_!"

"I hope that someday, you won't be so angry," Gwen told him gently, landing on the ground beside Bethany. "I understand your frustration with your students, but putting them into detention is wrong. I'm not even sure what that is, but it doesn't seem fair."

The supervillian paused, looking at a loss for words. Bethany crossed her arms, then smiled a little at Gwen before she looked back at the supervillian. "We don't have time to bring you to jail, but don't worry, I'm sure the police will find you soon."

Pushing open the doors, they walked out of the school, leaving the angry and captive supervillian behind. Kiel noticed that the paper box holding all of those kids was still there, so he muttered another spell under his breath, pointing his wand-knives at the box. The paper melted away, and the five kids who'd been held captive only stared at them in horror before running off into the streets.

"Well _that_ happened," Owen said, releasing a breath.

"Are we just going to keep him locked up like that?" Gwen asked. "Isn't that a bit . . . cruel?"

"He'll be fine," Bethany said. "I always have to lock up villains like that. Usually not by myself, but we're kind of busy right now, so he'll just have to sit there until the police stop by. _Now_ let's go find my dad and Orion."

"Any idea where to look for them?" Kiel asked, placing his wand-knives back inside their sheaths. "We can't just wander around the city without an idea of where we're going."

Bethany sighed. "Since they think I'm missing, I'm guessing that they think I was kidnapped by some supervillian. If they _do_ think that, they must be pretty far away by now, since there are supervillians all over the place. We just have to find the fastest way to get across the city. Maybe by car or something. Walking will take _forever_."

The loud noise of a whistle from some distance away jolted all of them, and suddenly, a brilliant idea came to Kiel. "I think I know how we can get across the city faster." He grinned. "Follow me. If I'm right about this, I just found the _perfect_ way of transportation."

* * *

"We're hopping a _freight car_?" Owen whispered, his voice rising to a high pitched octave.

They were crouched behind the train tracks, ducked low enough so people wouldn't be able to see them. In all of her time in Jupiter City, Bethany had only taken this train once. But that was with her father, who also had money for a train ticket. Since none of them had money, illegally boarding a train seemed to be the best option. Not the smartest, Bethany concluded, but this was probably their best bet if they wanted to find her father and Orion as fast as possible.

And they had to. She was worried enough as it was, and every second she was apart from them only made her more anxious. She felt guilty for staying in the nonfictional world for so long, not only because of Nobody and the pure possibility wall, but also because of her family. She hadn't realized just how significant her sudden disappearance must've been to her father.

Bethany hadn't expected him to go looking for her, but it made sense that he did. Even if she was only gone for four days in fictional time, it still halted her father's life, just like it had halted her's when he had gone missing during her fourth birthday party. If he had gone missing again, she would've searched for him in a heartbeat, no matter how long it took.

She wasn't even sure where he and Orion could be, given the fact that they'd left four whole days ago. There was no telling which way they'd gone, or where. Once she and her friends got a bit farther away from the more crowded areas of the city, Bethany was certain she'd have a better chance of finding them. The less crowded parts tended to have more supervillians, too. She could always ask the citizens nearby for information of their whereabouts, as well.

"If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it," Kiel said, wrinkling his nose. "I don't exactly have my spaceship nearby."

"I think we'll be fine," Bethany said, although she felt more nervous than she let on. She gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the tons of thoughts going through her head, which circulated through all the negative outcomes that this could bring. "I've seen it done a bunch of times in books."

"Oh, yeah. I have too. But that doesn't mean we aren't gonna get caught!" Owen gestured to the guards walking around the train, who were either standing guard or were checking to make sure the train was running properly. At the front of the train, Bethany could see that passengers were boarding, each of them carrying their own individual bags as they hopped aboard.

Gwen patted him on the arm. "It's okay, Owen. We won't get caught."

Bethany glanced back and forth from the guards to the train. "We just gotta find the right timing . . ."

"I'll cause a distraction," Kiel said, suddenly jumping to his feet before any of them could protest. He started running across the train tracks, then cast a spell which sent fireballs flying into the air. The guards scattered, all yelling in surprise and fear as they tried to avoid the fireballs.

"Too late." She sighed. As always, Kiel was running into danger without a second thought. The thought almost made her smile, but she forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

Bethany stood up, looked left and right, then started across the empty train tracks as shouts rang around her. Her heart pounding, she didn't look back as she ran, her sneakers squeaking against the metal of the tracks. Just as she climbed up the ladder and landed on the wooden platform of the freight car, Gwen was running across the tracks, ducking low as one of the guards tried shooting his gun at her.

A train whistle blared, signaling the departure of the train. Bethany grabbed Gwen's arm and helped her onto the train, then waved for Owen to run over. "Hurry!"

Hesitantly, Owen stood up from his spot on the ground and stumbled across the train tracks, not watching where he was going. All of the sudden, he tripped and fell flat on his face. He lay on the ground for a few seconds, moaning in pain as he slowly lifted his broken arm from the ground.

Bethany gasped. "Owen!"

"I'll get him!" came a shout, and Bethany and Gwen watched as Kiel ran into view, grabbing Owen by the arms and yanking him up.

"Come on!" Gwen said, clapping her hands in an encouraging manner. "You can do it!"

The train whistle sounded again, and Bethany could only watch helplessly as the two boys started to move and sprinted the rest of the way over the train tracks. More gunshots were heard, the bullets coming close to hitting Owen and Kiel a few times. By the time they got to the ladder, their faces were flushed and they were panting heavily.

"Go, go, go," Bethany whispered frantically as she watched Owen climb the ladder with one shaking hand, struggling to climb up. When he neared the top, she stuck her hand out and grabbed him under his armpit, pulling him up the rest of the way. She moved back to allow him space, then leaned forward again to watch Kiel. But it was too late. There was a hissing noise, and then to the group's horror, the train started to move.

"Grab the ladder!" Owen shouted.

Kiel had to run to catch up with the train, as it was increasing in speed. He was struggling to grab the rails of the ladder. "It's moving too fast!"

"Kiel!" Gwen cried, motioning with her hands. "Please hurry! You can do it!"

Her heart hammering in her chest, Bethany leaned her body out of the window, gripping the handle for support and extending her other hand to reach for his. "Kiel, grab my hand!"

After a few failed attempts of their hands brushing against each other, Kiel's hand finally latched onto her's. With the other two's help, she pulled him onto the ladder, where he climbed the rest of the way and rolled onto the freight car. Beaming, Gwen closed the large sliding door, enveloping them into darkness.

Bethany sat back against the wall, her breaths coming out slightly shaky as she listened to the train moving below them, along with her friends' own breathless laughs. She closed her eyes, waiting for her heartbeat to slow. She'd been in the fictional world for not even an hour, and she was already fully immersed in yet another dangerous adventure. Somehow, it felt overwhelming. This past week had been filled with danger, and it seemed that it wasn't going to end anytime soon.

Soon enough, she'd find her father and Orion, and they could help her fight Nobody. She was certain that having her father with her would make up for it all. She couldn't face this alone, no matter how much she didn't want others getting hurt. If he was with her on this mission to defeat Nobody, she knew they could succeed. All her worries, all her fears would fade away once she had her father with her again.

In spite of everything that had been going on lately, she found herself smiling at the knowledge of what was to come.

It was time to find her family.

* * *

_  
"_ _On and on and on we are calling out and out again. Never looking down I'm just in awe of what's in front of me . . ."_


	28. Orion’s Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Jupiter City, Orion searches for his missing father figure and sister.

**_Shadows (by The Afters)_ **

_"_ _Wake up the statues, breathe out the dust. Shock of a heartbeat, rush of the blood. Breaking in to my skin, feel the burning again . . ."_

* * *

Like most things, it had happened unexpectedly.

Orion had been searching for four days. Four for Bethany, who had unexpectedly gone missing. Four for Doc Twilight, who had inconveniently gone missing as well. His father figure had disappeared shortly after the two had started their search for Bethany on the night she'd gone missing.

After investigating the area where they'd last seen Bethany and ultimately realizing that she must be in danger, Orion and Doc Twilight had decided to split up so they'd cover more ground. That had been a mistake, because when Orion searched for him later, Doc Twilight was nowhere to be seen. It felt eerily similar to when Doc had gone missing for several months — back when he'd turned into the Dark — leaving Orion on his own to take care of things.

The thing was, Orion had become used to training and living with Doc Twilight, who had practically raised him ever since his parents died in an alien invasion. The man had become like a father to him, and although Orion was not one to openly express his emotions, he was worried about him. He couldn't help but be worried about Bethany, too, who had grown like a sister to him ever since she'd started living with them for three years. They were his family, and their disappearance made Orion feel as dark as one of the shadows that used to take over the city.

At first, Orion had searched for what felt like hours, growing more frustrated when he could not find his father figure. He had tried everything to contact him, and when Doc failed to pick up his radio, he began his search, which had expanded into four days. First his adopted sister went missing, and now his father figure? Orion didn't believe in coincidences, and this hardly felt like one. The two disappearances had to be related, somehow.

It was an absolute mystery to him where Doc Twilight and Bethany were, given the fact that they'd disappeared out of nowhere, not leaving a single clue that showed where they were. He would not rest for a second until he found them. The only explanation that he could come up with was that they'd been kidnapped. By who, Orion didn't know, but he assumed that the supervillains had something to do with this.

There wasn't another explanation besides that, so Orion set off with a plan to interrogate every single supervillain in Jupiter City, fighting anyone that dared to cross his path. Whoever was holding his family captive would _pay,_ and Orion would make sure that the supervillain involved in this would suffer greatly, right before he put them into jail. It made him even more furious to think that anyone in their right mind would mess with his family.

So far, Orion had traveled a good distance across Jupiter City, sleeping in public buildings or in cars when he wasn't fighting supervillians. He didn't bother heading back to the Twilight Cave, where his hideout was. What was the point in that? It would be idiotic, and Orion was the least idiotic person he knew. That would be a waste of time, especially because there were so many supervillians left to interrogate.

Finding Doc and Bethany was his greatest priority right now. He knew they could handle themselves, but he was worried about them. He had no idea where they were or how to contact them. Who knew what could be happening to them, all while Orion was still out here, taking four days and maybe even more to find them?

At the start of day four, Orion slowly opened his eyes after a restless sleep and squinted against the harsh, unforgiving sunlight that shone down on him. Since the best time to find supervillians was at night, he'd been roaming the streets all night until he eventually gave into his exhaustion. He was never the type to enjoy sunshine or the morning, so both things made him feel even more unpleasant than he already was.

Grunting, he slowly sat up from the hard floor of the Jupiter City Public Library, blinking as he took in the scene before him. After sneaking in through the window and wedging himself behind a bookcase in the very back of the room, he was able to sleep without getting noticed. Luckily, it wasn't crowded, which was why it'd been such a great hiding spot on his part. From what he could tell, only a couple of people were here at this time of day.

Using his Twilight staff for leverage, Orion picked himself up from the ground, feeling stiff in all sorts of places. Sleeping on the ground wasn't his ideal form of comfort, but he didn't have much of a choice. Nothing could truly comfort him anymore, anyway. Not after what had happened.

Sneaking along the walls to avoid attracting attention, Orion made his way to the wooden door at the front of the library. Checking to make sure no one was watching (which no one was) he opened it as quietly as he could and slipped outside into the fresh morning air. It was even brighter outside, and he had to shade his eyes at first to get a good look at everything around him.

As usual, citizens were walking up and down the streets, safe for the time being before a supervillian decided to show up. Thanks to the superheroes — including Orion, obviously — Jupiter City was a safe place to live most of the time. At least, for the citizens it was. Because of superheroes like Captain Sunshine and Athena and Doc Twilight that kept them protected, there wasn't a reason for them _not_ to be.

As for Orion, he rarely felt secure, and now was no exception. There was never a time that he didn't feel on-edge. If someone had kidnapped both Doc and Bethany, then they must be trying to kidnap all of the Twilights, which meant they'd kidnap Orion, too. He'd kept this at the back of his head during the past four days, just for another reason to keep himself moving. All he could think about was rescuing his family from the supervillian that was malicious enough to capture them.

Brushing out his purple cape and straightening his mask, Orion started down the street, ignoring any confused looks that people gave him. It was probably because it was eight in the morning, and he was still wearing his superhero outfit when he normally would just be wearing regular clothes. Not that he _should_ be wearing regular clothes, because he was on a mission.

Unlike the other superheroes, he could care less about pleasing the public. That was his last concern. Doc Twilight was different, because everyone liked him. But Orion? With the exception of Doc and Bethany, he preferred to be alone. It was something he was used to, and he knew that he could get the job done quicker that way. It was rare for him to like many people, anyway. So as long as he avoided people at all costs, he'd be —

"Hi, Kid Twilight!" a female street vendor said, smiling at him. "Where's Doc Twilight?"

"I really wouldn't know," Orion replied, inwardly groaning. It was hard not to be annoyed when everything else in his life had gone wrong, and Doc and Bethany were still missing. How could these people be so friendly when the worst had occurred? How _could_ they?

"Anyway . . . do you want to buy my products? I have a bunch of clothes that I'm sure would fit you. What size are you? Oh, and I even have a Doc Twilight shirt. Want to see?"

Orion stopped moving, then slowly turned to stare at her as she lifted a purple shirt from the pile, which had a picture of a mask on it. Underneath it was written, "Twilight Rules".

"So?" the woman was saying, practically shoving the shirt in his face. He stepped back instinctively, his eyes narrowed. But the woman didn't seem to notice the look he was giving her, and continued speaking. "What do you say? Do you want to get it?"

"I would rather chew off my own _foot_ ," Orion hissed.

"Excuse me?"

He didn't hear if she said anything else, mostly because he threw open the door of the nearest cafe and quickly closed it behind him, already done with the conversation. He scanned the room, which was starting to fill up with citizens. They all looked up in surprise when he walked in, so he averted their gazes and went to the counter.

The man working at the counter looked almost worried, but he regained his composure quickly and gave Orion a strained smile. "Good morning, Kid Twilight. What can I get you?"

"I want coffee," Orion stated bluntly, then eyed the various coffee flavors on the table behind the checkout counter before adding, "Um . . . black. I want to get a cup of black coffee."

The man raised an eyebrow. "You want black coffee?"

" _Yes_ ," Orion replied, sighing heavily. Why did the man even _care_ about what kind of coffee he got? Why did adults have to act like this? That was another reason he couldn't stand many people. They were always acting like a fifteen year-old was incapable of certain things, such as drinking a completely bitter, black coffee.

"Okay." The man typed something into his computer. "You can wait for your coffee over there." He pointed to the line of people who were waiting for theirs. "Have a great day. Oh, and tell Doc Twilight to come by here sometime!"

"Will do," Orion said, grimacing. Trying not to roll his eyes, he walked over to the other line to wait for his coffee.

He was tired after all the nights he'd been up late, interrogating supervillian after supervillian in hopes that his family would be there. He was normally up late anyway, but not to the extent that he was doing now. Having a decent cup of coffee to reenergize him would be the smartest move. He couldn't allow himself to get lazy or slow when he was on an important mission.

Once the worker behind the counter handed him his coffee, Orion went back outside and walked along the sidewalk. He poured the coffee into his mouth, then nearly choked at the bitterness that came with it. Sometimes black coffee was just _too_ bitter, even for him. He scowled, but managed to finish the rest of it before throwing it out.

"Interrogation time," Orion whispered, curling his hand tighter around his Twilight staff.

Slipping into an alleyway, he headed to the back of a large pizza restaurant, which looked suspiciously dark and empty. He knew that it wasn't actually a pizza restaurant, because it'd been closed for as long as he remembered. As Orion concluded, this was exactly the kind of place where a supervillian might be lurking. If not, then he'd continue searching elsewhere until he found one.

He had a dislike for fighting supervillians this early in the morning, but it wasn't like he could wait. He couldn't waste any time when Doc Twilight and Bethany were still missing. He had to rescue them as soon as possible. It was frustrating that he hadn't even _found_ them yet, when normally, Orion was skilled in that kind of thing. It'd been four days of searching, and no supervillian he'd come across even knew where they were.

Orion walked over to the door at the back of the restaurant and jiggled the knob once, twice, then three times. It was locked. Interesting. He went around to the side of the building, looking for any windows that he could climb into. Once he found one, he closed the lid of a dumpster that was positioned underneath it and climbed on top of it. The window was too high for him to reach from the ground, so he needed an extra boost just so he could get inside.

_They're here_ , he thought to himself, just like he did every time before he broke into a supervillian's lair. Every time, they were never there. But he assured himself of it anyway, even if it wasn't the most logical thing to believe. Just to convince himself that they were there, and that he wasn't wasting his time.

Either way, it felt good to serve justice. And get some pizza, if this actually _was_ a real pizza restaurant.

He crept over to the window and slowly rolled it open. He was surprised to find it unlocked, but then again, if this really was an abandoned restaurant then there'd be no need to lock it. On the other hand, if this was actually a supervillian's lair — like Orion predicted — then it would only mean that they did a terrible job of keeping their windows locked. It wouldn't be surprising. Supervillians really could be careless sometimes.

Sliding his feet first through the window, Orion placed both hands on the wall and pushed himself through, just like he'd done hundreds of times. Once he got inside, he shoved off hard from the windowsill, landing gracefully on the floor below without making a sound. The room was dark aside from the small amount of light that came from the window, but he could see that it used to be a kitchen. There were a few old pizza ovens, along with everything else that a restaurant's kitchen might have.

Orion glanced back at the window he came through before sneaking out of the kitchen. Pushing open the double doors as quietly as he could, he found himself facing a very different take on what a pizza restaurant should look like.

The few windows that were in the room were boarded up, allowing just enough light for Orion to see by. Instead of tables and chairs where costumers might've previously sat at, there were boxes all over the place, and a large, strange-looking machine with a pointed tip was sitting on the floor. A single table was in the middle of the room, with piles of papers and other supplies on top of it.

The most concerning, however, was the wall. All along the wall were pictures of superheroes, along with newspaper clippings that were related to each one. He spotted the entire Lawful Legion, along with every single superhero that Orion knew. They covered the entire length of the wall, making it impossible for Orion to look away. He was staring at the superheroes he'd known all his life. He felt a shiver go down his spine as he spotted Doc Twilight's picture among them.

He looked away, his frown deepening. Why would anyone have pictures of all the superheroes on their wall? He'd never seen anything like this before, but he doubted it was uncommon. Whoever had made this display clearly wanted to keep track of the superheroes, so this only proved that a supervillian had created it. A supervillian _definitely_ lived here, or at least stored some of their equipment here for later use.

As Orion walked away from the wall, he heard a noise from the back of the restaurant. He quickly drew back into the shadows in the corner of the room, giving him a clear view of the door. He watched in silence as a figure walked through the door, wearing what looked like a dog costume. He instantly recognized the supervillian as someone he and Doc Twilight had thrown into jail a few years ago, called the "Deranged Dog".

Orion narrowed his eyes. Did supervillians _never_ learn? Every time he put them into jail, they only seemed to escape from it and go back to their destructive ways. All they wanted to do was ruin the entire world and wreck the lives of citizens and superheroes. The wrongdoers had to pay for their actions. The supervillians couldn't get away with their plans, especially if they were holding Doc and Bethany captive.

He watched as the Deranged Dog glanced around the room before walking over to one of the machines and analyzing it. The supervillian bent down, typing something into the keyboard of the machine. When he was done, the machine whirred to life, making loud beeping noises.

The Deranged Dog began laughing. "Ah-ha! Finally, _one_ of my machines work. With this machine, I can start by destroying the Lawful Legion headquarters." He patted the machine, smiling down at it. "You are going to help me take down all the superheroes." He turned his back on Orion, and the young superhero saw his chance.

Extending an arm out, he launched two Twilight throwing stars straight at the man. Both throwing stars imbedded themselves into the sides of his costume, sending him flying into the wall. The Deranged Dog gasped at the impact, both groaning in pain and frantically looking all around him. He struggled to move against the throwing stars, but — thanks to Orion's undeniable skill — they held fast, not allowing him to break free.

"You should really put locks on your windows," Orion said in a low, gruff voice from his hiding place in the darkness, making the supervillian jump. "Never know who might break in."

" _What is this_?" the Deranged Dog snarled. "Who's there?"

Calmly stepping out of his hiding spot, Orion smashed his Twilight staff several times into the machine. The whirring noise stopped, and the machine broke apart, pieces of it falling to the floor. He looked up at the Deranged Dog, who's expression turned more to one of confusion.

"You don't recognize me, do you?” Orion asked. “I bet you feel pretty bad about yourself right now, now that your machine is destroyed."

The supervillian stared at him, slowly breathing in and out. "I can't believe you just _destroyed_ my machine!"

"You said you were going to destroy the Lawful Legion's headquarters," Orion said, tilting his head. "I think I have a _very_ good reason for destroying it."

  
"I don't know who you think you are, young man, but —"

"'Young man'?" he repeated, tilting his head.

"Just listen!" the Deranged Dog said, looking a lot more nervous now than he'd been a minute ago. "Just listen, young man. I have no idea how you got in here, but this isn't what it looks like. I wasn't going to destroy the headquarters, I _swear_. I was going to help the superheroes!"

Orion scoffed, shaking his head as he walked closer. "I've heard that one before."

"I'm sure you just heard me wrong." The supervillian laughed. When Orion didn't say anything, he cleared his throat and continued, "Now, young man, there's no reason to act like I'm doing anything wrong, alright? This may look bad, but you don't know the real reason I'm using it. All you have to do is let me go, and then you can go home and forget this whole thing ever happened —"

His anger rising, Orion leapt forward, grabbing the Deranged Dog by the shirt. "Stop talking," he growled. "I know exactly who you are, Deranged Dog. And I'm sure you know who I am. I'm Kid Twilight, Doc Twilight's sidekick? Heard of me yet?" He pushed the supervillian's head against the wall, making him flinch. "And there's _no_ way I'm leaving just yet. Not until justice has been served."

The Deranged Dog said nothing, which was probably smart on his part. Orion was sick of hearing the supervillian talk about his crimes as if they weren't real. He loosened his grip but kept his hands there, knowing fully well that there wouldn't be an easier way to get the supervillian to talk.

"So just give me the information I need, and I'll be on my way," Orion continued, glaring at him through his mask. He felt his anger rising. "And if you call me 'young man' _one more time_ , I'm gonna make you wish that you never laid eyes on Kid Twilight. Got it?"

The Deranged Dog nodded several times, and Orion let go of him, seething with anger. The supervillian sighed, his eyes drifting around the room. "What makes you think I'll give you any information, young ma—" He flinched again. "Er, _Kid Twilight_?"

"Because the world depends on it," Orion said. "And I know that _you_ know exactly where they are. The others I've interrogated said that didn't, but I think they were lying. This time, I'm going to _make_ sure you give me an answer. It doesn't look like you're holding them captive, but I'm guessing you know who is."

To his frustration, the Deranged Dog began to laugh crazily. Orion stared at him, dumbfounded for a second. He curled his fists into balls. "Why are you laughing?"

"I don't know the answer to that, so you can let me go!" He laughed again. "I'm guessing _you_ will have to find someone else to question."

No way. After all this, the Deranged Dog still wasn't going to tell him the whereabouts of Bethany and Doc? Orion wasn't going to let that happen. He was tired of interrogating supervillian after supervillian and _still_ having no leads. No, he _would_ get the information right now. He had to.

"I'll give you one last chance," Orion said, picking up his Twilight staff and hitting the supervillian in the stomach with it. The Deranged Dog's laugh faded, replaced by a groan. "Tell. Me. Where. They. Are."

"Who's 'they'?" he rasped.

"Don't act dumb! You know who I'm talking about! Doc Twilight and Twilight Girl! Where are they?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Orion rolled his eyes, ready to raise his staff again, but the supervillian quickly waved his hands. "No, I mean, I really _don't_! If a superhero was being held captive by one of us, I would know about it. I didn't know they were missing."

Orion paused, feeling only confused now. He sighed, then stepped away from the supervillian and released him from the Twilight throwing stars. The Deranged Dog fell to the ground, and for the first time, Orion didn't make a move to take him to jail. Maybe it was the sudden wave of helplessness that hit him, just to know that his family was gone, maybe forever. He felt lost, uncertain of where to go.

Did the supervillians really not know where they were? Orion wanted to believe otherwise, but all the evidence told him that they were telling the truth. He hated that there wasn't someone who could tell him the information he needed. How was he going to find his family now? The Deranged Dog was right about one thing: if Doc Twilight and Bethany were being held captive by a supervillian, he would've heard about it.

Orion started back to way he came, only to duck as something whizzed past his ear. Two Twilight throwing star embedded themselves in the wall behind him, aimed right for the back of his head. He glanced back at the Deranged Dog, only to see him standing fully upright, breathing heavily.

"Oh, I almost forgot to grab those," Orion said. "Thanks for the reminder." He walked over to the wall and plucked them out with ease. He looked back at the supervillian. "You're lucky I'm not throwing you into jail, but I have better things to do. You should really work on your aim next time."

With that, he went into the kitchen and climbed out through the window. He slid off of the dumpster, feeling only satisfied with the knowledge that he'd destroyed the Deranged Dog's machine. But that hardly felt like an accomplishment now, since he still had no idea where his family was.

Sighing again, the boy walked out of the alleyway and into the bright sunshine. The cheerful voices of the people around him did nothing to lift his dreary mood. Nothing could after what he heard from the Deranged Dog. He walked along the sidewalk, his eyes cast to the ground as he contemplated a new plan.

He'd have to use a different approach to finding Doc Twilight and Bethany. The supervillians didn't have them, so maybe he should infiltrate the Lawful Legion's hall and search for clues there. Or the route that involved talking, which was to tell the Lawful Legion what had happened. Maybe they knew where the two superheroes had gone, or maybe they could find them better than Orion could. Orion preferred to work alone, and he hated letting other people do his job for him, but if they could find them, it would be worth it.

Deciding that that was the best route for now, Orion headed to the train station, since walking would take too long with a mission as important as this. After purchasing a ticket, he waited on the bench for the train to arrive. It took a while — maybe twenty minutes — before the train rolled into view. The gears halted loudly to a stop, and Orion sat back as people started to get off the train.

Once the train was emptied, the conductor shouted for everyone to board the train. Orion moved to stand in the long line, waiting impatiently before he could board. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash of movement and turned his head. He furrowed his brows in confusion as four figures hopped off the train, from the area where supplies were stored for shipment.

_Criminals_ , Orion thought, tightening his grip on his Twilight staff. He glanced at the long line before him and made his decision. He slipped out of line, then began running to the group of stowaways, ready to yell at them for their illegal feats and deliver justice once again.

However, as he came closer, he noticed one of the stowaways — a redheaded girl — pushing herself out of the train. All of the fight poured out of him. How was this possible? He came to a stop, unable to believe his eyes. His jaw dropped as he locked eyes with none other than his adopted sister, Bethany Sanderson, who's shocked expression mirrored his.

"Bethany," he stated, too surprised to say much of anything else. She looked different from when he last saw her. She wasn't wearing her usual Twilight Girl outfit, and instead was wearing normal clothes. He was relieved to see that there weren't any signs that she'd been hurt.

Quickly, he came to his senses. Not even noticing the other people around her, Orion threw his arms around her, if a bit awkwardly. He felt her stiffen inside his embrace, only to relax and put her arms around him too. He closed his eyes, ignoring the fact that he'd never hugged her before and this was definitely weird for both of them. In this moment, that little detail didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was okay.

* * *

If there was one thing Bethany hadn't been expecting, it was to see her father's sidekick standing there as she and her friends jumped off of the train. She'd expected a much longer search for her family, since Jupiter City was big. Then, to add to her surprise, Orion had hugged her. _Hugged_ her. Never in a thousand years would Bethany have seen that coming. Not even if someone time traveled to the future and told her it would happen. Not even then.

Yet, here she was, her eyes closed shut as she hugged him. Given how stiff he was, she wouldn't be surprised if this was the first time he'd hugged _anyone_. It'd been so long since she had last seen him. It felt almost overwhelming, but in a good way. He could be annoying sometimes, but missed him more than she would ever admit. Her worries that she'd never find him faded away, overpowered by her confusion and relief.

The moment of peace was over, as Orion gently pulled away with an almost angry expression. "Bethany, where have you been? Do you have any _idea_ how long I've been looking for you guys for the past four days? How many villains I've had to interrogate?"

Wait, four days? Bethany had been in the nonfictional world for three weeks, not four days! Then, she remembered the time difference between the real world and Jupiter City. While she was separated, the two worlds must've been running on the same timeline, since her fictional and nonfictional selves were separated equally for three years. Once she was rejoined, the timeline must've been reset back to normal, since the comic book world tended to move a bit slower than the real world.

"I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye," she said, not breaking his gaze. A very familiar feeling of guilt entered her, making her feel a pang in her chest. "I had to leave. It's . . . kind of a long story."

"I hope your little sightseeing tour was worth it." He sighed heavily. "I'm just glad you weren't being held captive or anything. Now, where's Doc?"

"What do you mean 'where's Doc'?" Bethany scoffed. "Is that a joke? He was with _you_!"

"What?" Orion stared at her. "No, he disappeared. Right after you did."

"Where did he _go_?"

"Does it _look_ like I know?"

"You _should_ know! You were with him!"

Orion growled in frustration. "Well, I don't. He's gone now."

"But I saw the note from Dad, which said that you guys were going out to look for me —"

"That was four _days_ ago," Orion said. "He went missing shortly after you did, so I thought he was with you. I figured one of the supervillians was holding both of you captive, because you both went missing around the same time. Guess I should've known it couldn't be a coincidence."

Bethany's heart sunk. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. After all the failed plans and danger and quests, her father wasn't even here. This wasn't _fair_. She'd arrived here, more than ready to see him again, and he'd already been taken away from her? If she'd only stopped holding herself back, she could've saved him before this happened. She _never_ should've left Jupiter City without saying goodbye. That had been a huge mistake.

There had to be a solution for this. There _had_ to be. After everything . . . he was gone? She was going to fix this. She didn't care what it took, as long as no one else got hurt. She couldn't lose him again, not to Nobody. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Suddenly, she was twelve years-old again, desperately missing her father and wondering where on earth he could be.

"We didn't get captured," she said slowly. "I mean — _I_ didn't. Again, it's a long story, but I went back to the nonfictional world. That's where I was. I wasn't kidnapped. But if _Dad's_ gone . . ."

"If the supervillians don't have him . . . I think I know who does," Owen said, making Bethany flinch. She'd forgotten all about her friends, who'd been silently watching their conversation.

She looked at him, and the realization hit her. The supervillians didn't know where her father was because he _wasn't_ in his world. She knew exactly who was holding him captive, and an unpleasant chill went down her spine. Of _course_ this had happened. This happened when Bethany was four years-old, and it had happened again. _Again_ , her father had been taken from her by Nobody. This time, it was a personal message.

"Nobody," she said, swallowing hard. Owen nodded.

"Who?" Orion asked.

"He's a villain, and, um, he's trying to wipe out every world," Owen told him. "Your world, included. He's more powerful than anyone you could imagine, and we need to stop him before he defeats all of the worlds."

"Yeah. He's the one who took Dad away from me — I mean, _us_ — the first time," Bethany said. "It's a really long story."

Orion didn't look fazed. "Defeating the world, huh? I've heard that from every supervillian I've come across. This guy doesn't sound any different. I've been defeating supervillians since I was little. Fighting them has always been some kind of game, aside from the months when the Dark showed up. Half the time the supervillians wanted us to figure out their plans, maybe so they could trap us, maybe just because it was more fun. Each time I fight them just seems to get easier, so unless he's the Dark, I don't think he'll be taking over the world anytime soon."

She shook her head. "You're underestimating him. He has the power to rewrite himself into anything _and_ the power to destroy the worlds. He's incredibly dangerous. You remember how it was under the Dark? It'll be ten times worse than that, but I think we can beat him if we face him together."

Orion went silent for a moment, looking as if he was contemplating something. "If he's as powerful as you say, it doesn't seem like it'd be worth facing him at all."

" _What_?" Bethany, Kiel, and Gwen said together.

  
"You don't _care_?" Owen gasped. "It doesn't bother you at all?"

"Not really, no. This has nothing to do with rescuing Doc Twilight from wherever he is, and it sounds pointless, anyway. The heroes _always_ win here, so the villians will lose. It's as simple as that."

Bethany growled in frustration. "This has _everything_ to do with rescuing him, Orion. I have a feeling that Nobody has him. We have to face him anyway, and we'll get Dad back once we do!"

"But do you know for sure if he's with this guy?" Orion asked. Bethany didn't respond. Really, she didn't know. But she figured he would be, because he clearly wasn't in Jupiter City anymore. If he was missing, he'd have to be with Nobody.

"Don't you get it?" her father's sidekick continued. "There's no way I'm coming on some mission to stop a villain who you _think_ might have Doc Twilight. I know he isn't with any supervilian. I've already questioned several, and he isn't with any of them. I'm going to look somewhere else, probably in the Lawful Legion's headquarters. My responsibilities are _here_ , in Jupiter City."

Then, before anyone could say anything, he added, "For another thing, look at the group you've put together." He gestured to Owen, making him blush. "This boy has a broken arm." He looked at Bethany. "You are less experienced than I am in martial arts." He glanced at Kiel. "I guess you're okay." Then he pointed to Gwen. "And also, you have a girl who doesn't believe in violence. No offense, Gwen, but I don't know how helpful that would be in a fight."

"You're right, I don't believe in violence," Gwen said. "Because I'd rather find common ground with people. I think everyone has a special talent, and our weaknesses aren't what define us. They just make us stronger."

"And out of all of us, she's the most powerful one," Bethany defended, making Gwen blush.

"Nobody isn't your average supervillian," Owen said. "I know what the supervillians here are like, and he's not like them. Every time we've faced him, he _always_ wins. He's impossible to beat, and we need all the help we can get."

"Yeah!" Gwen said. "Just please, come with us. We could use your help."

"It's not just about finding Bethany's father," Kiel pointed out. "It sounds like the villians you've fought have been easy, and I get that. The villain _I_ kept fighting always lost." He chuckled. "Every time."

"It wouldn't be nice to call her a villain, but I fought with my former ex-best friend," Gwen said, shrugging. "She wasn't as powerful as Nobody, either."

Bethany smiled a little at that, then looked at Orion. "We'll find him. I promise. I know exactly how you feel. I've been dying to see him, too. But just come with us, okay? I _know_ that my father is with Nobody. He wouldn't have been captured by anyone else."

Orion let out a sigh, giving up. " _Fine_. I'll come, alright? But if Doc isn't there, I'll —"

"He'll be there," she assured him.

"Yeah," Owen said. "I've _seen_ Bethany's dad get captured by Nobody when I was in that comic book place, so if he did it again, I wouldn't be that surprised."

Orion looked from Owen to Kiel, as if noticing them for the first time. "And who are you two?"

"Sorry, I should've introduced myself earlier," Owen said, a nervous smile forming on his face. "I'm Owen."

"I'm Kiel," Kiel said with a wink. He extended a hand, and Orion shook it. "I like the mask." He grinned. "Very mysterious. Bethany tells me you're her brother?"

"In a way," Orion said. "Doc raised me after my parents died in an alien invasion, and he's become like a father to me. Since Bethany's his daughter, she's like my sister." He almost smiled. "And _you_ can call me Kid Twilight."

"Call him Orion," Bethany said. Her adopted brother glared at her, and she smiled back innocently.

Orion glanced at Gwen, pointing a finger at her. "I remember you. The weirdly happy girl, Gwen."

Gwen smiled. "That's me! It's good to see you, Orion. Or should I keep calling you Kid Twilight? Whichever you prefer, as long as it doesn't make you uncomfortable."

"No, that's fine. Call me Orion," he said.

Before she could say anything else, the train whistle blared, and all of them covered their ears from the loud noise. They all turned around towards the noise, and stared at the train, which was now filled with passengers.

"We need to get on that train," Orion said suddenly.

"Why?" Owen asked.

"We have to get back to our hideout. I should pick up some supplies there before I go anywhere. And in the meantime, you can fill me in on this terrible plan of yours that will probably get us killed, if this villain is really as dangerous as you say he is."

"He is, and don't try to back out of it," Bethany warned as they headed back towards the front of the train. "You agreed to come with us."

"I did. I just hope it won't be a waste of time."

"It won't," Owen said. "You're a superhero, so saving the world must be fun for you. You'll enjoy this." He smiled.

Orion rolled his eyes. "Saving the world isn't that fun, kid. And I won't be enjoying anything unless we actually save Doc Twilight."

"Hey, don't call me 'kid'," Owen said, his face reddening. Bethany snickered, and next to her, she saw Kiel trying not to laugh. "I'm the same age as you!"

"Doesn't seem like it," Orion replied, snorting.

" _This_ is your brother?" Kiel whispered to Bethany, nudging her lightly in the side. "He's so . . . different from you."

Bethany laughed before she even knew she was doing it. "You don't know the half of it."

In spite of her father being missing and the threat of Nobody taking over the world, it felt like things were getting more hopeful as their group grew. All they had to do was recruit the last of their friends, and then they'd be all set to fight Nobody _and_ get her father back.

"Guys, I think we can still make it!" Gwen said, suddenly grabbing Bethany's hand as she pointed at the door. Bethany's face heated up at the contact, but she didn't pull away.

It suddenly occurred to her that holding Gwen's hand felt nice, just as nice as when Kiel held her hand. She hadn't noticed before. Or maybe she had. Her thoughts were suddenly all over the place, churning in her whirlwind of confusing emotions. It was a relief that she had something more important to focus on, like their quest.

The five of them ran over to the door and boarded the train as quickly as possible. They had to walk single-file, because the hallway wasn't wide enough to fit more than one person in the aisle. After several minutes of searching for an empty spot, they collapsed into seats near the front of the train. Soon, the train started up, and they were once again heading back to Doc Twilight's hideout.

For a good thirty minutes, Bethany told Orion everything she knew about Nobody, including what he'd done to her and her friends. She was relieved that he'd decided to come, because she knew how wary he'd been about the idea in the first place. The truth was: she needed him for this. As irritating as he sometimes was, he was her family. He was her brother, and she couldn't lose him like she'd lost her father.

It made sense that he wanted to focus on finding Doc Twilight, but how _couldn't_ he care about the safety of his world? After everything she'd seen, Bethany didn't understand it. But she didn't blame him. As far as she could tell, nothing out of the ordinary was happening to Jupiter City. Not yet, at least. She hadn't even seen the wall of white nothingness here, when she'd seen it in Gwen's world. But it didn't matter if the signs were here yet. If they didn't stop Nobody, the fictional world was going to die. That seemed enough of a reason to fight Nobody.

"So, do you have any powers, like the Avengers? Or are you like Batman and Robin, without any?" Owen asked Orion later on, when they were done talking about Nobody. Given Owen's love for all things superhero, he'd clearly been excited just to talk to Orion. But Bethany wouldn't be surprised if his interest waned off soon, since Orion wasn't the most . . . friendly person.

Orion looked confused. " _Who_ are the Avengers? And who are Batman and Robin?"

"Batman is apparently the greatest superhero of all time," Kiel said.

Owen grinned a little. "Well, yeah. Uh, well, there's a ton of superheroes from different worlds besides yours, and most — like the Avengers — have powers. The difference is that neither Batman or Robin have powers."

Slowly, Orion nodded. "I don't have powers."

"Maybe Charm can give you powers!" Gwen offered, and the boy's eyes widened.

"That's a terrible idea," Bethany whispered, knowing just how badly it'd gone when Charm had given Owen time powers. It might've worked, but she lost her best friend for three years! The only good thing that had come out of that was Bethany's shape-shifting powers, which was incredible in itself.

"We're seeing _Charm_?" Orion almost looked disgusted, making Bethany grin.

"Yep," she said. "The point is to recruit all of our friends, so we'll have a better chance of defeating Nobody. That was Owen's idea, by the way."

"Well, me _and_ Bethany's," Owen said, his face reddening. "It wasn't just mine. We came up with a plan together."

"Still, it was all your idea," she said, not sure why he was even trying to put himself down. She had never really liked his idea, but that was only because she wanted to handle everything herself. As long as they didn't get into _too_ much danger, though, she'd be okay with it. And seeing her friends was a bonus.

"We're going to need Charm, too," she added. "That's where we'll go next, I think." She glanced at Owen, watching his reaction. He didn't looked particularly excited, but he didn't look unhappy, either.

"Charm is from Kiel's world," Owen said, turning his attention to Kiel.

Orion looked at Kiel. "You're friends with Charm?"

Kiel shrugged. "Yeah. I don't think _she'd_ consider me her friend, but we worked together for a year. Saving the world, that kind of thing. I don't think she'll be very happy to see me."

"Why not?" Bethany asked.

He winced. "She's not exactly my biggest fan right now. I might have missed a few scheduled meet-ups."

"You were working on that spell, weren't you?" Gwen said. Kiel nodded. "So you didn't have time to see her. Just tell her the truth, and I'm sure she won't be mad."

"I guess so."

Bethany gave Owen a pointed look, encouraging him to say something. After all, he'd been pretending to be Kiel last time he was with Charm. Her best friend quickly shook his head. She sighed. _Great_. He wasn't going to say anything. One way or another, she knew that Charm would find out that Owen wasn't Kiel. And once that happened, there was no telling how she'd react. It wouldn't be fun to watch, that was for sure.

The group talked for the rest of the train ride until they finally arrived in the area of Jupiter City that Bethany was more familiar with. Following the long line of passengers, they climbed off of the train and walked a few blocks to the Jupiter Hill Observatory. It was just as empty as it was earlier, and with the knowledge that her father was gone, it felt even emptier.

Bethany and Orion entered first, and to her slight annoyance, Orion beat her to the telescope, typing the location of the moon into the computer. The wall behind the telescope disappeared, and they started down the stairs. Bethany flicked on the lights, then followed Orion deeper into the hideout, her friends trailing behind.

Orion glanced around the room, then made a beeline for one of the cabinets and ruffled through it. "Nice to see nothings changed."

"What are you looking for?" Bethany asked, trying to see into the cabinets.

"Something that _won't_ be unreliable," he said, pulling out his Twi-light, a very bright light that'd been helpful during their time under the Dark. Bethany had never had much use for it, since she tried to stay stealthy when fighting supervillians. Of course, staying stealthy never worked on her part.

Glancing around the room, Bethany caught sight of her own Twilight staff and smiled. In her haste, she hadn't noticed it earlier. It could also shrink to the size of a handheld telescope, so it would be easier to carry. She walked over to it and picked it up, curling her fingers around it.

"You're bringing that?" Owen asked, sidling up beside her.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, do you have any other cool superhero weapons I could borrow?" She turned to stare at him, and he slowly grinned. "What?"

"I _know_ why you're doing this," Bethany said, pointing a finger at him. "You'd take any chance you could to be a superhero. This could really be a —"

"Great idea?"

She rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway. "You know what? Here." She went over to a table and handed him a small blow-dart gun. "Go crazy. But _don't_ break it, Owen. I'm warning you!"

"I know! I'll be careful," he said, nodding and placing it in his backpack. Then he added, " _Mom_."

He did _not_ just call her that. Bethany furrowed her brows. "Hey, I'm just trying to watch out for your safety!"

"You _do_ sound like someone's mom," Kiel said, and she hit him on the arm.

From a few feet away, Gwen laughed in a way that normally would've made Bethany laugh too. But under the circumstances, she was annoyed. Even so, she had to hold back a laugh of her own.

Orion walked over to them, his Twilight staff slung across his back. "I would ask you what you're talking about, but then it occurred to me: I don't care."

"Huh. I thought all superheroes cared about everything," Kiel said, raising his eyebrows.

"I care about some things. Not this conversation, though."

"Great," Bethany said sarcastically. She looked around at her friends, who gathered around her. "Um, are you guys ready to go?"

Orion nodded, and Owen spoke up. "I am."

"Me too," Gwen said.

"We're going to my world next, right?" Kiel asked.

"That's the plan," Bethany said.

"Great! It would be very rude if we were going somewhere else, since you said before that we were." He grinned. "I can't wait for you to see the changes. I've heard Charm's been improving the place, but really, I haven't seen much improvement so far aside from Magisterians using some Quanterium equipment. I guess I'll see when I get there."

"Oh, I can't _wait!_ " Gwen said, breaking out into a grin. "I have a feeling I'm going to like your world. No doubt about it."

Bethany smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised. You like everything. You even like _Orion_ , and no one likes him!"

"Oh, shut up," Orion said, although she could tell he was smiling the slightest bit as the other three laughed. Her smile faded as she remembered the task at hand, and she went over to Owen, opening his backpack and taking out the last Kiel Gnomenfoot book.

"Ready to see Charm?" she asked Owen in a whisper, pulling him aside.

Owen swallowed hard, his eyes on the book in her hands. "Do you really think she'll be there?"

"I guess so. Gwen got back to her own world, so I think Charm is in her's."

He sighed, not saying anything for a few seconds. "I'm not sure about this, Bethany," he said finally, not looking at her. "About any of it. About fighting Nobody, about . . . telling Charm the truth . . . that I'm not Kiel. The more I think about it, the more nervous I get. I feel like I have no idea how to be myself around her. Like I'm embar—" He cut himself off, blushing.

She didn't know what to say, so instead, she offered him a strained smile, knowing exactly how he was feeling. She knew what it was like to feel nervous. She was nervous almost all the time. It was something she'd gotten used to, but that didn't mean it was comfortable. She knew from _Pick The Plot_ that he had a low self-esteem, which wasn't something she could relate to very much. All she could do was help Owen through his problems. It made her angry that she couldn't do more.

Bethany looked up to see that the others were standing nearby, listening to their conversation. She quickly opened the book, setting it on the ground. Since her friends already knew the procedure, they grabbed hold of each other's hands (although it took some convincing to make Orion hold anyone's).

Reminding herself that this would all work out eventually, that she'd find her father and defeat Nobody no matter what, she willed herself to jump them into the book. Her hands shook slightly as she leapt into _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source Of Magic,_ only to land face-first on the ground. The force wracked through her body, spreading pain throughout it.

Bethany groaned as she released her grip on her friends, who all seemed just as shocked as her. She slowly picked herself off the ground, being the first to do so. That had _never_ happened before. Not in all her years of book-jumping had she landed straight on the ground. Her eyes adjusted to the world that was Quanterium, and she froze, cold fear going through her. What she saw was a group of Science Police, their guns all pointed directly at them.

* * *

_  
"_ _It's time to rise up from the shadows. Rise up from the shadows . . ."_


	29. Owen’s Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen discovers new things about his powers. The kids search for Charm on Quanterium.

_**Let's Hurt Tonight (by One Republic)**_

_"_ _So I'll get the lights and you lock the doors. We ain't leaving this room 'til we both feel more . . ."_

* * *

The sound of lasers sizzling through the air was what Owen opened his eyes to, mere seconds after they jumped into _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source of Magic_. He was laying face-down on the ground, his broken arm screaming in pain from the impact, when suddenly, an all-too-familiar sound went through the air. A sound he hadn't heard since he was last in a Kiel Gnomenfoot book, which always sent a shiver down his spine. His eyes widened.

_Science Police_.

He heard his friends shouting, and he quickly lifted himself off the ground, almost stumbling over his own feet. He barely had time to look at his surroundings or dodge the lasers before he was shoved out of the way, and he landed back on the ground, crashing into a hallway. He groaned, then looked behind him to see Orion, who'd been the one to push him out of the way.

"T-Thanks," Owen said lamely, getting into a sitting position. He was shaking all over, and his robotic heart was racing a mile a minute. All he could hear was the heavy footsteps of the Science Police, and their lasers, which flew through the air faster than Owen could see.

Orion didn't respond, and instead led them hastily over to a podium just as more lasers came flying in their direction. Owen pressed himself against the podium, hoping it'd provide at least a little bit of protection. His breathing got more shaky, and he looked around for the others. At the end of the long hallway, he thought he might've seen Kiel, but he couldn't tell from this far away. That worried him more, but with the lasers on all sides of him, there was no way he could go out and look for them.

They were in a building much like the one Dr. Verity owned, but as far as Owen could tell, it wasn't the same exact one. There were several rooms that branched off from the hallway they were in, which all were dedicated to science. Of all the places that they could've landed, this was the _worst_ place to be.

" _What has Bethany dragged me into_?" Orion grumbled, more to himself than to Owen. He glanced at Owen, taking out his Twilight Staff. "Stay here, and don't move," he instructed. He started to move, but Owen grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

"Wait!" Owen cried. "These are Science Police robots. Their lasers can kill you, and they're —"

"I've had years of fighting experience," Orion said, yanking Owen's hand off of him. "I _know_ I can handle a few robots." Then he lifted his Twilight staff and stood up, edging around the podium. He quickly whacked his staff a few times into something that Owen couldn't see, then sprinted off out of Owen's view. He heard crashing noises, which blended together with the sounds of the Science Police and lasers.

He sighed, slumping back against the podium. Too bad he didn't have Spider-Man's spider-sense, where he'd get warned before danger. That would be helpful, especially in a situation like this! He'd only been in the fictional world for a couple of hours and he was already being thrown into danger at every turn. He had expected that, but not for Science Police to show up as soon as they jumped into the Kiel Gnomenfoot book!

Last time Owen had checked, the Science Police supposedly turned good after the war between Magisteria and Quanterium. Why were the Science Police attacking them, and why were there so many? They were still defending Quanterium at this point, but it wasn't like Owen and his friends had been attacking them. Owen could only assume that it was because Kiel was with them, but the whole situation was still confusing.

As he sat there without anything to do, Owen was reminded how useless he was against anyone fictional. He wasn't a hero and never would be, not even with his time powers. He was just _too_ normal and _too_ average, and everyone knew it. What chance did he have here? He wasn't even the sidekick in this scenario. He was a bystander, being forced to hide instead of fight because he couldn't win against the Science Police if he tried.

Last time he fought the Science Police had been with Kiel's magic, back when he was living out Kiel's final adventure in the seventh book. Magic had made things so easy and effortless, and Owen loved every second that he'd been able to use it. But he didn't have magic here, which was the Science Soldier's ultimate weakness. Kiel did, so at least _he'd_ be able to use magic on them. He was the magician, not Owen.

Somewhere behind him, he heard Gwen's voice, followed by Bethany's and then Kiel's. From the noises behind him, he could assume that his friends were fighting the robots. He felt useless for just sitting here with a broken arm and a backpack on his shoulders. He needed a way to fight them. He remembered that he had a blow-dart gun in his backpack, but that was only useful on _real_ people, not robots.

Could he break into a computer and rewire the robots somehow? Or could he trip them? Or would the blow-darts work on them, despite them being robots? Or (this was a long shot) could he throw the last book in his backpack (the Kara Dox book) at the robots, knocking them over? Okay, _that_ was unrealistic and not likely at all. Who was he kidding? None of that would work!

Remembering the Kara Dox book made him think about Kara, and he remembered suddenly how much he missed her. So much had happened since he last saw her, and he felt a bit guilty that he hadn't really thought about her lately. He hadn't seen her in . . . how many days? He'd almost lost track of time, but he was pretty sure that he'd been in the nonfictional world for almost three weeks. He needed to see her again, if that was even possible.

A laser beam hit the floor at his feet, jolting him from his daydreams. His heart leapt in his throat. He quickly wiped Kara from his mind, pressing himself closer against the podium. He had to focus, not get distracted! He yelped as another beam struck the floor, then scrambled to his feet, his entire body shaking from fear and adrenaline.

Owen broke out into a cold sweat as the footsteps of the Science Police came closer. He frantically looked around, trying to think of something. There was nowhere to run. There were lasers on all sides of him, and any second now, the Science Police robots would arrive. Although his friends had been fighting them for the past couple of minutes, it was clear that they were definitely outnumbered.

He couldn't stay here any longer. If he stayed, he'd be hit by the lasers, which could be deadly. Most lasers could only stun a person, but given that these were Science Police, Owen could guess that the lasers could do a lot more than stun. Either way, it wouldn't be good if he got hit with one. He had to get out of here right away. He had to do something to fight back against the robots and help his friends! But what?

As his imagination conjured over all of the impossible things he could do, Owen's heart began to beat so quickly that he started to worry it would collapse. He put a hand over it, wondering why it was racing so fast, only for the realization to slap him in the face. His time powers! In the midst of the chaos, he'd forgotten all about them. That could work, at least to help him get somewhere safer. But what use would they be here?

Owen glanced over at the lasers, which were now suspended in midair. Unfortunately, since the lasers were still moving at the speed of light, they were moving very slowly. But it was more manageable than the speed they'd been at before, which meant that be able to sneak past them without getting hit. He broke out into a grin. Maybe he wasn't _so_ useless after all!

Ducking low, he walked out into the line of fire, being careful to dodge around the lasers. He didn't want to know what would happen if he touched them, so he avoided them at all costs. Once he got past the majority of them, he walked over to the Science Police robots that had been shooting at him. Unlike the lasers, they were completely frozen in time.

As hard as he could, Owen kicked the one nearest him. It was heavy, but he managed to make it wobble the slightest bit. Before the robot could return back to its original position, Owen kicked it again, and it toppled onto the robot next to it, which caused _that_ robot to fall into the robot beside it. All three fell to the ground, some of their metal parts breaking from the impact.

"Oh no, did you trip?" Owen shouted, grinning at he stared down at the fallen robots. "I bet that hurt! How does it feel?"

Then, his feeling of victory was dimmed as he glanced around at the tons of Science Police around them. There weren't as many as he thought; maybe fifty at the most. A lot of them were on the ground, fully destroyed, while others were in the middle of fighting his friends or shooting lasers at them. It was still a lot, though. Too many for four teenagers — plus Owen — to take on.

Orion was closest to him, his arm positioned to throw a Twilight throwing star at one of the robots. Using her jetpack, Gwen was flying through the air, looking like she was trying to dodge the lasers that flew at her. Bethany was fighting a robot, her ponytail whipping around her as she kicked it in the chest. As for Kiel, he'd somehow ended up on the ground, his wand-knives digging into a Science Police robot.

Owen stared at his friends, marveling over how cool they looked while time was frozen. It was annoying that he couldn't be helpful in an actual fight. His time powers were the only thing that made him useful, but when it came to fighting with a weapon, Owen had almost no experience. If only he didn't have a broken arm, he could at least wield a sword or another weapon of his own.

He tore himself out of his thoughts, not wanting to waste any more time than he had to. He got to work, shoving as many Science Police as he could muster to the ground. It was hard given his broken arm and his lack of physical strength, but his adrenaline and determination pushed him forward. There was nothing else he could do besides this, so knocking the Science Police over was the best option for now.

Once he'd finished shoving as many as he could to the ground, Owen went to a new hiding place where there weren't any Science Police around, giving him a chance to watch what his friends were doing. His heart was still racing, enough to make it almost painful. It'd been maybe thirty minutes, and he'd become tired from using his time powers. Taking a deep breath, he started to ease his hold on time, only for an incredible idea to pop into his head.

What if his time powers could let him do more than just freeze time? With her magical glove, the Countess had had her own kind of time powers. She'd had the ability to speed up a person's own time, simply by touching them with her glove. Could Owen do something like that to the Science Police? Would it even work?

Turning his gaze to a cluster of Science Police, Owen took a deep breath, the sound of his heart pounding being the only thing he heard. Stretching his palm out, he pushed his powers outward, away from his body and into the bodies of the robots. His chest tightened in pain, but he ignored it, letting his imagination run wild. He imagined time speeding up thousands of years only for the robots, making them too old and rusted to perform any tasks.

As he willed it to happen, he heard creaking noises, and saw the robots begin to grow rusted. _Finally_. Yes, it was working! For once, he were being useful for something. He tried to smile in triumph, then gasped as more pain went through his body. But he had to keep going. He couldn't give up now. Not when he was so close! There were tons of Science Police everywhere. He had to do something to help his friends, because there was no way they could fight all of them at once.

Owen's entire body shook as continued to will his powers forward, concentrating hard so he wouldn't accidentally hurt his friends. His raised hand trembled, but he forced it upright, since it seemed to help direct his power. He focused on the Science Police, imagining that they'd become so old that they wouldn't work properly anymore. His eyes glazed over, and he nearly stumbled as his chest rocketed with pain, and black began to appear at the edges of his vision.

He gasped again, dropping his hand to press it against his chest, where his heart was racing out of control. It was hard to think now. He couldn't understand why he was in so much pain. Weakly, he glanced up at the Science Police, who had become much more rusted than before. He had to finish this.

For once, he needed to be the hero that everyone looked up to. That was all Owen had ever wanted. He would pay everything he had just to be the hero of his own story for once, not the sidekick that no one cared about. He didn't want to mess things up anymore. All he wanted was for his friends to be proud of him.

With one last look at his frozen friends, Owen made his decision. He willed his powers forward again, imagining that each Science Police robot would age until they couldn't work as he speeded up their own time. But before even five seconds passed, the blackness returned to his vision, and he lost all awareness of his surroundings. Owen barely remembered falling backwards as the world dissolved around him. He tumbled to the ground, and everything went black.

* * *

"Owen!"

"Owen, are you okay?"

"I told him to hide like, ten minutes ago! What happened to him?"

"Oh no . . ."

"Owen, wake up!" a girl's voice shouted, and Owen slowly opened his eyes, wondering why everything was so echoey and loud. Everything was blurry, and he felt so exhausted that he couldn't make sense of anything. His entire body hurt, especially his chest. His heart itself felt like it was in enormous pain.

As he took a slow, deep breath, the pain lessened slightly. He crinkled his eyebrows, barely able to make out the blurry forms standing around him. Was he on the ground? Owen set his gaze on the person kneeling at his side, then blinked a few times, focusing on the person's long bronze hair. "B . . . Bethany?"

His best friend sighed in relief, and he saw the others do the same. "I'm so glad you're okay. _Never_ do that again!"

Owen blinked again, and his vision slowly returning. Now, he could make out the worried expressions on his friends' faces. "What . . . huh?" he whispered, too tired to say much of anything else. He struggled to sit up, but the world spun around him, and Bethany gently pushed him back down.

"Just rest for a second," she said. "We have time."

Owen lifted his head, before groaning and setting it back down. He was too dizzy and exhausted to move, or even think. "But . . . Science Police?"

"Oh, yeah, that was awesome," Kiel said, smiling at him. "Was that you who turned all of them into rust? That was incredible. They all stopped working!" Weakly, Owen nodded, feeling a rush of pride go through him.

"He risked his _life_ for us!" Bethany snapped, whipping her head around to look at him. "He didn't need to do that."

Orion nodded in agreement, his arms crossed. "He didn't. What he _should've_ been doing was hiding, like I told him to." He gave Owen a hard look, who only smiled back. Orion sighed heavily. "Never-mind."

"It's what . . . Kiel . . . would do . . ." Owen said quietly, and the boy magician only stared at him, a small frown on his face.

"You're right," Kiel said. "I would've done that. It's really impressive that you were able to kill all of them, but we also could've handled it as a group. I mean, I'm much more impressive all on my own, but those were a _lot_ of Science Police. It takes a lot of energy to do all of that on your own."

"Wanted to be . . . a hero," Owen whispered, this time only quiet enough for himself to hear.

Bethany stared at him, and he looked away, feeling embarrassed without really knowing why. Couldn't she be happy for him? Why did she have to act like he'd done a bad thing? He'd saved his friends — actually _saved_ them! That was enough to make Owen feel happy about what he'd done.

"I was so worried about you," Gwen said, kneeling beside him. She rubbed the back of his hand. "You did really great!"

He automatically smiled, soaking in the praise. He might've almost died, but hearing approval from his friends made it worthwhile. Even if it was only for a few minutes. "Thanks, Gwen."

"No problem." She grinned. "You saved us."

"I can carry your backpack," Bethany offered, and before Owen could protest, she took it from underneath him, making the ground feel a bit less bulky. Then, she unzipped it and handed him one of the plastic water bottles that he'd brought, which he drank right away.

"So, what did you do to the Science Police?" Bethany asked when he was done, taking his water bottle back and sliding it into the backpack again.

"I used my time powers," Owen said slowly, as the memories from his fight against the Science Police came rushing back to him. He slowly began to sit up, and this time, no one moved to stop him. "I thought that I could only freeze time, but then I wondered if I could speed up or slow down someone else's time. The Countess had that power, so I thought that maybe . . . I could do it too. I tried speeding up the time of the Science Police until they were too old to work anymore. And it worked! I didn't even know I could _do_ that."

Just to make sure it had actually happened, Owen looked over, and surely enough every single Science Police robot was on the ground, their metal bodies turned into rust. He still couldn't wrap his head around it — to know that his _powers_ had done that, and that he'd managed to save everyone without messing up for once. It didn't seem real.

"Wow," Kiel said, leaning down and grabbing Owen's hand, helping him to his feet. "I didn't either. I can't believe that happened. That's incredible. It's almost like magic, but without any spells."

"It's called having superpowers," Orion said dryly.

"Same difference."

"No, it's not. They're two completely different things."

"My time powers _are_ superpowers," Owen said, hoping that his friends weren't about to start a fight for no reason. He glanced at Kiel, grinning a bit. "But it did seem a lot like magic when I used it on the Science Police. I'm just glad I was able to discover more about my powers. I wouldn't have been able to if I hadn't tried using them on the robots."

He meant it, too. If he hadn't come up with the idea to speed up the Science Police's time, he wouldn't have unlocked a completely new side to his powers that he never even knew about before. It was exciting, but it was also scary to know that he could speed up and slow down someone else's time. What if he accidentally did that to a person? He shuddered at the thought, not wanting to even think about it.

The group turned to look back over at the fallen Science Police, and Bethany stood up, brushing off her pants. "Let's get out of here. Kiel, do you think any more Science Police would be here?"

"I doubt it," Kiel said. "With the amount there were here, it looks like that was all of them."

"Maybe not all," Orion said, his voice low. "There could always be more."

"I hope not," Bethany muttered, running a hand through her hair. "I really don't want to go through that again. That was _way_ too many Science Police."

"I think that was all of them," Gwen said. "Want me to check? I can fly around on my jetpack and look for more."

"That's okay," Bethany said, waving her off as she put Owen's backpack over her own shoulders. "You don't need to do that. Let's just go. We need to find Charm as soon as possible." She swallowed hard. "And my father. I'm not going to leave him again. He needs my help."

" _Our_ help," Orion corrected.

Owen nodded, glancing at Bethany to see that a shadow had passed over her face at the reminder of her missing father. "We'll get him, I _promise_!" he told her. "We'll rescue him once we actually face Nobody. But we can't do anything for him yet. For now we just need to find the rest of our friends before we do anything else."

Orion grumbled something, not looking too happy about that. Owen felt bad that they weren't going to fight Nobody and find Bethany's father right away, but they did need to get the rest of their friends first if they could even stand a chance against him. That was how it worked in superhero comics and fantasy books. It was easier to fight as a group.

He wanted to rescue Bethany's father as much as they did, but unfortunately it would have to wait until they found Charm and Kara, their last remaining friends. Owen didn't have a clue where Nobody and Doc Twilight could be, anyway. It was easier to get their friends together, make up an unbeatable plan, and then fight Nobody as a team. He was sure that they'd win this time, and hopefully they would save Bethany's father, too.

"Charm might be on her spaceship," Kiel said, changing the subject. "That's where my first guess would be. Or anywhere on Quanterium, really."

"Let's go find her spaceship, then," Bethany said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"That's the problem. I'm not sure where her spaceship _is_ ," the boy magician pointed out. "But the good news is that we're already on Quanterium, so finding her shouldn't be too hard. If she's not in her spaceship, then she's probably in one of the science centers or in the president building."

"So in other words, you have no idea where she is," Orion stated. " _Great_."

"I have _some_ ideas where she is, just not anywhere specific."

"Maybe we should look for her spaceship first, then?" Gwen suggested.

"Probably." Kiel shrugged. "That would be the best direction to take for now."

"Then let's _go_ there," Bethany said impatiently. She started walking down the hallway, and the rest of the group followed. "Or to whatever science building you mentioned. I don't care _where_ she is, but we have to find her."

"We will," Owen said, a bit confused why Bethany was acting so annoyed all of the sudden. This wasn't uncommon for her, but it was still weird, especially after he'd saved their lives. "We know where she _could_ be, which is at least getting us somewhere. Kiel knows more about Charm than anyone, including where she spends most of her time. Right?" He looked at Kiel, who nodded.

"We should be able to find her soon," Kiel said as he walked beside Owen. "And if we don't, she'll probably find _me_. She's always been good at tracking me down. Just not within the past three years, because I'm better at hiding." He chuckled.

Owen smiled. Then the idea of seeing Charm again fully sunk in, and his smile faded. As excited as he'd been to see her, he was growing more and more nervous as time went on. And it wasn't just because of her demeanor, which was hardly friendly at all. As much as he'd missed her, he always felt guilty and nervous every time he thought of her.

Sometime in the past week, it had dawned on him that he'd have to tell Charm the truth. Once she saw him and Kiel together . . . there'd be no denying it. Owen wouldn't be able to hide behind a facade anymore, even if it made himself feel more confident than he actually was. He had no idea what he would say when he saw her again, but he knew was done pretending to be Kiel.

He was done with lying. He didn't know how Bethany did it all those years, lying to her mother about jumping into books. Every time he lied, it felt like he was sinking farther into quicksand, unable to pull himself out. He felt bad about pretending to be someone he wasn't, even if that 'someone' was Kiel Gnomenfoot, who he aspired to be even now. Charm was his friend. He had to tell her the truth about what had really happened, or else he'd regret it forever.

Somehow, Owen had to tell her the truth. But the thought of telling her everything made him want to curl into a ball. It was hard just to imagine it. What if it all went badly? Would she get mad, or would she accept it? It didn't really matter. He had to say it anyway. He could only hope that things would go well once he told her. Maybe she would understand, and maybe she would forgive him for the actions of his past self. It didn't hurt to be optimistic.

While Owen thought over this, he and his friends made their way down the maze of hallways until they found the exit, which turned out to be a pair of double glass doors. He still felt exhausted from using his time powers, but he was already feeling much better than he had a few minutes ago. After a good night's rest, he'd feel even better, though he doubted he'd be getting much sleep anytime soon.

All of the sudden, Orion stopped in his tracks, making Owen nearly slam right into him. He paused, holding up a hand for them to be quiet. "Hear that?"

"What—" Owen started to ask, but Orion shushed him. Their group went quiet, listening for what Orion had heard. Owen strained his ears, and very faintly, he could detect the sounds of robotic voices and metal clanking on the ground. Uh oh. _More_ Science Police?

" _That_ doesn't sound good," Bethany whispered, her eyes wide.

"Okay. Yep, there's more Science Police," Kiel said under his breath, cringing. "This is certainly going to be a problem." Orion glanced at him with a single nod before turning to look back at the hallway in front of them.

Owen's eyes widened. "What are we gonna do?"

"I thought that was all of them," Gwen said in a quiet voice.

"Me too," Bethany breathed, her body completely still.

"Well . . . let's try to be positive about this. I'm sure we can figure something out. It'll be fine. Maybe they won't attack us?"

"Did you _not_ see what just happened in there?" Orion hissed, whipping his head around. "They'll attack us no matter what. We need to get out of here before we're all killed."

"I agree," Owen said, feeling too tired to get thrown into another fight. How were there more Science Police already? This place must be swarming with them, because he hadn't even seen a real Quanterium person yet. Orion was right. They had to get out of here right away.

"You guys go ahead," Kiel said, pulling out his wand-knives as the sounds of the Science Police got closer. He winked at them. "I can hold them off."

" _Wait a minute_ —" Orion began.

"What?" Bethany demanded. "Kiel, we couldn't handle that many before!"

"Yes, but I've fought the Science Police tons of times," Kiel said. "They can't handle my magic."

She rolled her eyes. "You aren't doing that. That's a really bad idea, and it wouldn't work anyway. There's too many of them."

"If we're gonna go, we need to go now, guys. They're gonna be here any second!" Owen said, nervously looking down the hallway. From what he could hear, the Science Police were coming closer. They'd come down the hallway any second now, and he really didn't want to be here when that happened.

"Owen's right," Gwen insisted. "Come on, we can still get out through one of the doors! I'm sure the exit is somewhere around here."

"We'll have to go back that way," Bethany said, pointing behind them. "Maybe there's a door back there?"

Orion sighed. "If there was a door back there don't you think I would've seen it?"

"You could've missed it."

"No, I wouldn't have," he shot back. "Because unlike the rest of you, I've actually been paying attention to where we're going.”

Gwen frowned. "That's not nice, Orion."

"Are you kidding?" Bethany huffed, glaring at her father's sidekick. "I've been paying attention, too! I've only seen a bunch of rooms with science equipment in them, but we could've missed something."

"I think Bethany's right: we need to go back the way we came," Kiel said, glancing back towards the direction of the Science Police. "Hopefully we'll find a way out there. I don't think we have a choice, since the Science Police are coming from this way." He bit his lip. "Although, I didn't see an exit door either."

"Really?" Orion deadpanned. "So we're trapped here, then. _Perfect_." He sighed. "Guess we'll have to start searching for that door that I apparently missed." He glared at his adopted sister.

"I don't care who saw a door!" Owen said, his voice unexpectedly squeaking. He blushed, but he quickly played it off, trying to pretend that never happened. "Stop arguing! We have to go before _more_ Science Police come! We just have to get out of here!"

"Exactly. Arguing won't get us anywhere," Kiel said, leading them back the way they came. "Come on!"

Only able to focus on the footsteps of the Science Police, Owen followed his friends down the hallway, his heart still filled with a small amount of pain.

Behind them, the metallic footsteps grew closer, and a robotic voice said, "HEAT SIGNATURES DETECTED. VOICE RECOGNITION DOES NOT MATCH ANY KNOWN QUANTERIANS. DEFENSE MEASURES INITIATED."

Owen cringed, sneaking a glance behind him. He didn't see anything yet, but the Science Police definitely we're getting very close. If they didn't find an exit soon they'd be caught for sure.

They reentered the large room where they'd fought with the Science Police, and Owen looked wildly around. It was a dead-end, and the only place to go was through the hallway they'd come from. This couldn't be happening! He was about to say to his friends that he didn't see an exit, when suddenly, something caught his eye from next to where they were standing.

"I have an idea," he said, walking over to an air-vent that looked large enough for each of them to climb through. He'd seen this done tons of times in movies, and this _was_ the fictional world, so it would have to work. The air-vent was secured by several screws. "Does anyone know how to open it?"

Orion smirked. "Of course I do. I've crawled through air-vents countless times when I fought supervillians." He crouched down, then retrieved a piece of wire from his pocket and carefully unscrewed it. Once the screws were off, he put his hands on either side of the air-vent and lifted the heavy hinge from the wall. Kicking the hinge to the side, he climbed into the air-vent with ease, making Owen wonder how many times he'd done this.

"Do all Earthers do this?" Gwen asked, looking puzzled yet excited all the same. When Owen only gave her a confused look, she said, "I mean, is this an Earth thing to do?"

In spite of the situation, Owen grinned a little. "Kind of. I've always wanted to do this."

He watched as Orion crawled out of sight, only for Gwen to climb in right after him, flashing a smile back at them before she continued on her way. Owen glanced at Bethany, who didn't look thrilled at all about the idea, then at Kiel, who looked excited at the idea of danger. As soon as Gwen was farther down the air-vent, the boy magician climbed in after Gwen, a casual grin on his face.

Down the hallway, the robotic voices grew louder, and Owen realized that they were just around the corner. He and Bethany shared an uneasy look, and she said, "You go first."

"No," he said, hastily shaking his head. " _You_ go. If they attack, I can use my time powers."

" _Owen_." She groaned. "You fainted the last time you used them! I'm not gonna let you almost kill yourself again."

"What?" Owen asked. "Bethany, I'm not going to kill myself! I'd be fine!" She didn't say anything, and instead continued to glare at him. He frowned. "Are you mad at me?"

"No." Bethany paused, but the irritated expression on her face was still there. "Why would you think that?"

". . . Because you're acting like you're mad?"

" _I'm not_."

"It seems like you are," he said. "Is this because I used my time powers? I'm sorry — I really am — if I did something to make you mad, but I . . . I just wanted to be a hero. I wanted to save everyone."

She furrowed her brows, staring at him. "You didn't _need_ to prove yourself to anyone, Owen. You already _are_ a hero, okay? You keep doubting yourself, and sometimes I wish you'd stop." She sighed. "I'm not _mad_. I'm just frustrated that you had to almost kill yourself to save everyone! Don't you get that you could've seriously injured yourself even more?"

"Yeah . . . I-I know," Owen replied, lowering his head. "But Kiel does it all the time. Why am I any different?"

"Because you aren't—" She cut herself off. "You're my best friend. Kiel's, well, _Kiel_ , and he's been running straight into danger all his life without getting hurt. You're—"

"Useless," he finished.

"What? That is _not_ what I was going to say," Bethany said. "We're in Kiel's book series now, and you can easily get hurt. But just so you know, you're just as much as a hero as me _and_ Kiel are. And you don't need to sacrifice yourself to prove you're something that you already are, okay?"

"Okay, yeah. You're right," he said, not knowing what else to say. What _could_ he say? That he didn't believe her? That he was sorry for scaring her, but that didn't change the fact that he still wanted to be a hero? That he still wanted to be more like Kiel? "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," Bethany said, shaking her head. "It doesn't really matter anymore. You did great, by the way. Using your time powers like that."

"Really?" He smiled at that, and she gave him a small smile back.

A noise made them both jump, and Owen looked up just as a cluster of Science Police came running into the room, their ray guns lifted towards them. A laser whizzed past Owen's ear, and he gasped. He barely had time to dodge another laser before Bethany yanked him to the ground, practically shoving him into the air-vent.

"Get in!" she shouted.

"I know! Got it!" Owen shouted back, his heart racing. He climbed into the air-vent, which proved harder than he thought it would be, especially because of his broken arm. Using one hand and both his feet, Owen crawled as quickly as he could down the air-vent. Behind him, he heard Bethany climbing into the air-vent, so he sped up.

Somewhere down the tunnel, he heard the hushed voices of Orion, Gwen, and Kiel. They were too far away for him to hear what they were saying, which made him wonder just how long he'd have to keep crawling in here. The air-vent was only wide enough for one person to crawl through, and he couldn't lift his head without hitting it on the ceiling.

"You okay?" he called back to Bethany, who was breathing heavily.

"Yeah," she grunted. "Just didn't think I'd be _climbing through an air-vent_."

"This is kinda cool, though, isn't it?" he said, although he felt just as uncomfortable. "It makes me feel like I'm in a movie."

She laughed breathlessly. "Of _course_ you'd say that. I should've expected you only wanted to do this because of some random superhero movie that this happened in."

" _Hey!_ It's not just about that. It's a good idea, and I didn't see any other exits!"

"I didn't either," Bethany muttered. "I just hope we'll be out of here soon. It feels so cramped in here." She sounded anxious, Owen realized.

"We'll be out of here soon. This air-vent can't go on forever," he assured her, but the air-vent was dark, and he wasn't even sure if he believed himself.

Bethany didn't respond, so Owen instead tried to focus on the path in front of him. As exciting as the idea of crawling through an air-vent was, actually doing it was entirely different. The tunnel seemed to go on forever, and if it wasn't for his friends voices up ahead he wouldn't have known which direction to turn. He didn't want to imagine what would happen if he got lost here. It wasn't a nice thought.

They crawled along the dark air-vents for about fifteen minutes in silence, and Owen's excitement about crawling inside an air-vent had vanished. Now, he only felt tired, and his hope was dwindling. He felt cramped, and his back was slightly sore from being hunched over for so long. His broken arm throbbed with pain each time he hit it against the ground, making him wince every time it happened.

He was growing tired again, especially since the air-vent seemed to go on for miles. Maybe this hadn't been a good decision. What if the air-vents went on forever, and he and his friends would never make it out? They'd blame him, just like they'd done time and time again, and just like Owen did to himself. Once again, he would've messed everything up. It would be his fault. _Again_.

Owen turned the next corner, guided by his friends' voices up ahead. Soon after that, a light appeared up ahead, and he felt hope blossom in his chest. His heart began to race, this time from excitement. Was this their way out?

"Kiel!" he shouted. "Gwen, Orion! Do you guys see an exit up there?"

"Yeah! Keep moving, and you'll see it. It's on the right!" Kiel shouted back, his voice far away as it echoed across the air-vent.

"What's going on?" Bethany asked.

"They found an exit!" Owen exclaimed, a smile on his face. That got both of them moving faster, and despite the tight space and the stiffness of his body, Owen was more hopeful than ever. He moved with renewed determination as the light in front of him gradually got brighter. He crawled through the tunnel as fast as he could, trying to ignore the painful ache of his arm.

He and Bethany followed the direction of the light, until finally, they reached the exit that Kiel had told them about. They came across a bend to the right, and as Owen turned the corner, he saw a hole leading out to the streets of Quanterium. Breaking out into a grin, Owen crawled the rest of the way towards it and pushed himself out, spilling out onto the sidewalk.

He glanced up to see Kiel, Orion, and Gwen standing above him, waiting for them. Gwen was gazing up at the buildings, amazement on her face. "Wow, its so beautiful here!"

"Eh, I think Magisteria looks a lot better," Kiel said, shrugging a little. "That's where I live. But I bet once Charm does more renovations, it'll look much better."

Getting to his feet, Owen stood up, dusting his clothes off. "I can't believe that _worked_. We made it!"

A moment later, Bethany came into view. Grunting, she pushed herself out of the air-vent and stood up. She shuddered, brushing off her clothes, which had dust all over them. "Ugh. I really hope I never have to do that again."

"Me neither," Owen muttered. "That felt like it was going on for hours."

Out of nowhere, she grinned at him, her anger from before faded away. "What happened to 'I've always wanted to do this', Owen Conners? Didn't you say that like twenty minutes ago?"

He opened and closed his mouth, his face reddening. "Well, that was before I did it. I changed my mind. And you didn't like it anymore than I did. I don't think anyone did."

"It wasn't a problem for me," Orion said, smirking at them.

Bethany rolled her eyes. "Easy for _you_ to say. You've done it tons of times."

"Yeah!" Owen added. "You're a superhero, so you're used to this."

"Hey, I'm not a superhero, and it wasn't _that_ bad," Kiel said, flashing a wink at them.

"I thought it was fun," Gwen spoke up. "I love the new experiences! They just make me _so happy_."

Owen had to smile at that. Gwen really was a great person to have around, and he already found himself feeling more optimistic about what he'd just gone through. Meanwhile, Orion said nothing, looking completely done with everything. It seemed that Gwen's optimism did the exact opposite on Orion's part.

Kiel pointed a finger at Gwen. "I like you, Gwen. You're fun!"

"And I'm not?" Bethany asked, raising her eyebrows.

He only laughed.

They started walking deeper into the city, keeping their distance from the Science Police with the hope that they wouldn't be attacked again. Owen took a moment to look around Quanterium, which looked different from the first time he'd seen it. Aside from the unexpected attack they'd just went through, the planet seemed more peaceful than it used to be. Instead of robotic machines, real people were walking around, both Magisterians and Quanterians.

"Wow, things really _have_ changed," Owen observed. "The two planets used to be at war with each other, and now they seem to be coexisting. Magisterians are here too?"

"Looks like it," Kiel said. "I haven't visited Quanterium in a few years, but I saw the changes on Magisteria, too. Things aren't perfect yet, but they're headed there. Charm was elected as Quanterium's president recently, too. At least, that's what I heard."

"I remember," Owen said, recalling Charm's presidential speech during the epilogue of _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source Of Magic_. "But since this is three years later, why did the Science Police attack us? And why were there so many?”

Kiel frowned. "I'm not sure. I mean, according to the Science Police, I'm still considered a criminal, so that could've been why they attacked us. They've attacked me even _after_ the war ended. But I don't know why there were so many in one place. There's also a chance that security has been increasing." He shrugged. "I don't know. But we should be safe now, as long as we don't run into anymore Science Police."

"Why did the Science Police want to attack you?" Gwen asked him, looking concerned. "You don't seem threatening to me. You're really nice."

Kiel grinned. "Thanks. I've just had a bad reputation with the Science Police, I guess. I was on Magisteria's side during the war, and I became pretty well known given how awesome I am."

"And now that the war is over, they still want to attack you? That seems wrong."

"It's okay," he said. "I'm used to it, really! I've never liked the Science Police, and they've never been a fan of me either. I'm not gonna complain about it. I'm just happy that Quanterium and Magisteria have been friendlier to each other."

Bethany looked concerned, and opened her mouth to say something, but Orion cut her off. "Hey, where's Charm's spaceship? Are we even going the right way?"

"Of course," Kiel said with a wink as he led them through the crowds, navigating through them as if he'd been here a hundred times, which he definitely had. "We're heading to the Presidential Palace first, just to check if Charm's there. If she's not, we'll look for her spaceship.”

The city grew more crowded and elaborate as they soon approached the Presidential Palace, where Owen had been captured by Dr. Verity when he was disguised as Kiel. When Owen had last seen the palace, it'd been surrounding by Science Soldier armies. Now, it was much less threatening (although a few Science Police were walking around, who they managed to avoid).

  
The five of them climbed the steps and stopped at the palace's entrance. Owen quickly looked around at the crowd below, feeling more nervous as time went on. Would Charm be here? Would she not? Would she be happy to see him? There were endless ways that this could go, and it made his stomach twist into a knot.

"Um, are we going inside?" Bethany asked, tapping Kiel's arm.

"Yeah, Beth," Kiel replied softly. "Just checking if any more Science Police are nearby."

Flashing her a smile, he pulled open the large door of the Presidential Palace, holding it open for them to walk through. Owen walked inside first, and his mouth dropped open as he gazed around at the inside of the palace, which was more beautiful than he'd ever seen it. All of the sudden, someone bumped into him hard, and he shouted in surprise as he fell to the ground.

"Owen!" Bethany shouted, moving to help him up. Muttering an apology, Owen got up as quickly as he could, blushing hard. But then, he stared at the person he'd bumped into, and his brain stopped working.

Charm was standing in front of him, looking just as Owen remembered with her red robotic eye, robotic parts covering half her body, and a robotic arm and leg. Faster than Owen could react, Gwen went forward and threw her arms around Charm, hugging her. "Charm! It's so nice to see you!"

Charm looked mostly confused, but nonetheless, a faint smile came to her face. "Gwen?" She glanced at Bethany. "Bethany? Glad to see you turned back from a beam of light. I was planning on helping with that, but I was sent back to my planet by _Nobody_ and well, a lot happened."

"Wait, you know Nobody?" Bethany asked, her eyebrows shooting up. "That's what we came to find you for. We're recruiting people to fight him."

Charm was about to respond, but then, she glanced at Owen and Kiel, and her eyes widened in shock. A red grid briefly passed over her eyes, and she glared at Owen. "Wait, Kiel? You're back?" Then she looked at Kiel, and she looked more confused than ever. " _Two_ Kiel's? What's going on?”

"Oh, um, hi." Owen smiled awkwardly, too distracted at the sight of her to listen to a word she'd just said. Should he grab her hand? Pat her shoulder? Hug her? Every option seemed unreasonably terrifying, but given the expression on her face, it didn't seem like the right time. "Sorry, I was distracted for a second. Can you repeat whatever you just said?"

"I said, _what's going_ _on_?" Charm demanded. "I just got alerted a few minutes ago that the robotic heart I gave him finally showed up on Quanterium right around here. And I've been looking for Kiel for years, trying to find out wherever he went missing!"

Kiel cringed. "Sorry about that. You know, I did have a good reason for it."

The half-robotic stared at Kiel, then pointed at Owen, narrowing her eyes. "And last time I checked, you, _Kiel_ , disguised yourself. But now I'm not sure if that's true, because the regular Kiel is also right here."

"No one is like me," Kiel said, looking confused. "My awesomeness is very unique."

"Would someone care to explain what's going on before I start ray-gunning everyone?" Charm demanded. She glanced at Gwen. "Except the absurdly nice girl. And probably not Bethany. Maybe the sidekick, though."

"It's a really long story," Bethany said quickly.

Owen was frozen, both from fear and embarrassment. He didn't know what to say or how to say it, and it made everything worse that Charm was standing right there, already angry at him. This was already going so much worse than he thought it would, and he hadn't even told her the truth yet!

"Well, I have all the time in the world to hear it," Charm said darkly, walking past them to the door. They didn't have much of a choice but to follow. "This _better_ be good."

They walked in silence a short distance to a less populated area of the city, where Charm led them to a fountain to discuss everything that had happened. After pulling Kiel aside and talking to him for nearly twenty minutes, she'd seemed to less confused than before, although she still had the same angry look on her face. Kiel walked over to where the rest of the group sat, and Charm waved Owen over to talk to her next.

Owen stared fearfully at Kiel, who only sighed, taking a seat in the grass beside Bethany. "She wants to talk to you, and she's not happy. Well, she's pretty much forgiven me, but she thinks you know more than I do. She wants to hear your side of the story, since apparently she thinks you're me?"

Not knowing what to say, Owen nodded, shaking getting to his feet. He glanced back at Kiel, who mouthed "good luck", then looked at Bethany, who smiled despite looking worried. Orion just looked confused and irritated as usual, while Gwen gave him an encouraging thumbs-up. With a sigh, Owen trudged over to the fountain, which was where Charm was impatiently waiting.

"Kiel tells me that you're not him, but honestly, I'm not sure _what_ to think," Charm said as soon as he sat down. "You have Kiel's robotic heart, and my scanners tell me that you're him. Either way, you have some explaining to do, because I'm not sure who to believe."

Owen bit his lip, not saying anything for a while. As his nerves heightened, he tried to think of something to say. Telling her the truth would be hard. He always knew it would be. Ever since Bethany and Kiel had rescued him from the seventh Kiel Gnomenfoot book, he'd thought many times about telling Charm the truth. He never figured it'd happen this way, and he didn't feel confident at all about telling her. He was ashamed of his past self's actions, and all he wanted was for her to like him, to forgive him.

Now, there was nothing left to do but tell Charm the truth about who he really was. He'd kept it a secret for years, letting her think he was Kiel Gnomenfoot when he actually wasn't. He felt guilty about it, too. But he'd just never known how to tell her. He didn't know how she'd react, or how he'd explain the situation to her. It was probably the hardest thing he'd ever have to do.

Taking a deep breath, Owen began his explanation with a feeling of dread. "The truth is, I'm not Kiel Gnomenfoot. I never was. I should've told you all of this earlier, but I . . . I didn't know _how_. Back when we were looking for the seventh key, that was me, disguised as Kiel. The real Kiel was on a different world. That's why _I_ have your robotic heart, not Kiel. That's why you thought I was Kiel before, but I'm not."

Charm just stared at him, her eyes furrowed as she slowly reached for her ray gun. "You're _not_ Kiel? Who are you, then?"

Owen held up a hand, stopping her before she decided to shoot him. "Don't shoot, okay? You can trust me. I know I lied to you, but that was before I knew you. I . . . I was just trying to do what was best for Magisteria. Trust me, I feel horrible about lying."

" _Who are you_?"

He looked at the ground, too embarrassed to meet her eyes. "My real name is Owen. Owen Conners. And I'm not Kiel Gnomenfoot at all. I'm from the . . . the nonfictional world, not yours. In my world, we're able to see into your world through books. Bethany's power is jumping in and out of them, and the rest of us just read them and followed your stories."

"When I found out about Bethany's powers, I asked her to take us into Kiel's story. I saved the Magister from Dr. Verity when he was supposed to die, but the whole thing backfired. Unfortunately, the Magister figured out where Bethany and I came from, and he and Kiel traveled to my world, leaving me behind. With Kiel gone, someone had to take his place. So I did, but it wasn't really for the right reasons."

"All I wanted to know was what it was like to be Kiel, to be a hero," he continued, glancing over at her before he looked back at the ground. "I'm no one. I'm just a regular kid without any special abilities, and I thought it would be incredible to act out as Kiel. Kiel has always been my favorite character, and I thought it would be fun. But I didn't realize how dangerous it was. All I cared about was to be a hero, and I didn't think about any of the consequences."

Owen looked over at her again, swallowing hard. His entire face burned like a wildfire, and his hands shook slightly. "I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you. That was years ago, and I've learned from my mistakes. I've wanted to tell you tons of times, but I just never knew when the right timing would be. I wanted you to keep thinking of me as your friend—"

"So you lied to me," Charm said, looking disgusted. "I always wondered why you acted so different after the sixth key, after we thought the Magister had died. I _knew_ I was right for thinking you were someone you weren't. You weren't acting — no, _Kiel_ wasn't acting like he usually does." She turned to glare daggers at him. "Now I understand who the real Kiel was. _You're_ the imposter, not him."

"Charm, I'm really—" Owen started to say, but she cut him off, glaring furiously at him.

"So you disguised yourself as Kiel, thinking that I would _like_ you?" she demanded. "Thinking that it was all a game? Thinking that our _lives_ were a game? You could've told me the truth after we fought Dr. Verity the last time, but no, you didn't. You let me keeping thinking that you were Kiel after that, even when we went to Jupiter City. Are you _that_ desperate to be liked?

"I-I—" Owen tried to come up with something to say, but he couldn't. He was at a loss for words. Too embarrassed to look her in the eyes, he stared at the ground, tears flooding his eyes. He blinked them away, not wanting to cry in front of her. He wanted to apologize, but the guilt was so unbearable that he didn't trust himself to speak.

"Do you have anything to say, _Owen_?" Charm asked, her tone icy. "Or are you so pathetic that I should just ray gun you right now?"

"I-I, um, I can't even begin to apologize," he stammered. He looked at her, and his heart broke even more to see that her face was devoid of emotion now. "I know I should've told you. I _know_ I was wrong! Trust me, I do!"

"If you knew you were wrong, then you would've told me right away," she said coldly. "That's what a friend would do, and you are _not_ my friend. You will never be my friend, not in a thousand years. You disgust me. I don't care that you're friends with Kiel. I don't care _who_ you are anymore, but I never want to talk to you again. Are we clear?"

"Charm, wait. Hold on a minute! I didn't mean to hurt you! You have to believe that," Owen said, practically begging her to forgive him. "I'm _so_ sorry."

"No, you're not."

"But I am!" he insisted, begging for her to forgive him. It felt like his world was falling apart, all because of his past mistakes. If he hadn't been so selfish, this never would've happened. All he'd wanted was to be a hero, to be Kiel Gnomenfoot. But he'd been wrong. He'd learned from all of his mistakes, and now, the one that he regretted the most had come back to turn his world upside down.

He tried to think of something, anything that would make her forgive him, but he couldn't think of anything. There was nothing he could say right now. Everything that needed to be said had already been said, but somehow, Owen felt even worse that he'd told her the truth.

He wished he could do something to keep her from walking away, but he knew that would be impossible. It was his own fault that he'd lied to her, and all he could hope for now was that she would forgive him someday. The only good thing was that he no longer had to pretend he was Kiel, but now, Charm would never be his friend again, yet alone _talk_ to him.

"I don't believe you," Charm said quietly. "Don't you think you would've told me right away if you _really_ were sorry?"

Owen stared at her, too shocked and hurt to respond. She slammed her hands on the rim of the fountain, pushing herself up. She glared down at him, and he shrunk back, wondering if it was possible to feel this humiliated.

"That's what I thought,” she said. “Make yourself useful for once, and stay away from me."

* * *

  
"So, what was that you were saying earlier, before this whole mess started? Something about defeating Nobody?" Charm asked, her hands on her hips as she walked back over to them, finished talking to Owen. She smiled evilly. "Because if so, I'm _completely_ on board."

"Good," Bethany said. "You might already know this then, but Nobody is going to destroy the fictional world if we don't stop him. _All_ of the worlds. He's going to wipe them out using this thing called—"

"Pure possibility," Kiel interrupted, much to Bethany's annoyance. He was sitting next to her, picking up pieces of grass with his hand. "It's that giant white wall over there, and it's slowly wiping everything out." He pointed to the left, and they all looked over. Past the buildings of Quanterium, there was the giant pure possibility wall, which Bethany hadn't noticed before. "If we don't defeat him, that thing will wipe everything out, and he'll be in control of the entire fictional world."

"I know what it is," Charm snapped, rolling her eyes. "Nobody told me about it when he came to Quanterium."

"Wait . . . he came to Quanterium? When did that happen?"

"A few years ago, I think," she said. "He threatened to destroy Quanterium _and_ Magisteria. He told me his entire plan too, but I didn't believe him." She scoffed. "Didn't think it was possible. I tried fighting him, but that didn't work out. I tried looking for you too, Kiel, but he couldn't find you either." She glared at him.

"I was busy," Kiel explained. "I was relearning magic, creating the most powerful spell ever, trying to stop Nobody, those kinds of things. A lot was going on, and I was trying to get to the nonfictional world to reunite Bethany's fictional and nonfictional selves after Nobody split her in half."

"It's complicated," Bethany said, knowing just how weird that might sound to someone else. The only people who understood that situation just as much as she did were Owen and Kiel, since they'd been with her from start to finish.

Charm looked confused, but shook her head. "Okay, whatever. I'll need to hear that story some other time. Anyways, after Nobody left, that stupid white wall showed up, and buildings and people started disappearing as they passed through it. I _knew_ it was all a part of Nobody's plan, so I tried running experiments on it to figure out what it was. But it didn't work, because whenever I tried to collect it, the nothingness just made everything disappear!"

"Of course it disappeared," Orion said dryly. "What did you think? That the pure possibility wall that's supposed to wipe out everything in its path _wouldn't_ make something disappear when you touch it?"

Charm grabbed her ray guns and pointed them at Orion, and Bethany quickly pushed her hands down. "Hey, _no_ shooting!"

Charm released a sigh. "I really would prefer to shoot him. He annoys me. Does he think he's better than me?"

Orion snorted. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't _think_ I'm better than you, Charm. I _know_ I am."

"Whoa!" Kiel said, stepping in between them just as Charm powered up her ray guns, looking angry. "I get that you guys aren't exactly friends."

"No, we aren't," Charm said. "And I'd really like to shoot him, if you would _move out of the way_." She tried to push past him, but Kiel held her back.

"No ones shooting anyone!" Bethany shouted.

"I can shoot whoever I want to!"

Gwen only laughed. "Isn't Charm funny, Orion?"

Orion turned to stare at Gwen without cracking a smile. "I don't think many things are funny." Kiel looked almost offended about what Orion had said, and Bethany suddenly had to keep herself from laughing.

"Oh," Gwen said. "That's . . . really sad."

Once Charm stopped struggling, Kiel sat back down next to Bethany, shaking his head. "I _know_ you think some things are funny," Bethany told Orion. "I've seen you laugh."

"No you _haven't_!" her adopted brother shot back.

"Can I shoot him later?" Charm asked. Kiel only winked at her, and she rolled her eyes. "I didn't miss _that_ at all."

"So, can we get back to the important conversation? What happened with Nobody?" Bethany asked. "Did he ever come back, or have you seen him lately?"

Charm shook her head, scowling. "No. I haven't seen him in a year, and I've tried to find him, but he's nowhere on Quanterium. He never came back. If he had, I would've punched him right in his stupid faceless face."

"I've been wanting to do that," Kiel admitted.

At that moment, Owen trudged over to them from where he'd been sitting on the fountain, his eyes slightly red. He didn't even look at them as he sat next to Kiel, looking sadder than Bethany had ever seen him. She stared at him, feeling concerned. What had happened over there? It had clearly upset him. She wanted to ask him about it, but she'd have to wait until later.

"And now, that pure possibility wall is going to make everything disappear," Charm continued, not acknowledging Owen's presence. "I've tried finding formulas and conducting experiments that would stop it, but everything I throw at it doesn't make it move. For now, I've resorted to telling Quanterians to evacuate away from the white wall if they're anywhere near it. I only understand half of the science, and I've spent years trying to understand it." She grunted, clearly annoyed. "But I'm not going to stop until I _make_ it disappear with science."

"That's the problem. Science won't work on it," Bethany said. "The wall is only going to keep coming closer until it destroys the entire world, and the only thing that'll stop it is if we defeat Nobody. We have to—"

"Are you telling me that science won't work on it?" Charm glared at her. "You know nothing about science, and you know nothing about the pure possibility."

"What?" Bethany felt her irritation rising. "I might not understand the science, but I understand what it's doing! Science won't work on it, Charm. Nothing will, which is why we need to defeat Nobody. That'll get rid of the pure possibility wall, and it'll get rid of Nobody, too."

The half-robotic girl rolled her eyes. "You don't understand, which doesn't surprise me. Science fixes everything, and I'll destroy that wall with it. All I have to do is use the chemical elements that go against what the wall is made of, some quantum physics, and some simple preschool math—"

"None of that makes sense!" Bethany said.

"Well, it would if you were smarter," Charm muttered.

Bethany narrowed her eyes, ready to yell at her, but Gwen beat her to it. "Let's not fight about this. It sounds like this pure possibility wall is making everything disappear, and I understand that you would want to do anything you can to stop it. So do I. I know that from what I've heard, the pure possibility can't be stopped so easily."

She gestured around them. "That's why we're recruiting all of our friends, to stop Nobody. We're going to fight him together, so I know it'll work to stop what's happening." Bethany found herself relaxing at Gwen's words, and Gwen smiled at her. She smiled back.

"We came for _your_ help for fighting Nobody," Kiel reminded Charm. "So are you going to come with us? Because I might not understand much science, but whatever you throw at that wall won't work. Only defeating Nobody will."

Charm sighed. "You really are stupid enough to be Dr. Verity's clone, aren't you?" She shook her head, looking like she was contemplating something for a while. When she finally spoke, she shrugged and said, "Alright, whatever. I know science would work on it, but I'd rather get revenge on Nobody as soon as I can. I'll _gladly_ fight him. I've been looking forward to doing it. I doubt you'd survive long without my help, anyway."

Orion muttered something under his breath about him being able to survive all on his own, and Charm stared at him with annoyance. She opened her mouth to yell something, but to Bethany's relief, Kiel cut her off. She didn't want her adopted brother and her friend to keep fighting like this. It wasn't fun to watch, and she hoped that they'd learn to get along, even if it was unlikely.

"Perfect. Let's go!" Kiel said, then glanced at Owen, who was still silent. Leaning towards him, he whispered something to Owen. Owen only shook his head, his face falling.

Suddenly, a gigantic holographic screen appeared in the sky, right above the buildings of Quanterium. Bethany and Owen audibly gasped as Dr. Verity appeared on the screen, standing in front of a science building.

"Citizens of Quanterium," Dr. Verity said, grinning evilly. "It's your former president, Dr. Verity. Did you miss me? I am pleased to inform you that I have captured thirty Magisterians, and I am holding them hostage as I speak. If you want any of them to live, you will bring Kiel Gnomenfoot to me, so I can kill him in exchange for their lives!" He began to laugh, harder and harder.

When he was regained himself enough to speak, he continued, "I've been looking for him for _years_ , and I've decided that this was the only way to get him back! So if you don't hand him to me within the next ten minutes, you will never see these Magisterians again, and I will make sure Magisteria is destroyed." He grinned. "See you soon, Kiel!"

The holographic screen vanished, and everyone on the streets had gone silent, staring up at the sky in shock. The Quanterians and Magisterians in the crowd spoke in hushed voices, looking confused and afraid.

"I can't believe Dr. Verity's back," Bethany said, her eyes wide. " _How_ did he escape?"

Gwen frowned. "Oh no. Who's Dr. Verity?"

"He used to be the president of Quanterium, but he's crazy!" Owen spoke up. "He tried to kill me, and he's tried to kill Kiel several times. He _hates_ Magisterians."

"I'm stopping him," Kiel said, his voice unusually low and angry. Before anyone could stop him, he rose to his feet. They all fell silent, turning to stare at him in shock. Orion's head snapped up from where he was sitting. He stared silently at Kiel, almost looking like he understood.

"Don't be stupid," Charm growled, grabbing Kiel's arm. He pulled out of her grasp and headed purposefully towards the buildings. "Hey, don't be stupid!"

"Kiel," Bethany said, standing up and turning to him in a daze. She tried to grab him, but he shoved past her without even looking her way. He didn't look back as he broke off into a sprint and pushed aside a few people, disappearing into the crowd. "Kiel? _Kiel!"_

"Kiel, wait!" Gwen shouted.

"What is he doing?" Orion asked, rising to his feet.

Bethany gasped, her heart rate increasing as she stared after him. _"_ Where are you going?!"

"Kiel!" Owen shouted, then began to chase after him.

Charm stood in front of him, blocking Owen's path. "Let him go."

"But —"

"Let him go! He's done stupid things before. He'll be fine!"

"We'll see about that. He shouldn't be fighting Dr. Verity by himself," Bethany said, shoving the half-robotic girl aside and running up the steps that led away from the fountain, the other four at her heels. She scanned the crowd for Kiel, but there were too many people. She began to panic. She couldn't see him. "KIEL!"

"Where did he go?" Owen asked, frantically looking around. "I don't see him anywhere."

"He went to Dr. Verity," Charm said, rubbing her forehead. "Ugh! He's just going to make everything worse! Why did he always have to care so much about Magisterians?"

"Because he _is_ Magisterian?" Owen said.

"He's going to be okay," Gwen said, briefly squeezing Bethany's hand. "I hope so, at least."

Charm shook her head. "Clearly, you haven't heard stories about Dr. Verity. _No_ one is alright with that lunatic. Kiel's just going to get himself killed."

"Where would Dr. Verity be?" Bethany asked, her voice shaking.

"In the Quanterian Center for Scientific Studies. That's the building Dr. Verity was standing in front of." Charm pointed, and Bethany strained her eyes to see where her finger was extended. It was an enormous building, which Bethany recalled as a place where scientific experiments were done.

"There?"

Charm nodded wordlessly, then took out her ray guns. "Let's go. He won't be able to handle whatever Dr. Verity has without my help." She threw a look at them. "Seriously. It's like he needs to sacrifice himself to save everyone else. What an idiot."

"He's not an idiot," Owen defended. "He's a hero. He knows what he's doing."

"Bold of you to assume he knows what he's doing, but okay. Let's move." Charm nodded her head and started walking in the direction that Kiel had bolted. Bethany followed her, trying to ignore the desperate feeling that she had in her chest.

The only thing she could think about was Kiel. Her mind ran in circles at all the possible ways he could be getting into trouble. What he was doing now? Was he okay? No, he was Kiel Gnomenfoot. There was no way he _wasn't_ in trouble right now. And if they didn't get to him quick, there was a chance he could get hurt.

"If this guy is actually going to kill him, he's doomed," Orion said from beside Bethany.

"He has magic to defend himself," Gwen said, though she looked doubtful. "We'll get to him soon, before anything bad happens."

"I'm worried about him," Owen said from Bethany's other side, quiet enough for her to hear.

"Me too," Bethany said, shoving past a woman to her left. "He just ran off. He's crazy to think he can save everyone."

"That's his character. That's how he was written — I mean. He's selfless."

"I know. He is."

As they walked through the busy street, trying to get through the crowds of people, a tremor suddenly shook the earth. After that, another one shook. It was strong enough to knock everyone off their feet, and almost the entire crowd fell. Bethany found herself face-down on the hard ground, rubbing her sore elbows.

"What's going on?" she yelled.

"I — I don't know!" Owen shouted back, struggling to stand. The ground shook violently again, and everyone screamed.

"It's happening," Charm said, looking around with a shocked expression. Aside from Gwen, who was hovering in the air, she was one of the few people who were still on their feet.

" _What's_ happening?"

"Nobody said he's destroy it. Our world is falling apart."

Bethany had just enough time to look up, and she saw what she meant. All of the buildings were swaying and groaning, threatening to break. A sick feeling grew in her gut, and she could only watch, frozen in fear. Another violent tremor shook the earth, and this time, it didn't stop. All at once, the buildings collapsed in a heap.

* * *

_  
"_ _Don't walk away, don't roll your eyes. They say love is pain. Well, darling, let's hurt tonight . . ."_


	30. Miles Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Kiel reunites with an old enemy, Quanterium falls apart. Bethany and her friends receive some shocking news.

_**I'll Come Back For You (by Max** _ **_Schneider_** _ **)** _

_"_ _I'll come back for you, back someday for you. If it's too hard for you, then do what you gotta do . . ."_

* * *

Kiel raced to the Quanterian Center for Scientific Studies, pushing through the crowd of murmuring Quanterians in his haste to stop Dr. Verity before the worst occurred. His mind felt like a fog as he ran, barely hearing his friends' voices or the noises around him. Determination and anger burned in his veins, which only escalated once the building came into sight.

He couldn't believe that Dr. Verity was alive. It was shocking and irritating and infuriating all at once. He'd never imagined that the crazed scientist would ever escape the room with the Source of Magic that Kiel had locked him in. He didn't understand how Dr. Verity had ever gotten out of that place.

There'd been a bomb in there too, which should've made it impossible for him to escape. How _could_ he have? It seemed impossible, yet here he was, once again threatening Kiel's life just like he'd done years ago.

All Kiel cared about was the lives of the Magisterians, who were in danger at this very moment. And he was angry. Angry that Dr. Verity had survived, angry that he'd gone as far as to hold Magisterians hostage _and_ threaten Kiel. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice told him that he should calm down and think some things through before he barged into the building.

He was normally pretty calm in regular sitautions, and he wasn't one to get angry unless something truly made him upset. But this was different, because Magisterians — his _people_ — were involved. He would've felt the same way if any of his friends were in danger.

But Kiel ignored the voice. The danger hardly mattered. He'd fought Dr. Verity so many times before, and he would win this time again. He couldn't let anything bad happen to them, not if he could do something about it. These people were from his home planet, Magisteria. The place he'd grown up in, and the place he'd learned magic in. He'd never forgive himself if he let them suffer or die.

Taking two stairs at a time, the boy magician sprinted up the steps of the Quanterian Center for Scientific Studies and kicked open the door. "Verity!" he shouted, taking his wand-knives out of their sheaths. "Where are they? Where'd you put the Magisterians?"

"You're here early," a voice said, and a man wearing a white lab coat and huge goggles stepped into view from the end of the hallway. "I wasn't expecting you to show up this fast. Honestly, I was hardly expecting you to come here at all. But look at you, obliging me by showing up anyway!" Dr. Verity walked closer and held up a ray gun. "Wow, you look older. And taller. Wait until you're my age, kid. _This_ is what you've got to look forward to." Kiel said nothing, and he grinned. "It feels like old times. Me threatening to kill you, you coming to stop me . . ."

"How are you _alive_?" Kiel demanded, feeling even angrier at the sight of his old nemesis. "I left you in the Source of Magic with your own bomb about to explode!"

Dr. Verity rolled his eyes. "You know how much of a genius I am, Kiel. I had my escape planned from the start!"

"You'd _never_ seen that coming," Kiel said. "You couldn't have gotten out, not without help from outside. So who let you out, then? Science Soldiers?"

"Of course not!" Dr. Verity spat, looking annoyed now. "I arranged to be removed from the vault at the last moment by this . . . faceless creature."

"Nobody," Kiel whispered, realization dawning on him.

"I knew that only one with powers like his could have saved me, or I'd never have allowed you to close the vault door with me in it," Dr. Verity continued, apparently not hearing him. "I am all-knowing, smarter and more powerful than anyone on the planet! Do you think I'd _let_ you lock me up?" He cackled. "No, because I foresee _everything,_ unlike _you_. I don't care what that faceless creature said to me about me being written as some sort of villian—"

"What did you do to them?" Kiel interrupted, glaring at him. The stuff about Nobody was likely important too, but when Dr. Verity was talking, nothing seemed to make sense. He had to save the Magisterians before it was too late.

Dr. Verity paused, appearing almost confused for a moment. "Who?"

"The _Magisterians_. See, that right there is your problem, which is another reason why I definitely can't see myself being you when I'm older! You can't stay focused. I _won't_ ask again. Where are the Magisterians? What did you _do_ to them?" Kiel glared at him. "And if you hurt _any_ of them, I'll turn you into a hat or a toad and I'll make sure you stay that way forever."

"Ah." The mad scientist cackled, his hand tightening around his ray gun. "I know how much you care about the Magisterians, so I made up a lie that I was holding them hostage. I know that you're all too ready to throw down your worthless life for what you believe in. I have no idea where you got _that_ from, but I used it to my advantage. If there was anything that would bring you here, it was that. Genius idea, am I right?"

" _What_?" Kiel asked, his eyes widening. All of the sudden, he felt so confused. He'd come here under the assumption that Magisterians were being held captive, and now that was all a lie? He glanced around the room in disbelief. "So there aren't any Magisterians at all? What do you _want_ , then?"

"Kiel, my boy, what do I _always_ want?" Dr. Verity sighed deeply. "How many times have we covered this? I want to wipe every Magisterian from existence, _you_ most of all. And what better way to kill you then to lead you straight here, to me?" He slowly walked closer, his ray gun pointed directly at Kiel.

"You won't be killing me." Kiel raised his wand-knives, and the mad scientist stopped moving, staring at the weapons in his hands. The boy magician winked at him, though he still felt a great deal of anger. "I may be a clone of you, but I'm ten times the person you'll ever be. I've fought you and won hundreds of times, so let's face it: you're going to lose no matter what. You don't stand a chance against magic. I'm probably the best magician there ever was!"

"Best?" Dr. Verify spat, his eyes flashing with anger. "You never lost any of your arrogance. I think you're tragic!"

"Me, tragic?" Kiel almost laughed. "You know I'm a clone of you, right? So aren't you just insulting yourself when you call me that?"

"Shut up, you little monster!" the mad scientist roared, and Kiel ducked as Dr. Verity fired the ray gun at him. Instead of hitting him, the deadly laser beam flew past him and hit the wall behind him, completely destroying the door.

Kiel straightened back up, glancing back at the missing door. "You should really learn to aim better. You should know by now that you'll never be able to beat me, because I _always_ beat you—"

"Enough of this!" Dr. Verity shouted, walking forward before Kiel had any time to move. " _Now_ , I'm going to finally get rid of you."

He pressed his ray gun against Kiel's forehead, and Kiel froze as he felt the gun powering up again. "Go on, tell me your stupid heroic jokes." He sighed. "I really wish there were some people nearby to watch, but I guess this'll have to do. I've been waiting forever for this moment. If you're so against being my clone, then show me how brave you are, will you? Show me how much better you are than me. Give me some more of that arrogance."

"I don't have to show _anything_ to prove that," Kiel shot back, feeling disgusted. He glared at the man, but inwardly, he was really hoping that he wouldn't die this way. No, he definitely wouldn't die. He always won against Dr. Verity. He had plenty of near-death experiences, and he'd never died from those. "I already _am_ better than you, Verity. I'd never wear a lab coat in public!"

"Is that all?" Dr. Verity asked, pressing the ray gun harder against Kiel's forehead. Kiel refused to back away, trying not to flinch or give into his fear. He curled his hands around his wand-knives and thought of a spell, then began to chant it, only for Dr. Verity to cut him off.

"No more magic!" he roared, throwing a hand over Kiel's mouth. Kiel tried to move away, but Dr. Verity held on, making it impossible for him to continue his spell. "This is _my_ time, and I'm not going to let you ruin it with your stupid spells!" He laughed crazily, and clicked the handle on the ray gun. "Good-bye, Kiel."

And then the world fell apart, and Dr. Verity's words were the last thing Kiel remembered before darkness overcame him.

* * *

The powerful earthquakes that followed were enough to knock everyone off their feet, and in their state of fear and shock, no one got up for a while. When the tremors finally subsided, it was suddenly much quieter. The screams of Quanterians and Magisterians had ceased, and the only thing Bethany heard for the first few minutes was the wind. When she regained enough strength to pick herself up, she wearily lifted her head to look at the destruction, dreading what she was about to see.

And it was even worse than she thought it would be. The buildings that used to make up Quanterium were now only piles of debris and rubble. The only people that weren't buried under the rubble were the ones that had been walking around the streets, which had been maybe thousands of people. Everyone seemed to be in a state of shock, and many were starting to cry as they looked around at the ruins of their planet.

Quanterium was destroyed.

Too shocked to say anything, Bethany pushed herself into a sitting position, her body trembling. Nobody . . . had done all of this? Was this just to restart the fictional world by turning it back into pure possibility, or was this simply an act of revenge? Either way, neither answer was okay. She felt sick. She glanced over at her friends, who were all silently taking everything in, looking just as shocked and distraught as she felt.

"Is everyone okay?" Gwen asked, staring at them with concern from where she hovered in the air.

"Y-Yeah," Owen said, his eyes wide as he struggled to pick himself off the ground. His mouth hung open in shock as he looked at their surroundings, and Bethany realized how difficult it must've been for him to see his favorite book destroyed.

Bethany looked over at Orion, and her eyes widened. She didn't know how it'd gotten there, but there was blood on his forehead — probably from the force of hitting the ground. "You're bleeding."

"Yes, but that's irrelevant," he stated, not looking at her.

She raised her eyebrows. "Want to elaborate?"

"No," Orion muttered, his frown deepening. "Would someone explain what just happened?"

Bethany only shook her head in disbelief. "I . . . it's all _destroyed_." She could hardly believe it, since it had happened so fast. It felt like a dream. As the shock slowly wore off, a voice in the back of her head reminded her that _Nobody_ had done this. How could he have gotten so powerful that he'd destroyed an entire _world_ , most likely killing innocent people in the process? Enough was enough. She had to put an end to this before more worlds were destroyed.

Gwen touched her feet down on the ground and placed a hand on Charm's. "I'm so sorry—"

Charm flinched away, slamming her fist hard into the ground. " _No_. Everything is taken from me. Why would Quanterium be any different?"

Bethany felt a jolt of pity go through her. Despite the grief she was feeling, Bethany doubted it was anything compared to how Charm felt.

"We _will_ get revenge on Nobody," Orion told her. "We won't back down until justice has been served."

Charm glanced at him and opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment, a Quanterian man walked over with a forlorn expression. "Are you kids alright?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Orion retorted.

The man blinked. "Uh . . . yes, I would. Are you hurt, kid? I can see that you're bleeding."

Orion rolled his eyes. "Who are you calling 'kid'?"

"I'm sorry, I—"

"He was just asking a question!" Bethany said.

"We're _fine_ ," Charm snapped, looking at the man.

"Yeah, w-we're okay," Owen said, his voice shaking. "What's happening? Is everyone going to be okay?"

The man sighed heavily, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "It's hard to tell yet. We haven't been able to check everywhere yet, but we've sent robots to scan the area so we can start digging out people that are alive."

  
"And Kiel Gnomenfoot?" Bethany asked, practically begging. "He went to Dr. Verity, in one of those science centers or whatever! Have you seen him?"

The man shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not. So many people got buried under the rubble after the buildings collapsed. It's hard to tell who's alive. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but if your friend was inside a building, then he likely is—"

"I'm not taking that for an answer!" Bethany shouted. "He's still out there!"

"Bethany—" Orion began, starting to grab her arm. She shoved away from him, anger and fear coursing in her veins.

"Where is he?! You _have_ to know where he is! We need to find him! I don't care _where_ he is! Just take us to him!"

"He was at the Quanterian Center for Scientific Studies," Charm informed the man in a voice that was strangely calm. "Can you scan that area too?"

Sighing again, the man stared at them for a few seconds before taking a machine out from his pocket and tapping something into it. The machine lit up, and from nearby, Bethany saw small robots floating over to a section far away from them. A red light then shot out from the robots, and they scanned the area up and down until the light abruptly disappeared.

A robotic voice came from inside the machine, too quiet for Bethany to hear. The Quanterian lifted the machine to his ear, and his face turned paler than it already was. He didn't say anything for several minutes, which made Bethany's nerves escalate even more. Had they found Kiel? What was the voice in the machine saying? She was desperate for answers, and the waiting made it even worse. She held her breath, not daring to move.

"I'm sorry," the man said finally, meeting their eyes. "But our sensors just scanned the area, we haven't located any living people near the Quanterian Center for Scientific Studies. I don't know how to tell you this but . . ."

"But what?" Owen asked.

"Kiel Gnomenfoot is . . . dead."

The air seemed suddenly thick and difficult to breathe in. Bethany stared at the man in disbelief, unable to speak. It felt like a ton of bricks had been thrown onto her body, weighing her down and giving her no ability to move. It felt like she was drowning, or like she'd just been punched a million times in the stomach. The ringing in her ears was the only thing she could hear. She couldn't breathe or even think as she struggled to process what she'd just heard. There was no way it could be true. It _couldn't_ be.

Charm blinked. "Excuse me? He's . . . what?"

The man gulped. "He's dead."

Growling, the half-robotic girl grabbed the front of the man's shirt. "If you're lying, I _swear_ I'll—"

"Charm!" Gwen gasped, and pulled the man away. "I'm sorry, sir. She didn't mean that." Giving them one last look, the man ran away, leaving the group to stare after him in shock.

"Yes, I did. I don't believe a word he says," Charm said, narrowing her eyes.

"Charm, he's dead," Orion said, but his expression was one of understanding and pity. "You have to realize that there's nothing we can do now."

Charm glared at him, looking more upset than Bethany had ever seen her. "I'm going to gather up the Quanterians before we lose the entire planet, if not more," she said darkly. Then, swearing loudly and angrily, she stormed off across the rubble, disappearing behind the clouds of dust.

"He can't be dead," Owen whispered, and Bethany looked over at him to see that tears were streaming down his face. He was staring at the ground, shaking his head over and over. "He _can't_ be."

Bethany didn't know what to say, so instead, she reached over and grabbed his hand tightly, interlocking her fingers with his. Right now, she needed him with her. That was the only thing she was glad about: that at least her other friends were with her. She didn't know what she'd do if she was alone. Somehow, it felt even worse than losing her father. At least she'd still believed her father was alive then, but now, there was nothing she could do to save Kiel. Just like that, he was gone. She wanted to cry.

It felt like there was an enormous ache in her chest, like at any point, her heart was going to burst open from the pain. She thought about Kiel, the boy magician who always winked and made her smile. The boy who threw himself into danger without a second thought. The boy who used to make her heart jump, but now made her heart break. He annoyed her sometimes, but he was her best friend. She couldn't imagine life without him.

She remembered back when she was twelve, when she helped Kiel set up his magically created house down the street so he could go to school with her and Owen. She remembered jumping into books with Kiel, sometimes with Owen and sometimes alone. She remembered all the fun times they'd had together, and all the regrets she had with the way she acted towards him when she was only nonfictional.

As her mind went over the memories they'd shared, Bethany found tears forming in her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but a single tear came running down her face anyway. In a strained voice, she whispered, "This is all my fault."

"How could you say that?" Gwen asked, sitting beside her and touching her arm. "Bethany, none of this is your fault. You were so brave, running after him like that. We couldn't have stopped him. But I have a feeling that he's going to come back from this. He's alive. I can feel it."

Rubbing her eyes, Bethany turned to look at Gwen. "How can you do that? Be so positive, I mean? The man said he's _dead_ , Gwen." A lump formed in her throat, and she began to cry harder. "My father's already been taken from me. I can't lose _Kiel_. I don't _want_ to believe that he's . . . you know . . . but . . ."

"I know how you feel," her friend said, smiling sadly at her. "When I found out my parents were dead, I didn't want to believe it either. I thought there was something I could've done to save them, but I realized that I couldn't."

"Then what _did_ you do?" Bethany asked, her voice shaking. She glanced at Owen, who looked completely lost in thought, not even listening to their conversation. Orion, on the other hand, was watching them quietly with a solemn expression.

"Nothing," Gwen said. "But I always wished I could've saved them. I'm just thankful for them, you know? That they saved me before my Earth exploded. I wouldn't be alive if they hadn't done that."

Bethany nodded, sniffling. No matter how pained and grieved she felt right now, she definitely felt thankful for Kiel. "And you never got to meet them, either. That must've been hard."

"It was," Gwen said. "I've always wanted to meet them, to come home and talk to them about my incredible adventures." She smiled. "Especially after you took me to see Earth for the first time. That was one of the best days of my life. No — it was _the_ best day of my life. Period. I don't think I'll _ever_ be able to repay you for that."

"No, no," Bethany said, shaking her head. Through her tears, she smiled. "You already have."

"Oh, I'm so happy to hear you say that!" Gwen grinned, only for her smile to fade. "But there's always a positive in even the worst situations, and I believe that Kiel isn't dead. We shouldn't believe anything until we have clear proof that it's true, so don't lose hope. He has to be alive. He's a survivor, just like you are. Just like _all_ of us are."

"Y-You're right," Bethany said quietly, already starting to feel better. Gwen never failed to make her feel more optimistic, but it didn't exactly help when Quanterium was in ruins all around her, and her best friend was somewhere underneath all of the rubble. And according to the man, he was dead. _Dead_.

Even now, after the Quanterian man had told her that Kiel was dead, she couldn't imagine it. It felt like a lie. At any moment, Kiel would come walking around the corner and wink at her, saying that he had it all under control. That would be a very Kiel thing to do. But he wasn't here now, and as much as she hated to believe it, it was likely that Kiel could be dead.

And if that was actually true, she'd have to learn how to live without him. But she couldn't face that. She _refused_ to face that. Somehow, he had to be alive. He just had to be. Feeling a burst of determination, Bethany scrambled to her feet with a hard expression. "Let's look for him."

"What?" Owen whispered.

Orion just stared at her. "Why would we do that? We already know he's dead."

"He might not be," Gwen said, rising to her feet. "He'll come back around. We won't know until we have proof."

Owen looked at her with such doubt in his eyes that it made Bethany's heart hurt, but then, he nodded and silently got to his feet. They all looked expectantly at Orion, who shook his head but stood up anyway. "This is a stupid idea."

"I know," Bethany said quietly, not feeling any more hopeful than the rest of them. "But if we can find Kiel, it'll be worth it."

_Even if he_ is _really dead_ , she thought.

* * *

When Kiel opened his eyes, he found himself unable to breathe. And there was pain; he felt it all throughout his body. His ears rang. He groaned, trying to figure out why he couldn't move. For some reason, it was pitch-black, and the smell of dust and smoke hung in the air. He inhaled deeply, but that only led to more pain. What was going on? The last thing he remembered was Dr. Verity holding a ray gun to his head, but that was it. Nothing made sense. How had this happened?

He lifted his arms, attempting to move pieces of rubble off of him. He could hardly see, but he knew that he was buried under something, maybe a building. Now that he was fully awake, he looked around, straining to see anything that could help him. It was still dark, but he could make out huge chunks of what used to be the ceiling.

Kiel tried to sit up, but he couldn't. There was something heavy that weighed on his body. He grunted, attempting with all his strength to push it off. It felt like a bunch of jagged rocks. After some time, he gave up and laid back down, feeling completely winded. He tried feeling around for his wand-knives, but he couldn't tell if they were there.

He began to worry; it was an uncharacteristic emotion on his part, but he was practically buried alive right now. He realized that he was going to be trapped here if he didn't get out soon. He knew that somehow, he was going to get out of here. And since he couldn't cast any spells at the moment, he'd have to try a different method.

"Hello?" Kiel tried to shout, but it came out as a small croak. His mouth tasted like sawdust. He coughed a few times, then tried again. "H-Hello?"

He heard footsteps, somewhere above him. He tilted his head up, hot tears starting to form in his eyes. He struggled to move again, but the rocks continued to crush his stomach and legs. He took a deep breath to yell something, then coughed again as the dust lingered in his throat.

"Can anyone —" he began, but started coughing again. It was nearly impossible to breathe. He took another breath, then shouted, "Owen! Bethany!"

The words came out clearer, so this time he screamed it. "OWEN! BETHANY! CHARM! GWEN! ORION? _ANYONE_?"

Kiel continued shouting, until at last he heard footsteps nearing, and he heard the shouts of men. "Hey, I think there's a person down here!"

"Yes!" Kiel shouted, his breath hitching. He coughed again, his entire body wracking with pain. " _YES!_ I'm here!"

A moment later, light flooded into the room as rubble was moved to the side. Kiel shielded his eyes with his hand, squinting as his vision returned. He took a deep breath, relieved that he was breathing in fresh air again. He felt embarrassed that he wasn't able to rescue himself, but it wasn't like he was in the condition to free himself, anyway. Once the opening was big enough, three men carefully climbed down, coming to a stop in front of Kiel.

The men pushed the rest of the rubble off of him, and Kiel like a weight — a _literal_ weight — had been lifted from his body. One of the men then leaned down over Kiel, extending a hand for him to grab. Weakly lifting his arm, Kiel took it, allowing himself to be pulled into a sitting position.

"Are you okay? Can you stand?" the man asked.

Kiel opened his mouth, meaning to answer. But his throat was uncomfortably dry, so he nodded instead. He allowed the men to grab hold of his arms and help him through the opening. After almost slipping down the rubble a few times, Kiel made it to the top and shakily got to his feet, looking around at the scene with wide eyes.

It was dark out, nearly nighttime. The musty smell of demolished brick and annihilated buildings hung in the air. Civilians were everywhere, confusion evident on their faces. Some of them were crying, and others were sitting on chunks of rubble, staring at the now-destroyed Quanterium that surrounded them. Everywhere he looked, there were chunks of what used to be buildings — now collapsed. Everything was destroyed. The place he had visited thousands of times was gone, now unrecognizable.

"You're lucky to be alive," one of the men said, patting Kiel on the back. "That earthquake came out of nowhere, and it destroyed everything!"

What was he talking about? Kiel wasn't lucky at all, and he certainly didn't _feel_ lucky as he stared at the remains of his home planet. Yes, this was Quanterium, and he never liked it here due to the hoards of Science Soldiers and Science Police, but it still was something he was familiar with.

He'd come here thousands of times with his friends, mostly Charm. He'd come here on quests to find the keys, and he'd fight the Science Soldiers and Dr. Verity countless times until they finished their quest and went back home. Sometimes he even came here by himself, just to sit at the Presidential Palace, where a statue of himself was supposed to be put up.

Now, all of that was destroyed.

He felt like arguing with the man, but he didn't have the energy for it. It felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. This was his home, his _world_ , and it was gone. The thought echoed in his mind, over and over again in an endless circle. _It's gone, it's gone, it's gone._

"How long ago did this happen?" Kiel asked the man, his throat raw. For once, he didn't feel like winking or joking around. None of that seemed appropriate right now, not after his world had been destroyed. This brought another concern. Had Magisteria been destroyed too? Just the thought made him feel even sicker, and he could hardly breathe. He wasn't sure if he'd ever felt this hopeless before.

"A few hours ago," the man replied. "A lot of people got trapped under there. We're still rescuing people now."

Kiel sighed deeply, rubbing a hand over his soot-covered face. What was there left to do? He glanced down at his hands, which were bleeding and scraped in various places. He staggered forward, still trying to process everything. His mind was a mess. Barely able to interpret what had happened, he slowly sunk to his knees, staring all around him as his heart sunk even lower. He couldn't believe that his world was . . . _gone_.

He didn't understand how it'd happened, or why. He felt more confused than anything. Kiel was so used to being the hero, to saving his world before anything bad happened to it. This time, he'd been unable to save anyone. He felt numb as he stared at the remains of the city around him, and a lump formed in his throat. Tears leaked from the corner of his eyes, spilling out over his eyelids. He half-heartedly brushed them away, feeling surprised that he was even crying.

"Kiel!" he heard someone shout, and he turned automatically towards the sound. It sounded like a girl, but through the clouds of dust and endless debris, it was hard to see anything.

"Beth?" Kiel called, only to be overcome by a fit of coughs. His hope lifted, to the point where he began to smile. Could his friends be alive, too? He got to his feet, wincing from his several injuries that had occurred during the accident. He noticed that his clothes were also ripped in various places, including (sadly) his cape.

"Kiel!"

Through the clouds of dust, he saw a familiar half-robotic girl running towards him. Despite his instant relief, he felt a twinge of disappointment that it wasn't Bethany. But that didn't matter. At least he'd found one friend, and that was enough to make him feel better.

Charm caught up to him and threw her arms around him, squeezing him hard enough to crack a rib. "We all thought you were dead," she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "We've been looking for you for _hours_. You could've gotten yourself killed, idiot. _This_ is exactly what I meant by you needing to let me handle everything. You never think."

"Of course I think!" Kiel coughed, trying to wriggle out of her hold. "Just got trampled by rocks. Let . . . go . . ."

Charm obeyed and released him, then scanned him up and down with her robotic eye. "You don't seem seriously injured. Just a slight leg and stomach injury." She sighed loudly, shaking her head. "It's extraordinary to see what you would do for Magisteria."

Kiel shivered. "Believe me, I question it myself." He gestured at the world around them. "How did this happen? Everything's _gone_. Did someone attack Quanterium?"

Solemnly, Charm nodded, curling her fists into balls. "It was _Nobody_. I know it was him."

His eyes widened, and he began to clench and unclench his fists. Was she serious? Nobody — the villian that was already destroying the worlds with his pure possibility — has now destroyed Quanterium just because he _felt_ like it? He tried to feel some kind of anger or revenge, but right now, he could only feel sadness. All of the sudden, the danger felt more real than ever. His world had been destroyed, and now, this was what would happen to every fictional world if they didn't defeat Nobody.

"Kiel?" Charm asked, snapping a finger in front of his face. She looked slightly irritated now, just like she always did when she was around Kiel. "Are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" Kiel forced a wink. "Oh, of course I am. I was just—"

"Kiel!"

He glanced over his shoulder to see another person barreling towards him, appearing from the cloud of dust that coated the air. He felt a surge of relief go through him, and despite everything that had just happened, he grinned. It was Bethany. She was alive! He limped towards her, trying to close the distance between them faster. Seconds later, they crashed into each other, and Kiel immediately held her close. It was the first time they'd hugged in three years, the last time being when Kiel had left the nonfictional world after what went down with Fowen.

"Kiel," Bethany repeated, her voice muffled. Her hands were clutching the back of his shirt, coming up to caress his neck. and her head was buried against his shoulder. "You're alive, you're alive . . ."

Kiel couldn't find it in him to answer. If he did, he knew that he would cry. And he couldn't, not in front of Bethany. He admired her too much to show his weak side in front of her. His brain felt cloudy. He blinked hard, but was unable to stop himself from getting choked up all over again. A sob built up in his chest, and for the second time, he cried in front of Bethany.

Only this time, the words "I hate you" were replaced with the simple, choked whisper of, "You're alive."

As much as Kiel tried to hold his weakness in, it came rushing out as mostly silent, shuddering breaths. He couldn't hold back his sobs, no matter how hard he fought to. A tear slid down his face, the only one he hadn't been successful at holding in. He heard her sniffling as well, a sign that she was crying, too. They rocked back and forth slightly as they hugged, their legs wobbling in sync.

Kiel buried his head into her shoulder, sighing deeply. His arms wrapped tighter around her, clinging onto her as if she was the only breath of air he had left. He couldn't deny that she meant everything to him. He felt like they understood and connected with each other in a way that he never thought possible. The fact that she was holding him close at his lowest point was enough to make him feel that way. He'd never felt comfortable breaking down in front of anyone before, and even Bethany used to be in that category. But she made him believe that his sorrow was not weakness. 

Quanterium had crumbled around them, but the only thing Kiel could focus on was Bethany. He was clutching onto her even tighter than she was to him, not wanting to let go or open his eyes. He was so used to being strong, to act confident and easy-going even in the face of danger. That was what fans liked to see. But Bethany saw through all that. She was able to make him feel braver during a time when there was little bravery within him.

They were both tired, bruised and hurting but together they felt safe. As he held her, Kiel realized that Bethany understood him so much more than he previously knew. He didn’t know _how_ she knew how to comfort him, when he didn’t know how to comfort _himself_. Dealing with sadness was something he was tough at. It wasn’t easy for him to openly cry, instead of bottling up his weaknesses like he usually did. 

He wished he could tell Bethany how much she meant to him. How much he appreciated her comfort, after all the times he’d been there for her. For a while he hadn’t known how to comfort her, as her walls were always up and she lashed out at him many times in the past. Gradually, he had learned how. And here she was, giving him the freedom to let his own walls break down. It was the tightest he'd ever hugged anyone, and the longest hug that he and Bethany had ever shared. Only by a few more seconds, at least.

For a brief moment, Bethany moved her hand up to stroke the back of his head. The sensation felt nice. Calming. It was usually him that could calm her down, not the other way around. This time, she was comforting him in a way that no one else had. Really, the only person Kiel had truly cried in front of _was_ Bethany. Not even the Magister had been able to comfort him like she could. After a few seconds more, she slid her hands off of him. They slowly pulled away from each other, holding meaningful gazes.

"Are you okay?" Bethany asked quietly.

Kiel nodded. "Yeah. My body's still intact, so that's a good sign." He'd tried to say it jokingly, but it was hard to when he was so sad.

"We couldn't find you anywhere," she said, wiping her eyes. "I can't believe you ran off like that!"

"I'm okay, Beth," Kiel said, offering her a weak smile. "Turns out that Dr. Verity was lying about holding Magisterians captive." He coughed violently. "He was going to kill me, but then, the whole building went down. I don't know what happened to him."

Bethany sighed. "It's almost like you don't have a conscience," she whispered. "Don't you ever stop to think, 'wow, I definitely shouldn't have done that' after you do something?"

That made Kiel laugh, in spite of the situation. "No." He gave her a confused look. "Everything I do is intended. I try to live without regrets. It makes life easier that way."

She rolled her eyes, but the relieved smile was evident on her face. "You're crazy."

Then, he glanced at the ruins of Quanterium again, and his smile dissolved. Bethany stared sadly at him, then reached up and wiped a tear from his cheek. "I'm really sorry."

He turned to look at her, still feeling dazed. "For what?"

"For all of this." She looked around them. "Quanterium getting destroyed by Nobody. I had no idea he was going to do that! Now he's _really_ going to pay." He noticed for the first time that her eyes were slightly red, but he didn't say anything.

"Oh, he totally is. It's okay," Kiel assured her. "It wasn't your fault for what happened." He turned away from her, walking back over to Charm and asking, "So, what's going to happen to the Quanterians?"

"They're being transported to Magisteria for safety," Charm said.

"Magisteria?"

" _Yes_ , Magisteria." She gave him an annoyed look. "Why, did you have a better idea? I had nowhere else to send them."

Kiel frowned. "But I thought that if Nobody destroyed Quanterium, he would've destroyed Magisteria, too."

"Well, for some reason he didn't. Until we can rebuild Quanterium, that's the only place to put them."

"Sounds fair enough." Kiel shrugged. "There should be plenty of places for them to stay until that happens."

"Let's get out of here," Bethany said, leading them across the rubble.

"Agreed," Kiel said, not wanting to be here any longer than he had to. In his weakened state, he nearly tripped a few times due to the unsteadiness of the ground. They continued walking until they reached the other three, who weren't very far away.

As soon as Owen spotted them, a grin spread across his face. He looked as though he'd been crying, but all signs of unhappiness went away as he ran to Kiel and threw his good arm around him. "Kiel! You're actually alive!"

Smiling, Kiel hugged his best friend back as tightly as he could. It took him a moment to notice that Owen had begun crying. Or maybe he'd been crying already. Kiel felt horrible. Had his friends really believed he was dead?

Once they pulled apart, Kiel winked at him, which he knew always made his friends feel better. "Hey, it's okay! There's no need to cry. I'm fine!"

Owen smiled brightly, wiping his face with some obvious embarrassment as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. "I know! We were all just really worried about you. I'm glad you're okay."

"Of course I am!" Kiel smiled back. "Nothing can kill me, Owen. It'll take a _lot_ more than a bunch of rocks to do that."

Charm snorted. "They weren't _rocks_. It was rubble, which is waste or rough fragments of stone, brick, concrete. Rocks are a solid mineral material made out of—"

"Yeah, yeah." He chuckled. "I know what rocks are."

"Do you?"

Kiel winked at her, and she sighed. Once Owen moved back, Gwen hugged Kiel tightly, almost tight enough to make the air leave his lungs. "I never doubted for a second that you were alive!"

"Who told you I was dead?" Kiel jokingly asked once he pulled away, but he was unable to stop himself from coughing.

"A man," Gwen said. "He was rescuing people, and he had some of those flying robots look for you."

"But they didn't find you," Bethany said.

"Oh, that makes sense. Those robots are completely unreliable," Kiel said. "They probably needed to be rebuilt, or something. That's why they couldn't find me."

"Kiel Gnomenfoot, _what_ did you just say?" Charm demanded. "Robots are far more reliable than magic will ever be!"

"I'll have to disagree on that one."

"That's it." Charm took out her ray guns. "You're being too annoying. I am _so_ ray gunning you—"

" _What_?" Bethany asked, as Kiel held his hands up in defense.

Orion didn't move, releasing a sigh. "I don't have time for this."

"I do," Charm said, aiming her ray guns at Kiel.

"Hey!" Kiel shouted. "Enough with trying to shoot people! Aren't we friends?"

"Charm, put them down!" Owen shouted, pushing Charm's ray guns back down. "Those were on stun right?" he asked. Charm gave him a death glare, and he quickly backed away.

"Hey, guys, please break it up!" Gwen said, trying to lighten the mood. "We aren't here to fight each other." Kiel shot Charm an annoyed look, which she returned.

"Okay!" Bethany stepped in between Kiel and Charm, holding her hands up. "This isn't at all important. We should get going. We still have one last person to find before we can go fight Nobody." She glanced at Owen, who smiled.

"Her name is Kara. I'm not sure where she is . . . or if we'll even be able to find her, but we'll have to try," Owen said. Kiel remembered her from what he'd read in _Pick The Plot_. He knew nothing about her aside from the fact that she was a time-traveler, but he knew she'd been a great friend to Owen, so he was looking forward to meeting her.

"Kara?" Kiel said. "She was in that time prison with you, right?"

"Yeah," Owen said, his face visibly paling at the mention of the time prison.

Bethany slid the backpack off her shoulders and held it open for Owen look through. However, he'd only stuck his hand through for a few seconds before he pulled it out with a gasp. "It's not there."

" _What's_ not there?" Orion asked.

"The book," Owen said. He stared at them. "Kara's book. It's not there!"

"What?" Kiel frowned. "Where'd it go?"

Taking the bag from Bethany's hands, he looked inside it to find a pile of Owen's clothes and a few water bottles that were still there. But aside from that, the Kara Dox book was missing.

"That looks suspicious," Orion said, peering into the backpack as well. "Someone must've stolen it."

"Why would anyone want to steal a book?" Kiel asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Hey, books are important, too!" Owen insisted. "Anyone could've stolen it if they wanted to."

"But I had the backpack on the entire time," Bethany said. "The book couldn't have just fallen out. And your other stuff is still in there."

"Exactly. So someone must've taken it."

"I didn't _see_ anyone take it!"

"You probably weren't looking when it happened," Orion said, and she gave him a look.

" _Or_ it could've just fallen out," Charm said, tapping her foot in annoyance. "It's not rocket science. You probably had it open when the buildings collapsed, and it could've fallen out then."

"Yeah," Kiel agreed.

"Maybe we can get another one!" Gwen said, smiling encouragingly. "Doesn't your library have hundreds of books?"

"Yeah, it does," Owen said, his face suddenly brightening. "Let's go back to the library. We could get some supplies, and we should be able to find Kara's book there too." He looked at Bethany.

"Okay," Bethany said, giving him a tired smile as she put the backpack back on.

It seemed that they were all worn out, especially after all the craziness that had happened today from jumping into Gwen's world to searching for Orion to fighting the Science Police. Right now, all Kiel really wanted was some sleep before they did anything else. They grabbed each other's hands, and Kiel looked away from his friends for a moment to stare at the destroyed world of Quanterium. His chest ached, and it wasn't only from the physical pain.

He wished there was something he could've done to prevent it, but he realized that there was no way to fix it. Not until they saved the rest of the worlds. Kiel also intended to enjoy fighting Nobody, especially after he'd just destroyed Quanterium. None of the fictional worlds deserved this. The last thing Kiel wanted was for more fictional worlds to suffer because of Nobody, just like his had. And hopefully, it wouldn't be too late to save them all.

* * *

Darkness was what Kara opened her eyes to, which she'd become accustomed to over the last few weeks. As always, the small room was silent. Kara rose unsteadily to her feet and starting pacing around the room to give herself some exercise, since she was constantly locked in here without anything to do. She held her hands out in front of her, which gave her some kind of warning before she accidentally slammed into the wall, which had happened countless times during her imprisonment here.

It was day sixteen, and she was no closer to achieving any kind of freedom.

It was five days since the incident with the time agents, when they'd taken Kara out of her cell to retrieve her memories. Ever since then, she hadn't left her dark prison cell, and she felt lonelier than she'd ever been — possibly in her entire life. The solitary confinement was just another punishment that the time agents were giving her, she reminded herself. Somehow, she _could_ get through this.

She didn't want to stay here forever, in a place where she didn't have any freedom. The time agents acted like she would be here for the rest of her life, so she knew that she didn't have a choice. It was almost torturous, but she held onto the hope that her world wouldn't be destroyed in the future if she was in prison. But would being locked up change anything about the future? Even when she was in the last time prison, nothing had seemed to change.

She hated the time agents with a passion, and the device they'd put on her had been painful, but she often wished that she hadn't given up when she'd been so close. With the device, they could see into her memories, and they'd be able to locate the exact moments where Kara had ruined time. If only she'd tried to stay longer, there might've been a great opportunity to stop her world from being destroyed in the future.

That was Kara's only chance, and she'd wasted it by giving into the pain. She knew it wasn't _her_ fault for stopping the process — because her head probably would've exploded if she hadn't — but a part of her still thought it was. Now that she'd messed up, the time agents weren't going to give her another chance. That had been her only shot to save the world . . . if it even _could_ be saved . . . and now that opportunity was lost to her too, if the time agents had even been telling the truth.

In the past, she'd tried thousands of times to stop that outcome, but every time she time-traveled to the future, her world was _always_ destroyed. _And_ it was always her fault. No matter what she did, no matter what she tried to change, the world always ended up in ruins because of her. The only person left to blame for it was herself.

However, as much as she convinced herself that she was meant to be locked up to keep the rest of the world safe, Kara knew that she didn't deserve _this_. The solitary confinement, everything the time agents put her through, the feeling of hopelessness that was only growing . . . it was all too much. She had to get out of here if she could. It felt like she was stuck in a nightmare, and no one was around to wake her.

It might've been safer for the rest of the world for her to be here, but for Kara, she felt trapped. The days she spent locked in solitary confinement were only growing worse, and she wasn't sure if she was starting to go crazy or not. If she hadn't yet, she would soon. At every moment, she was unhappy, and she thought constantly about all of her mistakes when she'd been messing around with time, trying to prevent a future that kept happening.

Sometime in the past couple of days, a new thought had occurred to her: everything that had happened in the future . . . was it really _her_ fault? Did she really deserve all of this suffering? Of course she didn't! No one did.

And even though all the signs pointed that the future was her fault, she was starting to wonder if it wasn't all true. Maybe there were others to blame, like the Countess and her daughter, Dolores. Maybe all of the time-travelers had something to do with it, or maybe the time agents did, too. Maybe it wasn't _all_ Kara's fault. Or maybe none of it was her fault at all.

No, who was she kidding? That was a ridiculous idea! It was _definitely_ her fault. Her future selves had said so, the Countess said so, her fellow time prisoners had said so, and even the time agents had said so. The only person who'd denied that idea was Owen, but he was probably only saying that to make her feel better.

At this point, Kara would've traded time-traveling in an heartbeat just so she could get out of this place and see Owen again. She would do it even if it cost her in the future. As much as she feared the world would be destroyed, she feared never seeing Owen again even more. Aside from her future selves, he was her only real friend.

Kara missed him more than she thought possible. She told herself that she would see him again someday, which gave her something to be happy about even though it might never come true. If she got to see him at least one last time, it would make up for all the pain she'd gone through in the last few weeks. It would make up for everything. She wouldn't feel trapped or uncertain anymore; she'd feel happy.

But there was no way she was getting out of this prison, whether she wanted to or not. The time agents would keep her here until she either turned crazy or old, and she would have to accept the truth that she would never see him again. It was just wishful thinking, anyway. She would have to be dreaming if she ever saw him again.

Owen had promised that he'd come back for her, but in all honestly, she didn't think he would. And as much as she'd love to see him again, she also didn't want him getting hurt. Then again, the time agents' facility was somewhere completely unknown and hidden, so Kara didn't think he'd be able to come here anyway. Even _she_ didn't know where this place was, since she'd been locked in a dark room for majority of her time here.

Suddenly a bit lightheaded from all of the walking, Kara blindly sat back down on the ground and felt around for her tray of breakfast. That was another thing that made the darkness super inconvenient. Once or twice, she'd accidentally knocked over a glass of water that she hadn't seen. Ever since then, she'd tried to be more careful when looking for her food. After all, the time agents weren't going to make her another one if she knocked it over.

Sliding her hands across the floor, Kara slowly crawled to the direction of the door, feeling hopeful that her breakfast might be waiting for her. She groaned when she realized it wasn't there. Well, _that_ was perfect.

Breakfast was the most important meal of the day, and the time agents hadn't even given it to her yet! At least the last prison had been better at that. Now she would have to wait until they gave her the food, which might not happen for a few minutes or a few hours. There was never a way to be sure.

But it wasn't like the gave her the most appetizing breakfast, anyway. They usually just gave her oatmeal or toast or sometimes even fruit, but Kara would've preferred to have pancakes or waffles. She thought about requesting that they make it for her (mostly just to see if they'd actually do it), but quickly denied that idea since it probably wouldn't be amusing to the time agents.

Placing her chin in her hands, Kara kept her eyes on the door, trying but failing to be patient. Why was this taking so long? If she had her time bracelet still, she could've jumped forward in time and gotten her breakfast right away. Of course, if she _did_ have her time bracelet then she wouldn't be locked up in this prison anymore.

The slot in the door suddenly opened, and a bright light washed into the room. Kara blinked several times as her eyes struggled to adjust. As always, this was the most interesting part of the day, since something was actually happening. It gave her reassurance that she wasn't the only person here, but sometimes it felt like she was. She watched with interest as her tray of food was placed on the ground, and the person's hand drew back. The slot was closed, and the light disappeared.

Kara sighed as she placed the bowl into her lap and began eating. It was oatmeal again, but she had to remind herself that it was a good thing that the time agents were feeding her. She wouldn't have been surprised if they only gave her _one_ meal a day. Everyone hated her here.

Within the second that she had finished, the hand reached through the slot again to grab the food. An idea formed in Kara's head — one that occurred to her on the spot — and she latched her hand out to grab the wrist of the person. She heard a gasp of surprise from the other side of the door as the person tried moving their hand away, but Kara held on.

"Please, I want to try again," she said. "With the machine that's supposed to change the future, _my_ future. And if you won't let me out then . . ." She paused, glancing around the room. "Then I'll break out of here and send you to the _worst_ possible spot in time. One where there is no technology at all!"

Luckily, she didn't have to try very hard to be threatening, because the guard replied in a shaky voice, "I-I'm just the food deliverer. I'm not allowed to let anyone out, especially _you_." His tone indicated disgust. "But I'll talk to the head of the facility. She's been working with a different time prisoner for the past few days."

Kara blinked and let go of the guard's wrist. "Who?"

"The Countess."

"What?" She gasped. "She's working with _her?"_

"I'll talk to her," the guard said, ignoring her question and closing the slot.

Kara slumped back as darkness filled the room once again. She couldn't believe that out of every single prisoner to pick for that task, the _Countess_ was working with the head of the facility. Why would anyone in their right mind _want_ to work with the Countess? She was even more dangerous than Kara, and had most likely gone crazy already from the solitary confinement.

The door suddenly swung open, which always came as a surprise to Kara. It didn't happen very often, since she was locked inside a dark prison cell for the majority of the time. She jumped as a bright light flooded into the room, burning into her eyes as if she was staring into the sun. She blinked several times, squinting her eyes as a guard stood in the doorway.

"Kara Dox, come with me," the guard ordered in a deep, monotone voice, similar to how every single guard here sounded. The guards sounded almost robotic, and the fact that their faces were always covered with black helmets only added to that emotionless facade. Kara would've felt better if she could see their expressions, although she guessed many of them looked at her with the same mix of disgust, hatred, and fear.

She quickly scrambled to her feet, internally thanking whoever the guard was that delivered her food for contacting the head of the agency about her request. She didn't know why she wanted to do this again so badly, especially after the process had been unbearably painful. It was probably a crazy idea. No, it was _definitely_ a crazy idea. But Kara didn't care about that part right now. She cared more about what the outcome would be.

It was going to be excruciatingly painful, and the thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. But she needed to force herself to try again, at least one last time before she gave up. If it actually ended up working, she'd feel content. If she could do anything to prevent the world from being destroyed, she would have to do this. Just to see if it worked. She'd only regret it if she did nothing. And if it didn't work, then at least she'd tried her best to stop the horrible events in the future from happening.

Following the guard, Kara felt her fear slowly build up as she looked all around her, where there were several prison guards positioned along the hallway. But she was not afraid of them. Or that was the lie that she told herself, at least. She knew that the guards wouldn't hurt her as long as she didn't disobey, so for now, she was fine.

She didn't know how long that would last, however. Trouble seemed drawn to her like a magnet, so it was impossible for her to follow the rules correctly. Especially when it came to time travel. Back when she'd been time-traveling all the time, the amount of times she'd received violation after violation had been countless. It'd always been hard for Kara to follow the rules when the rules included time travel requirements.

Kara trailed behind the guard as he led her down the same route she'd gone a few days ago. They came across the same room from last time, and Kara felt herself shiver as she watched the guard scan his card against the door. Once the door was unlocked, he held it open and escorted her through. As they entered the room, Kara saw that it looked no different from last time, with the same large machine in the corner and the woman from before standing next to it.

The woman stared at Kara without even a smile. "We were just finishing up with our session."

Kara remembered the last time she'd seen her, back when the woman had ordered her out of the room when she'd failed with their machine. This time, she would try her hardest not to fail.

"We?" Kara questioned, and that was when she noticed there was another person in the other corner of the room.

"Hello, Ms. Dox," growled a low, familiar voice. Kara looked over to see a woman with very messy bright white hair, along with an elaborate gray cloak wrapped around her shoulders. "It's been too long since I've seen you. How is solitary confinement treating you? I hope you're suffering."

Kara immediately held her fists up, prepared for a fight. Then she noticed that the Countess's hands were bound with chains, and a guard was standing next to her, watching her carefully. Kara glanced down at her hand where her magical glove usually was, and was slightly surprised to see that it was no longer there. That made sense. Any weapons would've been taken away from the time prisoners, and the Countess had possibly the most dangerous weapon of all.

"I'm doing fine," Kara said in the calmest voice she could muster, although her blood began to boil at the sight of the Countess. It was hard not to get angry when the Countess had purposely tried to kill both her and Owen, the had stolen all of the time bracelets and left Kara with nothing but a broken one.

" _How_ _lovely_ ," the Countess spat, her words like ice. There was a crazed look in her eyes, one Kara wasn't sure that she'd noticed before.

"You are excused, Countess," the other woman said, and the Countess flashed her an angry look before the guard led her towards the door. As the Countess got closer to Kara, she suddenly latched out and grabbed Kara's wrist. The guard immediately took out a gun and aimed it at the Countess, but she didn't seem fazed.

She leaned towards Kara, and Kara tried moving away, but she only held her wrist tighter. "You owe me a debt, Kara Dox. You are a wretched, horrible girl, but I chose not to kill you. Even after you got me locked in here, _and_ after you got me locked in the Time Security Agency, I still chose not to kill you. Now I know that it was a mistake, and I should've gotten rid of you when I had the chance. Once I escape from here, I swear on my annoying daughter Dolores that I'll go back in time and _get rid of you myself_ —"

"You won't be escaping anywhere," the guard said in his monotone voice, but the Countess was only looking at Kara.

"I do owe a debt," Kara told her, instantly thinking of Owen, the one person who'd been there for her through everything. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "But it's _not_ to you. I will never owe you anything. And just so you know, none of us will ever be escaping. They have high security in here!" With some effort, she ripped her wrist away from the Countess.

"You can't change what's to come, Kara," the Countess hissed, glaring at her. "The future is _meant_ to happen—"

"Not this one!"

"And if it were _me_ in charge, I wouldn't be trying to stop it!" she finished. "Do you think it works, this method that the time agents are doing?" She shook her head, chuckling darkly. "No, of course it doesn't. You know why? Because the future cannot be—"

"Hey!" the guard shouted, pointing the gun at both of them now. "Prisoners are not allowed to talk to each other. Come with me to your cell, _now_."

Giving her one last look, the Countess was grabbed by the guard and led hastily out of the room, leaving Kara alone with the other woman and a group of guards. Kara took a deep, shaky breath, trying to gather her composure. Her thoughts were a mess. Was the Countess right? Was the method that the time agents were using not working, or was the Countess only saying that to make Kara second-guess herself?

"Sit," the woman instructed, and Kara nervously walked over to the chair and sat down. The metal was cold against her legs, and she shivered. Her heart pounded as the head device was brought over to her, the same one that had made her feel excruciating pain. But there was no backing out of it now. If she could do something to save the world, she had to attempt this again. She had to make up for her faults somehow.

Instead of taking her by the shoulders like last time, one of the guards forcibly grabbed both of her hands, tying them behind her back with a thick rope. Apparently they didn't want her removing the device again, which worried her further. She flinched as the device was strapped tightly to her head, and the guards stepped away to stand next to the wall.

"Let's hope you cooperate better than last time," the woman said, typing something into the machine. "We're going to begin. Be still, and _don't_ move."

"Okay," Kara whispered, but she found it hard not to fidget or squirm, especially since she was very afraid of what the machine would do to her. She watched as the woman pressed a button, and just like last time, a barrage of images flashed across Kara's vision. She sucked in a breath. Pain filled her head, steadily increasing with each second. She flinched, clenching her fists hard in an attempt to block out the pain and the fear.

As the pain worsened, she shifted around uncomfortably and struggled against her bonds. She reminded herself over and over again that this was necessary, that this was important and it could save lives. She had to keep going. She _could_ keep going. She just had to get through the pain, and then she'd be okay.

Kara heard the woman talking to her, but she could hardly hear anything anymore. The images flashed through her head so fast that they overwhelmed her. Her vision began to blacken around the edges, so she closed her eyes, hoping that would help. The pain only got worse from there. It surged through her entire body, mainly her head. Her body shook intensely, and she bit her lip hard as tears filled her eyes. Unable to stay still, she fought against her bonds even harder, desperate for the pain to end.

And then suddenly it did.

Wearily, Kara slowly breathed in and out, grateful that the pain was finally lessening. Her entire body screamed in pain, but she hardly cared now that it was over. Her eyes fluttered open, and she tiredly looked over at the woman, feeling too weak to concentrate on a single thing.

Tears ran down her face as she stared at the women, who was peering at something in the machine. This went on for what felt like hours — although it was probably only a few minutes — before the woman finally lifted a tiny microphone and began talking into it. "I have scanned all Kara's memories. We'll need to be very precise about altering her time violations. If we don't get the exact precision, any miscalculation could lead to the destruction of the world."

A muffled voice responded from the microphone, and the woman stepped away from the machine. She pointed a finger at the guards. "Watch her." Then, she pressed a button on her own time bracelet, and she vanished.

She'd barely been gone for a second before she reappeared in the room, looking shocked. "This can't be true."

"What?" one of the guards asked.

The woman looked at Kara in disbelief. "I have changed all of her mistakes in time, but it seems that none of that has changed the future."

Was she kidding? Kara's hope fell. "W-What?"

"But that's not all," the woman continued. "It seems that Kara isn't the cause of the destruction of the world anymore, but someone else is. And if I'm calculating this correctly, there are also several more involved. And changing her mistakes has only made things worse. The destruction of the world has gotten closer."

"Closer? What do you _mean_?" Kara asked, barely able to process what she was hearing. She grinned a little, unable to help herself. She felt her heart leap at the woman's words, which was something she'd never heard before. The end of the world wasn't her fault? How could that be? It suddenly made her hopeful, despite the other things that she was hearing.

The woman only glared at her. "It seems that the world will be ending in four days. We'll have to do some serious adjustments if we want to improve anything. You've been no help whatsoever." She gestured at one of the guards, and Kara's good mood abruptly faded. "Take her back to her room! She's never getting out of there again!"

* * *

_"_ _And the distance could kill us, or make us strong. It ain't right to be apart from you for so long . . ."_


	31. Prison Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the hopes that he’ll find her, Owen and his friends search for Kara in her book.

_**Right Now (by One Direction)** _

  
  


_**“** Late night spaces with all our friends, you and me, yeah. Love these faces, just like how it used to be . . .”_

* * *

When Owen woke up the next morning, his first thought was that the previous day — escaping from the hotel with Bethany and Kiel, finding Gwen and Orion and Charm, fighting Science Police, _confessing_ the truth to Charm, and watching Quanterium get destroyed — had only been a dream. It had been a whirlwind of events.

But then, he found himself laying uncomfortably on the orange carpet of his mother's library instead of his own comfy bed, which normally _never_ happened (except when Fowen had burned down his mother's library in the fictional world). A mix of relief, fear, and excitement went through him once he realized that it hadn't been a dream after all.

Yawning, Owen slowly pushed himself off the ground, feeling slightly sore from sleeping on the ground. His friends were all still asleep, aside from Charm and Bethany, who he guessed had woken up before him. The inside of the library was quiet and peaceful, and for now, he couldn't hear any sounds of fictional monsters that might be outside. Bright sunlight came in from the windows, illuminating the library with a warm, friendly glow.

Owen always felt most at home when he was here, in his mother's library. He was free to truly be himself, since books were what made him feel safe and secure. Before he had friends, books had always been his escape from reality. They'd always been there for him when he was having a rough day or simply wanted to enjoy himself. And somehow, waking up with endless bookcases in front of him was enough to make him feel better about things.

Despite being eerily empty, Owen found a source of comfort just by being here, surrounded by all of the books. After everything that had happened yesterday, it felt nice just to be back in the library, at least for a little while. The familiarity of it all made him almost believe that everything was back to normal, even though it wasn't. Not yet. Not until Nobody was defeated and the fictional worlds were safe.

After the ordeal they'd gone through last night, all of them had been exhausted and had agreed (with some reluctance mostly on Charm's and Orion's part) that sleeping in the library was the safest option. Owen had slept in here a few times before, but that had been several years ago, and he'd brought a sleeping bag with him then.

Now, he probably should've thought ahead by bringing blankets and pillows to the library. That would've been helpful! But who knew that they'd be sleeping in here? Owen was so used to going back to his house and sleeping in his bed after they went on adventures, and it was weird to remember that he didn't actually _have_ a house anymore.

The library wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, but Owen would've preferred that over sleeping in the now-destroyed Quanterium. Even a day later, he still couldn't believe that Quanterium was completely destroyed. He'd grown up loving the Kiel Gnomenfoot books. The characters had always inspired him for the longest time, especially Kiel. And now that Quanterium was gone because of Nobody, it all felt like a bad dream.

He realized that they really _did_ have to hurry, because if they weren't fast enough, Nobody would just keep destroying the fictional worlds until nothing was left. And Owen loved books and the fictional worlds too much to ever let that happen. Luckily they still had some time before the pure possibility absorbed everything, so Owen held onto the belief that they wouldn't be too late to save the worlds.

First, all they needed to do was find Kara as fast as possible. That shouldn't be too hard, right? She'd been taken by time agents to their secret facility with a location that Owen didn't know, but that wasn't going to stop him from searching. And if that didn't work, they could always use Kiel's location spell to find her.

After three weeks of not seeing Kara, and especially after the way things had gone with Charm yesterday, Owen just had to find her again. The very idea of seeing her again made him excited and hopeful, and it sent butterflies flying around in his stomach. He'd missed her _so much_. For weeks, she'd only existed in his memory.

Owen only hoped that they'd be able to find her. He had no idea where she actually was. But he'd made a promise that he'd rescue her from the time agents, and that was exactly what he intended to do. He didn't want to imagine what might happen if they _couldn't_ find her, even though it was definitely possible that they wouldn't be able to.

An unusual noise from somewhere in the back of the library made Owen jump. He felt a shiver go down his spine. What was that? He rubbed his eyes, then glanced at his sleeping friends before hesitantly walking in the direction of the noise. Uh oh.

What if more monsters had escaped from their books? What if something _worse_ than a monster was there? This kind of thing always happened in horror movies, when the person unwittingly walked into a trap and got themselves kidnapped or killed. It was unlikely, but Owen did _not_ want that to happen to him.

If there was anything he didn't like, it was horror movies. He and Bethany had gone to a few over the years they'd known each other, and while Bethany had somehow enjoyed them, Owen found himself screaming every time a jump-scare happened. What was the point of horror movies, anyway? The only thing that Owen learned from them was that he should never walk into a dark, empty basement alone.

Maybe he'd need a weapon for this, just in case there was an actual monster in the library. He carefully picked up a Twilight throwing star from the ground, which was next to where Orion slept. It was heavier than he thought it'd be, and he dropped it instantly to the ground. The carpet muffled the sound a bit, but the throwing star still made a noise when it hit the ground, loud enough to make his friends stir.

Owen cringed, waiting for Orion to wake up and yell at him, but nothing happened. Orion continued to sleep, not even noticing that Owen had taken his Twilight throwing star. Surprisingly, he even looked relatively unthreatening and peaceful when he was asleep. Too bad he was a lot harsher when he was awake. Even for a superhero, Orion was _very_ intense.

Owen quickly picked the Twilight throwing star back up, gingerly holding it away from his body. He heard the noise again, and he instinctively flinched. He edged out into the aisle and slowly crept towards the noise, his heart beating fast in his chest. As he got to the back of the library, he awkwardly raised the Twilight throwing star in the same way he'd seen Bethany and Orion do it.

It felt heavy in his hand, and it didn't help that his hand was shaking. He wasn't even sure if he had strength to throw it, but he'd have to try if they were in danger. He took a deep breath, nodding to himself. He could do this, right? No, probably not. He was investigating this on his own instead of waking up Kiel or someone else to help him. But that would take too long, and Owen was so close. He had to do _something._

He pressed his back against the bookcase, then took another few deep breaths before making his decision. "Who's there?" Owen shouted, jumping out of his hiding spot. He waved the Twilight throwing star in hopes that it would scare the monster away. To his horror, he saw that it was something much worse than anything that his imagination could conjure up.

_Charm_ was standing there, staring at him as irritation passed over her face. There were holographic images floating in the air in front of her. It looked like she'd been drawing them. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Owen blushed, and immediately hid the Twilight throwing star behind his back. Whoops. "Oh! Sorry! I thought you were a—" He cut himself off as she turned back to her work and continued to draw images in the air, which appeared to be scientific equations of some sort. Clearly, she wasn't interested in what he'd been saying.

He hesitantly walked over to her, despite every part of him telling him to back away and give her space. He watched her for a bit before glancing at the back of her head, which had some weird device plugged into it. The device almost looked like it was recharging her. He wasn't sure exactly what it was doing, but it was making the same noise that he'd heard earlier, which at least confirmed the strange noise.

"Um, what are you doing?" Owen asked.

"What does it _look_ like I'm doing?" she asked, not even looking at him as she drew some equations. "I've been making blueprints for weapons just in case we need them to fight Nobody."

"Cool!" He smiled, hoping that she might smile in return. "Can I help?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Charm turned to glare at him. "First of all, you don't know anything about building or designing weapons. And second, I thought I was making it clear. Out of everyone here, you're the _last_ person I'd let help me. The very last. Even _Kiel_ would be a step-up from you, since, you know, he's not a _liar_."

That stung. Owen stepped back, feeling a sharp pain in his heart. But he knew he deserved it. If he was in her shoes, he probably would've felt just as betrayed.

"Well, what kind of weapons were you thinking of?" he asked, hoping she might at least open up to him about that.

"If I tell you the answer, will you leave me alone?"

He sighed. "Charm, I really am sorry. I can't even begin to express how sorry I am. It's unforgivable, I _know_! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I would _never_ do that intentionally. Not to anyone."

"Do you _want_ me to ray-gun you?" Charm asked.

Owen laughed nervously. "No?"

"Good, because I'm not going to waste it on you," she replied coldly, making his heart hurt even more. "I don't care about a stupid apology, either. I just want you to stop talking to me."

He sucked in a breath, his heart sinking even lower. He wished that he could do something to gain her friendship back, because now, the only thing that he wanted to be was her friend. But unfortunately, that would never happen. "Is . . . is that really want you want?"

She rolled her eyes in response, turning back to the images in front of her. Owen glanced again at the device connected to the back of her head, and he pointed at it. "What's that for?"

Charm slammed her hands down, and Owen leapt away. The holographic images vanished immediately, and she glared at him in such a way that made him freeze on the spot. "What did I say about you talking to me?"

"I-I—"

"Stop doing it! It's not difficult, _Owen_." She let out a breath. "That device in the back of my head works as a charger for my robotic body. _Now_ can you leave me alone?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I'll do that," Owen breathed, his face hot with embarrassment. He had no idea what to say. It seemed that he'd have to give Charm some space until she was less mad at him, which probably wouldn't happen for _years_ at this point.

He walked away, staring down at the Twilight throwing star in his hand as he made his way back to his friends. Hopefully they would all be awake by now. The sooner they could get to Kara, the better. Owen knew they'd need a good plan, too, since they'd have to figure out how to find those time agents first. Maybe the Kara Dox books would have some information about where she was?

"What are you _doing_?" Bethany's voice rang out from right next to him, and he screamed in surprise, which made him immediately drop the Twilight throwing star. It fell onto his foot, cutting a small hole in the tip of his shoe. He looked up to find her halfway out of a book, glaring at him.

"Hey, it's not like I hit a toe or something!" Owen said.

She pushed herself the rest of the way out of the book, panting slightly. Before he could even pick it up, she grabbed the Twilight throwing star from the ground. "What were you even doing with that? It's mine!"

He tried not to blush, and he looked away. "Nothing, okay?" He glanced down at the book at her feet. "What were you doing in that book?"

Now it was her turn to look embarrassed. She picked it up and showed him the cover. It was _Goodnight Moon_. "I used to sleep here every night," she explained. "I did it all the time when I was twelve, before I was split in half. And also, I just didn't feel like sleeping on the ground."

Owen felt his irritation building up. "So you chose to sleep there instead of on the floor, with the rest of us?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Footsteps were heard behind them, and they both turned around to see Kiel walking over to them, rubbing his eyes. He was notably cleaner than he had been last night, but his clothes and parts of his face were still mostly covered in soot.

"Why is everyone screaming?" He glanced around them, looking confused and disappointed. "Did I miss anything exciting? Did we get attacked?"

"No." Bethany pointed a thumb at Owen. "That was Owen."

"Hey, it wasn't intentional," Owen protested. He wasn't sure if it was possible to blush this much. "I was just scared! You would be scared if someone randomly appeared right next to you, wouldn't you?"

"Nope. I don't get scared _that_ easily," Bethany said, grinning a little. Kiel laughed.

Owen rolled his eyes, only feeling annoyance now. "I'm going to find Kara's book," he said, pushing past Bethany to get to the sci-fi section.

"Want any help?" she called after him.

"No, thanks," Owen replied, a bit taken aback by how bitter his voice sounded. "I'll find it!"

"That's the spirit," Kiel said, and when he glanced back, the boy magician only gave him a wink.

He sighed. He knew it was wrong of him to take his frustrations out on his friends, but he couldn't help it. He felt so hopeless that he couldn't do anything about Charm, and it made him feel even worse that Kara was somewhere out there, probably suffering. But what could he do? At least he could do something for Kara, but he wished that Charm wouldn't treat him as if he were a piece of gum underneath her shoe. It made him feel terrible about himself.

Since he had every inch of the library memorized, it didn't take Owen long to find Kara's book. He found it sitting exactly where he'd last seen it, on the second to top shelf of the bookcase. It must've been a week ago since he'd last seen her book. He reached up for it, taking it in his good hand.

As he stared down at the cover for a few minutes, his irritation quickly subsided. He always felt better when he saw Kara, even if it was only on the front cover of a book. Hopefully he'd be seeing her in person soon, and this time, she wouldn't be taken away by some time agents.

Tucking the book under his arm, Owen walked back over to his friends, who were now all awake and talking to each other. On the way, he grabbed a few more books that looked useful for helping them break into the prison. He didn't see Charm, so he guessed she was still reprogramming herself . . . whatever _that_ meant. He cleared his throat, placing the books down on a table. "Got it."

Gwen came over to Owen's side, peering down at the Kara Dox book. "This is Kara?"

Owen smiled a little. "Yeah. She's a time-traveler. We escaped from the Time Security Agency together, but she was captured by these time agents, and they put her into a different prison."

She gasped. "That's horrible! Do you know if she's okay?"

He only shook his head. He already felt bad enough that she was locked up in another prison, but he felt even worse that he didn't know how she was doing. If the time agents were anything like the Time Security Agency instructors, she probably wasn't doing so well.

"Do you know where she is, exactly?" Kiel asked. "Maybe we can jump into a page where the prison is and break into it." A gleam of excitement appeared in his eyes. "I love breaking into places."

Owen opened his mouth to reply, but Orion was the one to answer first, not looking too happy about that idea. "We can't just _break_ into a place. I've never broken into a prison before, but I know that they're usually filled with guards. No, the smartest option is to sneak in from the back entrance or the window."

"Kid Twilight has a point," Charm said, and Owen looked over his shoulder to see her walking towards them. "But I think we could take on a bunch of guards. If we attack them head-on, they won't be able to compensate."

Orion shot her a look. "I'm not saying we can't, but being stealthy _is_ the easiest way to get in and out of a place."

"Plus if there are a lot of guards, we might not be able to fight them all," Bethany quietly added. She glanced at Owen and Kiel. "It'd be like when we broke into Doyle's school. There were tons of guards there."

"Yeah. There were." Kiel nodded.

"Except we _didn't_ break in," Owen reminded them. "I surrendered so we could get inside without fighting anyone."

"And that was a great plan!"

"But we can't do that here. I don't even know where this time prison is, or how many guards there are. And I don't think it'd be anywhere in Kara's books."

"Then we take Kiel's spell book with us," Bethany said. "If nothing else, we can use his location spell to find her."

"I thought of that too," Owen said. "But what if _that_ doesn't work?"

"My spells _always_ work," Kiel insisted. "I'm great at casting them!" He grinned. "Why _wouldn't_ it work?"

  
Owen frowned. "It's not about that. I'm more worried that the location spell won't be able to find her _anywhere_."

"We'll find her!" Gwen said, smiling encouragingly. "We might not know _where_ she is, but maybe we can ask people where the prison is. They might know."

"They might not tell you," Charm muttered.

  
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Owen said with a small smile, ignoring Charm's comment.

"So, what's the plan?" Bethany asked, crossing her arms. "We jump in there and use the location spell to find her? And if that doesn't work, we ask people if they know where the time prison is?"

He shrugged, glancing around at his friends' faces. He wished he knew more about the prison, so they could prepare better for it. The lack of knowledge made the break-in feel a lot more impossible. "I guess so. And then once we _do_ find the prison, we'll break in and get her out." He paused at the look on Orion's face. "And, um, don't worry, we'll be stealthy about it. It all depends on how many guards there are."

"Sounds good to me," Kiel said.

"But we might also need some other things to help us out, which is why I grabbed this," Owen said, pointing to one of the books on the table.

" _Alpha Predator_ ," Orion read slowly, his face blank. He looked up at Owen. "And why do we need that?"

"There are invisibility suits in there," Owen told him. "They also hide our heat, so no one would be able to detect us. That would probably be the easiest way to get into the prison."

Bethany frowned down at the book. "We used those when we broke into the Baker Street School."

"Did they work?" Gwen asked.

She nodded. "Really well, actually. Using them might not be a bad idea, but they're hard to get."

"If we're fighting the time agents as a group, we might not need them," Kiel pointed out.

"That's true," Owen muttered.

"What about this book?" Gwen pointed at another book among the pile, called _The Time Machine_.

"Oh." Owen blushed. "I only grabbed that in case we can't find a time bracelet for Kara. I mean, I'm sure we could find a time bracelet in the prison, but me and Kara had a lot of problems finding them when we were in the time prison. That's the whole reason she can time travel. Without a time bracelet, she doesn't have that power."

"Alright, I get it," Charm grumbled. "Let's just get this over with. As long as I get to ray-gun some guards, I'll be happy."

"But no hurting them," Gwen pleaded. "They're real people, too."

". . . Sure," the half-robotic girl muttered reluctantly, but her hard gaze softened.

Gwen seemed to relax, and she grinned. "Thank you!"

"If they attack us, we can't help that," Orion said as he leaned on his elbows over the table. "If any of you don't want to fight, you can just stay on the sidelines and let me handle this by sneaking into the prison. You all would just slow me down, anyway. I can find Kara quicker that way."

Bethany rolled her eyes. "We're not doing that!"

"Why? Because you can't be stealthy?"

She looked offended. "No. I _can_ be stealthy. Just because Dad says I'm not doesn't mean I can't be."

A smile crept onto Orion's face, but it faded as quickly as it had come.

"Besides, we're going to break in together!" Bethany continued, gesturing to their friends. "Something bad could happen if only one person goes in."

Owen nodded his agreement. "Exactly! We're going to need all the help we can get if we wanna rescue Kara."

"And why do we need this girl?" Charm asked, narrowing her eyes. "How exactly is she going to help us defeat Nobody?"

"She's a time-traveler, _and_ she's my friend," Owen said. He was a bit confused why Charm was even questioning this. They needed Kara's help. Not only that, but Owen had been waiting to rescue her for _weeks_. "We need her help, too."

"When do you want to leave?" Kiel asked him.

"Right now, if everyone's ready," Owen said, looking down at the table. "I don't want to wait any longer."

"Okay," Bethany said.

She picked up the book from the table and opened it, flipping quickly towards the end of the book. Once she seemed to be satisfied with one of the pages, she placed the book at their feet. Everyone dispersed to grab their weapons (and in Gwen's case, her jetpack), and a few minutes later, they regrouped and jumped into Kara's book, prepared for anything.

The first thing that Owen noticed was how similar Kara's world looked to his. It wasn't an exact replica, like the fictional version of his town, but it had many of the same aspects. The building structures were relatively the same, as were the cars and the streets. The only difference was that people seemed to be wearing much brighter clothing than Owen was used to, and the cell phones in their hands looked enormous.

Other than that, nothing looked too out of place or different from his own world. And as far as he could tell, there wasn't a single time-traveler in sight.

"Where are we?" Charm demanded. She opened up her completely human-looking arm, revealing circuitry beneath it. A small radar dish pushed out of her forearm, and she looked around in confusion. "I'm not even picking up warp signatures. The only thing I can pick up is numerous disruptions across time."

Once the radar dish sunk itself back into her arm, Charm took out her ray guns. She pointed them at the people around them, who didn't pay their group much attention. The people gave them some weird glances — probably because of their clothing — but they continued walking down the streets, not bothering to talk to them.

"The question is _when_ are we," Owen said, barely able to contain his smile. When he saw the look on her face, his smile faded, and he turned to his less-angry friends. "It looks like we're somewhere in the past. That's all I know."

Bethany looked around them, her eyes wide. "Do you think we're in the 2000's?"

"I don't know. Did they _have_ phones back then?"

She snorted. "Wow, did your mom never tell you anything about that time? Of course they did. Cell phone were invented around 1970's, I think."

"I never knew that."

Charm sighed, tapping her foot. "Cell phones are toys for infants. But time traveling devices? Those are definitely more advanced. I learned how to make them in elementary school."

"Good for you," Orion said sarcastically. She glared at him.

Every time they passed someone, Owen glanced down at their wrists, searching for a time bracelet. But he didn't see any. Why didn't anyone have time bracelets? Were they hard to come by, or were they just illegal? He didn't know much about Kara's book series, other than that time traveling was considered illegal in the TSA's eyes. That was why a prison had been made, so anyone who disrupted the timeline could be put there.

But the whole thing didn't make much sense to Owen. Why was time-traveling illegal? If he could do time-travel, he definitely wouldn't sit around and stay in one timeline. He'd travel to all eras just for the fun of it. Maybe that was how Kara acted when she first became a time-traveler, simply enjoying herself as she traveled through time. It was a shame that she'd given it all up just to turn herself into the TSA, so she wouldn't destroy the world in the future.

Owen didn't really know the story, but he knew she held a lot of guilt about it. He wished he could've done something to make her feel better about the situation, because no one deserved to blame themselves for something that couldn't have been their fault. The same thing had happened with Bethany, when she'd blamed herself for her father's disappearance. And maybe it _was_ Kara’s fate to destroy the world, but the future could always be changed, couldn't it? That was the point that plenty of movies about time travel had made.

Kiel nudged Owen in the side, a grin on his face. "Since Kara can time travel and all, I wonder if she could go to the future and see if they've made any more movies about me. Anything would be better than the first movie they made. It was nothing like the real version of my world!"

Charm raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Don't worry," Kiel said. "You were in it too. It wasn't _all_ about me."

Orion turned to stare at Kiel, his face emotionless as usual. "Wait, someone made a movie about you?"

"Oh, yeah," Bethany said with a small laugh. "But it wasn't very good."

"It really wasn't," Kiel agreed.

"What's a movie?" Gwen asked curiously.

"Um, it's basically a story that's recorded with a camera," Owen explained. "It's like watching something in real life, but you're seeing it on a screen." He smiled. "We'll have to show you some movies later. I personally love superhero movies. Oh, and the _How To Train Your Dragon_ moviesand the Harry Potter movies were great, too."

Bethany groaned. "You're way too obsessed with those movies."

Owen glared at her. "That's not a bad thing!"

She grinned. "Of course not."

Kiel looked at him in surprise. "I didn't know there were Harry Potter movies. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't even finish the first chapter of _Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone_!" Owen said. "And then you wanted to know how it ended so you read the last page of the book!"

Gwen and Bethany laughed, while Kiel winked at him. "I don't really like to read books. I don't know why you got so overdramatic."

"Wow," Orion mumbled, looking almost amused.

Overdramatic? Was he joking? Owen scoffed. "Because—" He then bumped into someone, and he nearly tripped over his own feet. He quickly looked up to see an annoyed-looking man. "Um, sorry sir, I didn't see you there—" The sight of a time bracelet on the man's hand made him go silent, and the man huffed before shoving past Owen, continuing to walk down the sidewalk.

"Rude," Kiel muttered. " _That_ guy has no manners."

"What's wrong?" Bethany asked, frowning. "Do you know him?"

Owen shook his head, still staring after the man as an idea formed in his head. The man had a time bracelet, which meant that he was also a time-travelor. Could he know where the prison was? "No. But we should go after him. He has a time bracelet."

"Are you _sure_ it was a time bracelet?" Charm asked.

"I'm sure. If we catch up to him and ask him questions, we can find out where Kara is. He'll know. She's one of the most famous time-travelers here," Owen said in his most confident voice, trying to be more confident like Kiel. Just to prove it, he glanced at the boy magician and gave him an awkward wink.

Kiel gave him an odd look back. "Okay."

"Perfect!" Gwen exclaimed. "Let's go after him!"

"We can't just go—" Orion began, then sighed once Gwen began heading quickly through the crowd, gesturing for them to follow her. Owen kept his eyes out for the man he'd seen earlier, but since the streets were a bit crowded, it was hard to keep track. He was relatively shorter than the people walking in front of him, and he had to keep standing on his tiptoes to catch sight of the man again.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Bethany whispered to him as they hurried after the man, staying a short distance away so he wouldn't catch them following him.

"He's a time-traveler," Owen said, though he felt much of the same. "He'll have the answers we need."

"I know," she said. "But neither of us know anything about Kara's series. For all we know, this guy could be a villain."

Bethany had a point. Owen didn't know much about the villains from Kara's books, aside from the Countess and the agents from the Time Security Agency. But he figured that this man was only a random time-traveler, possibly just a background character. And if the man _was_ a villain, and tried to fight them, Owen felt confident that him and his five friends could handle it.

"We'll be careful," Owen said. "We just need to ask him some questions, and that's it."

She raised her eyebrows. "And you think that this random guy will know where Kara is?"

"Yeah! He's a time-traveler. A _time-traveler_ would know."

"Uh-huh."

"He would!"

"Sure," Bethany said. "Because _that_ makes total sense. I really don't like the idea of following some random guy around, Owen. If we get killed, I'm totally blaming you for this."

"So will I," Owen responded, shuddering a bit.

Up ahead, the man ducked into an alleyway, disappearing from their sight. Owen sped up as much as he could without accidentally knocking anyone over, but the same couldn't be said for Charm, who didn't bother to apologize as she shoved past people. Once they reached the alleyway where the man had gone, Owen turned towards it, expecting to see the man walking down it.

But to his shock, the alleyway was completely empty. Furrowing his brows, he glanced behind him and met the eyes of his friends. "Where did he go?"

Charm growled in frustration as a red grid passed briefly over her eyes. She pushed past Owen to walk down the alleyway, and they followed her. "He was just here a minute ago."

"So he's gone," Orion grunted. "Fine. Let's forget about him and question someone else."

"Wait!" Bethany pointed at the ground. "There's a manhole. There has to be underground tunnel down there!"

Owen's eyes widened as he followed where she was pointing. There was a manhole in the ground, which had some weird symbol on it that he couldn't interpret. The symbol almost looked like letters, but it was too faded to make out. The symbol seemed important to Owen, like he should remember what it was, but he didn't recognize it as something he'd seen before.

For some reason, he felt a sick feeling in his gut, as if something bad might happen. But this only appeared to be an underground tunnel or a hideout of some sort, which shouldn't be very dangerous. Could this be a secret hideout for time travelers?

"He must've gone down there," Kiel breathed.

"Should we follow him?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," Owen said. "He's the only time-traveler I've seen. We have to go after him."

"Okay, here's the plan," Kiel said. "Once we catch this guy, Gwen, Owen, and I can act as the good cops. Orion and Charm can be the bad cops."

"A good cop, bad cop scenario," Bethany said, staring at him. "And what am I, a bad cop?"

He winked at her. "Sure."

"We're going to _interrogate_ him?" Gwen asked. "That's not nice. He hasn't done anything wrong, has he?"

"No," Owen said quickly. "Kiel, we aren't using that plan. Well . . . maybe. It depends what happens when we get there, but really, all we have to do is ask him about the time prison."

"Yeah," Bethany said, nervously glancing at the manhole. "And we aren't going to hurt anyone."

Charm sighed. "I'm bored already. When do we get to the ray-gunning part?"

Bethany shot her a look. " _Later_." She bent down to open the manhole, and Orion moved over to help. They quickly unscrewed it and pushed it to the side, grunting from the weight. Orion climbed down the ladder first, and the rest of them followed until they were all inside.

The underground tunnel before them was hardly like anything Owen had ever seen. Instead of a dimly-lit tunnel that most movies and books showed, it was brightly lit, and the floor, walls, and ceiling were white. The hallway they were in was eerily empty, with a few metal doors along the sides. The end of the hallway seemed to branch off into two sections.

"Where are we?" Owen asked.

"I don't know," Orion muttered.

Kiel only shook his head. "No idea."

"It looks like some sort of underground facility," Charm said quietly, looking as confused and wary as the rest of them. She slowly took out her ray guns and held them at her sides. "We should be careful."

They started walking slowly down the hallway, all of them unsure exactly where they were trespassing in. Owen couldn't shake the bad feeling he had about the place, but it seemed to be empty. Everything would be fine, right? All they had to do was find the man, and then they could leave to find Kara.

They got to the end of the hallway, where it branched off into two separate hallways that seemed to stretch far into the distance. Owen looked down each hallway, weighing his decisions. Both were empty, but he didn't know for sure if that was actually true. The man must've gone down one of these hallways. There wasn't anywhere else to turn, unless he had gone inside one of the rooms behind the metal doors.

The echo of distant footsteps caught their attention, and they all perked up at the noise. Bethany turned to them. "There's our guy. We should split up."

Owen frowned. He didn't like the idea of splitting up from his friends, even though it was the best option if they wanted to track the man down. Last time he'd separated from Bethany, she'd gotten split in half while Owen had been thrown into a time prison. He'd watched enough movies to know that splitting up never turned out to be a good move. But he was probably just overthinking everything. They'd be fine!

Charm nodded, moving to the hallway on the right. "I agree."

"Okay," Owen said. "Then, I'll go with Bethany and Ch—"

"No, I don't think so," she interrupted. " _I'll_ go with Gwen and Orion. You can go with Bethany and Kiel."

Owen frowned and glanced at Bethany, who looked like she wanted to say something. She stared at him in silence, and he only sighed. How long would Charm hold a grudge against him? The longer she was mad at him, the worse he felt. Even when he gave her space and acted friendly towards her, she _still_ acted like he was a horrible person.

"Okay!" Gwen said, smiling to relief the tension in the group, which was mostly just coming from Charm. She waved to them as she, Charm, and Orion started down the hallway. "See you guys soon! Good luck!"

"You too!" Kiel said. The three of them watched as their friends walked away, and Owen felt his stomach twist into a knot. Seriously, why did he feel so bad? Nothing bad would happen.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Bethany told him as they wandered down the opposite hallway. "Charm might be angry, but she _shouldn't_ be treating you that way."

"She has every right to be mad," Owen mumbled.

"But not to treat you like that."

He didn't know what to say to that. He was used to being yelled at and kicked around, so it wasn't like this was anything new. Owen turned to stare at her in bewilderment. "You always know what I'm thinking. How do you _do_ that?"

"I just do," she said, as if that response made sense. "You're my best friend."

"That . . . doesn't sound comforting."

Kiel gave him a supportive smile. "Don't worry, she'll get over it. Every time she's mad at me, it doesn't last too long. It might last a few months or even years, but she'll eventually get over it."

"But what if she doesn't?" Owen asked.

Bethany sighed, sharing a glance with Kiel. "I . . . I don't know."

They fell silent as they went further down the empty hallway, trying to listen for any signs of the man. Owen strained his ears, trying to hear something other than his and his friends' footsteps. He squinted his eyes against the bright fluorescent lights, which seemed as bright as the sun. The whole place made him feel nervous. The quietness of it all felt odd, because it seemed like there should be people around.

"Wait . . ." Owen stopped in his tracks as he finally made sense of the strange symbol he'd seen earlier. It hadn't been a symbol at all, he realized. They'd been letters! Letters that spelled something that made a chill go down his spine. He grabbed Kiel's arm. "TSA . . ."

"What?" Bethany said.

Owen's eyes widened, and more urgently, he said, "TSA!"

Kiel frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"The letters on the manhole cover!" Owen exclaimed, his breathing becoming more quick as he pieced everything together. This explained the secret underground facility and the man with the time bracelet. "T-They were faded, and I had no idea what they said. But I do now! They stand for TSA. _Time Security Agency_."

"What?" Bethany repeated, giving him a horrified look. Kiel stared at him in shock, his eyes wide.

All of the sudden, someone grabbed Owen from behind, throwing a hand over his mouth. His heart leapt. He screamed in surprise as he was dragged backward, and he struggled to move and fight back. The person gripped him tighter, not allowing him to move an inch.

"Owen!" he heard Kiel shout.

"Help!" Owen tried to shout, his voice muffled against the person's hand. " _Help_!" He had barely enough time to see his friends being grabbed as well before some sort of black cloth was shoved over his head, and everything went utterly dark.

* * *

By the time Bethany realized it'd been a mistake to search for the man, it was too late. The attack had been sudden and unexpected, and the next thing Bethany knew, she and her friends were being dragged down hallways. She fought as hard as she could, using her entire body to throw herself out of her kidnapper's grip. Underneath the cloth they'd thrown over her head, it was pitch-black, giving her no ability to see where she was being taken.

She tried to elbow the person holding her, but nothing happened. The person continued dragging her to somewhere unknown, their arms wrapped tightly around her. Her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest, and her breathing became more rapid. Anxious thoughts swirled around her head, nearly overwhelming her. It didn't help that a hood was covering her head, and she could hardly breathe.

Bethany screamed in frustration, wishing she could do something to free herself. How hadn't she seen the attackers coming? It'd been completely quiet, so she figured that no one else was there with them. But apparently there had been, because now, she and her friends were being kidnapped and definitely were in a ton of danger right now.

_Great_.

The person stopped moving for a moment, and Bethany heard the sound of a door being swung open. She gasped as the person once again continued dragging her, only to let go of her and shove her to the ground. She hit the ground hard, and she winced as pain momentarily filled her body. Disoriented and woozy, she struggled to sit up, since her hands had been tied behind her back.

  
She shifted around on the floor, breathing heavily. She heard more footsteps, and then the sounds of something being thrown to the ground next to her. Or . . . someone. Despite the unfortunate turn of events, she felt a small spark of hope. Had her friends been taken to the same place as her? She'd seen Owen and Kiel get grabbed by the kidnappers, so if they were with her, they could at least find a way to escape.

The hood was suddenly taken off her face, and Bethany found herself staring at a person wearing a black helmet and uniform. "Let me go!" she shouted desperately, frantically making attempts to break free of her bonds.

What was going _on_? Nothing made sense, and it terrified her. She was shaking all over. She had no clue who these people were, and more importantly, she had no idea what they were going to do to her and her friends.

"Stay here for questioning," the uniformed person ordered without a hint of emotion in their voice. The person turned back around, opening a door behind them before slamming it closed.

Her eyes widened. Questioning? Oh, no. No, no, no. That was never a good sign, especially since these people had just kidnapped her and her friends. Did the guards think they were time-travelers, or something? Bethany didn't know. There was no telling what they'd do.

Bethany hardly knew anything about Kara's book series, but she _did_ know what the TSA was capable of. The things they'd done to Owen in the time prison had been horrible, and she always wished she could've gotten him out faster before the traumatizing experience of it all. If this really was the same organization that Bethany had read about in _Pick The Plot_ , they were in big trouble.

Bethany couldn't stay and wait around for the kidnappers to come back. That would only end badly. She had to get out of here and save her friends. _Now_.

She looked around her, and she noticed for the first time that there was another person in the room with her. It took her a few seconds more to realize that that person was Charm. The dark hood was still over her head, covering her entire face. She was laying awkwardly on the ground, muttering what sounded like insults. It seemed that the half-robotic girl was more angry than scared about getting kidnapped and locked into a room for questioning.

Bethany heaved a sigh of relief, grateful that she wouldn't have to do this by herself. She dragged herself towards her friend with some difficulty, then whispered, "Charm!"

" _Who's there_?" Charm shouted, shoving herself into Bethany. Bethany gasped as she was knocked off balance, and she nearly tumbled to the floor again.

"It's me!" Bethany hissed as she struggled to regain her balance. "Bethany!"

There was a pause. "Bethany?"

"Yeah," she said. "Now let me try to get this thing off of you. Can you bend over?"

Charm scoffed. "Are you kidding?"

Bethany glared at her. "It's not a question. My hands are tied behind my back. I can't move them!"

Reluctantly, Charm nodded and let herself fall the rest of the way to the ground. Bethany got as close to Charm's head as she could before shifting her body around, holding her hands out as far as they could go. The bonds were tight, and they restricted her from pulling her hands apart. Grunting, she stretched her hands even further, until finally, she felt the cloth's material underneath her fingers.

Bethany's heart leapt. It was working! "Almost got it," she told Charm, before attempting to grasp the hood again. It took several tries before she finally got a good grip on it, and once she did, she pulled with all her strength. The hood came tumbling off of Charm's face, and Bethany stopped moving, her arms aching from the strain of using them.

"Thanks," Charm grunted from behind her. She turned back around just as Charm got to her feet, having remarkably less difficulty than Bethany was having. She stared down at Bethany in annoyance, who was still on the floor. "I don't know _who_ these people think they are. They think they can grab us and toss us into this room? Do they not know who I am?"

"Nope," Bethany said. "But right before we got kidnapped, Owen said that these people were from the TSA. That stands for 'Time Security Agency'." She shuddered. "From what I've heard, they're really evil."

"Don't care. It doesn't matter who they are, or where they came from," Charm snapped. "They also didn't take my ray guns, which was dumb on their part. They won't be so happy when I'm ray-gunning them."

Bethany furrowed her brows, and she slowly pushed herself to her feet, using her legs for support. "But our arms are still tied. You couldn't even reach your ray guns if you tried."

"You're thinking small, which shouldn't surprise me," Charm said, and Bethany felt her irritation rising. "I'm half-robotic, remember? Super strong arm." As if on cue, Charm's robotic arm lashed out, breaking the thick robes that held her arms. In seconds, she was free.

Bethany just stared at her. "Are you _serious_? Why didn't you use it to escape before?"

"Because I wanted the guards to think that I couldn't escape," Charm stated, as if it were obvious. "That way, they wouldn't bother us as much, and we can get out of this room. And clearly, you all need some help escaping."

Bethany scoffed. "I don't _need_ —"

Charm rolled her eyes, then walked over to Bethany and pulled at the knotted rope that prevented her hands from moving. Bethany winced as the rope came loose, tumbling to the floor. She stretched out her sore arms and glanced down at her wrists, which were bright red from the tightness of the rope. She looked back up at Charm, who was already moving to the door.

Bethany watched as Charm twisted the knob of the surprisingly-unlocked door and threw it open. She stepped out into the brightly-lit hallway. There was a shout from Charm's left, and Charm quickly punched something that Bethany couldn't see several times with her robotic arm. Bethany rushed to her side and was shocked to find a guard laying on the ground, now unconscious.

"You knocked him out."

"Nice observation." Charm pressed something on her robotic arm, which scanned the area around them with a glowing red light. "I'm detecting a lot of people in here, maybe hundreds."

"Hundreds?" Bethany's eyes widened. What was this place, and why were there so many people here? "What about the guards? Are there any more of them around?"

"No. The coast is clear, at least for the next few hallways." Charm nodded her head in the direction of the hallway. She took out her ray guns and pointed them in front of her, her expression hard.

"Good," Bethany said, throwing a glance at the guard on the ground before starting purposefully down the hallway. "Let's go find our friends."

* * *

_Everyone's going to blame_ me _for this_ , Owen thought as he was tossed to the ground, where he groaned loudly in pain. His body ached all over — more specifically, his broken arm, which had been cruelly tied behind his back. He barely had time to readjust his position on the ground before the hood was ripped off of his head. The door was slammed behind him, and he instinctively winced.

He stayed on the ground for what felt like hours, having no idea what to do. Even after it had happened, Owen still couldn't believe they'd gotten kidnapped. Now, he and his friends were in danger and it was because of _him_. He wished the others hadn't let him go through with this idiotic plan. At the time, it'd made sense. But now, he was regretting his decision.

He was so tired of being known as the boy who messed everything up, but it seemed that there was nothing he could do to change that now. For the hundredth time, he wished that he wouldn't just be the sidekick, the comic relief that got everyone captured. He wished he could go back to _saving_ his friends, like he'd done yesterday when they'd fought against the Science Police. Once again, they'd probably be the ones saving him, not the other way around.

And to top it all off, he was also no closer to finding Kara.

He'd followed the man with the belief that as a time-traveler, he'd know where she was. But that had been wishful thinking. Owen should've known they'd be walking into a trap, but everything had seemed fine. He wished that they'd stuck to using Kiel's location spell, which now seemed like a much better alternative. Hopelessness filled him. At this rate, he'd _never_ find Kara.

Owen had barely moved before the door was opened again, and three more people with hoods over their faces were shoved into the room by guards wearing black helmets. The momentum of the push sent them falling to the ground, right beside Owen. The guards advanced towards them, taking the hood off of their heads before they stormed out of the room.

Instantly, Owen recognized them as Kiel, Gwen, Orion. "Well _that_ was unexpected," Kiel said, flashing them a wink that seemed forced.

Despite everything that had happened, Owen found himself smiling at their arrival. "Are you guys okay?"

"If you mean 'having a horrible day' by okay, then yes," Orion growled. The sidekick quickly glanced around the room before pulling with all his strength at the tight bonds around his wrists. He grunted from the effort, and tried several times before giving up.

"I'm fine, now that you guys are here," Gwen said, replying to Owen's question. She frowned as she seemed to notice something. "What happened to Bethany and Charm?"

Kiel's eyes widened, and he frantically glanced around the room. "They're not here?"

"They aren't," Orion confirmed, seeming to tense up. "If they hurt Bethany, I'll make them _pay_."

"We'll get them back," Owen said, but he hardly believed his own words. How could they find their friends when they were locked up? Escaping wasn't much of an option, either. Not when they couldn't free themselves.

"Do you think they're okay?" Kiel asked, the worry evident in his eyes. They fell silent, none of them knowing the answer to that question.

Owen's momentary relief at seeing his friends again subsided, with the realization that two of them were missing. He wasn't too worried about Charm, since she was just as intimidating as the guards, but he was more concerned about Bethany. What would the TSA do to them now that they'd captured them? Where were his other friends? He shuddered as he thought over all the possible things that could be happening to them right now.

"I'm sure they will be," Gwen said softly, her tone hopeful. "On the bright side, _we're_ fine. So they must be, too."

Orion rolled his eyes. "We're not _fine_. We're trapped in a room with our hands tied behind our backs. I'm usually the one tying criminals up, not the other way around."

"I'm sorry," Owen said, feeling ashamed as he looked at each of them. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have followed that man."

"You _think_?"

"Hey, it wasn't your fault, Owen," Kiel assured him. "None of us could've known that this would happen. But it's no big deal. Do you know how many times I've been kidnapped?"

"Yeah." Owen nodded. "You got captured by those giants, and many times by the Science Soldiers, and Dr. Verity a few times, and—"

"Exactly! And I've escaped every time. And do you know why?"

Orion deadpanned. "No, I don't. Can we focus here and get back to escaping?"

"Because I'm amazing, that's why," Kiel finished, which made Owen smile a little. "And we can easily escape this place. I just need to get my hands on my wand-knives."

"I can get them for you," Gwen offered. She moved closer to Kiel and managed to grab the tip of one of the wand-knives, but due to the immobility of her hands, she wasn't able to lift it. She sat back with a sigh. "I couldn't get them. We can find another solution, though!"

"That's okay—" Kiel began.

"Okay, while you guys are having a conversation that contributes nothing, I'll be escaping," Orion interrupted, and proceeded to stand up. With his hands still tied behind his back, he cautiously walked over to the door and pressed his ear against it.

"Um, what are you doing?" Owen asked.

Orion gave him a dark look, almost as if to say _don't ask any more questions_. Owen sighed. He didn't know how much they could accomplish by listening through the door, but that was the best option for now, since there was nothing else they could do. The group stopped talking, trying to listen for a sign of the guards or anyone else outside the door.

"Can you hear anything?" Gwen whispered to Owen and Orion, who were crouched closest to the door. Owen tried to listen, then shook his head. He couldn't hear anything from where he was sitting.

Orion sighed. "Just barely. I don't think anyone's in this hallway." Then his eyes widened, and he pressed himself closer to the door.

"What?" Kiel whispered. "What is it?"

Orion waved at him to be quiet, then continued listening. He shuffled away from the door, nodding at them. "Someone's coming."

" _What_?" Owen gasped. "We need to hide!"

"Where?" Kiel exclaimed. "There's nowhere to go!"

The four scrambled to position themselves out of sight, as low to the ground as they could get without drawling more attention. There were footsteps and muffled voices, and then . . . nothing. The only thing Owen could hear was their heavy breathing. All of the sudden, the door swung open, and his heart nearly stopped.

All of them froze, then simultaneously sighed in relief. It was Bethany, and next to her was Charm. Owen could hardly contain his surprise at the sight of them. He hadn't expected Bethany and Charm to come find them, but then again, he hadn't expected to get kidnapped either.

"Bethany!" Gwen cried happily, a huge grin growing on her face. She looked like she wanted to hug them both, but the only thing stopping her was the rope that held her arms behind her.

"B-Bethany?" Owen sputtered. "Charm? You guys are okay?"

Bethany's mouth hung open for a few seconds, looking just as surprised as he felt. Then she grinned, and moved behind Orion to untie his bonds. "Yes, but not for long."

"How did you get out?" Kiel asked.

Charm snorted. "It wasn't hard. I used my robotic arm to get the bonds off of us, and then we fought a few guards on our way here."

"How many guards are there?" Orion asked, flexing his hands as they came free from the bonds.

"A lot more, I'm guessing. We should get out of here before more come back," Bethany said, shuddering a bit. She walked over to Owen next and carefully began untying the rope around his wrists. Owen inhaled sharply at the sensation of his broken arm being pulled, and she muttered an apology. The bonds finally came free, and Owen gently held his broken arm with his good one, feeling pain everywhere.

Once the Kiel and Gwen were free, the six of them shuffled quietly over to the door, readying their weapons. Kiel went first, swinging open the door and poking his head out.

"See anything?" Bethany asked.

"Nope," he said. "The hallway's empty."

Gwen smiled. "Oh, that's good."

"Don't get your hopes up," Charm warned. "My sensors detect a lot of movement around here, so expect to see more of them."

Owen winced. More guards? He didn't like the sound of that. Depending on how many there were, they might have a hard time getting out of this place. They definitely didn't know their way around this building and the last thing they needed was to get captured again.

"Looks like we'll have to fight our way out," Orion said with a grimace.

Kiel glanced back at them and winked. "Sounds fun. I'm always up for a challenge."

Charm sighed loudly. "What _doesn't_ sound fun to you?"

"Many things! Like school."

"Specifically math class," Owen added, to which Kiel nodded vigorously.

Charm made an angry noise in the back of her throat. "Kiel, school is—" She cut herself off. "You know what? Never-mind. Let's get moving."

They fell silent as Kiel walked out of the room first, Owen right at his heels. They walked quickly down the hall, each casting wary glances over their shoulders. Owen found it uncomfortably similar to being in the time prison, where he'd been trapped without a way out. This time, he told himself, he wasn't trapped. They just had to find the ladder that they'd come down from, and then they could get out of here.

As he walked alongside his friends, Owen looked up and down the brightly-lit hallway, searching for any guards lurking nearby. Just like Kiel said, there weren't any to be seen. But judging from what Charm had claimed, that wouldn't be the case. Any moment now, more guards would come walking around the corner, only to see that their hostages had escaped. Owen wasn't sure if he'd be ready for when that happened.

Somewhere up ahead, Owen heard footsteps. His robotic heart began to race a bit faster at the sound, and he swallowed hard, mentally preparing himself for a fight. Could he use his time powers like last time, by speeding up or slowing down the time of the guards? That seemed like it would be helpful, but these were _real_ people _,_ not Science Police.

It was acceptable to kill robots, but _people?_ The very idea made Owen feel sick. He didn't want to kill them or hurt them severely. He wasn't even fully sure how to control his newfound powers, so he decided it'd be best if he stuck to his usual routine in a fight: trying not to get killed.

"Get ready," he whispered to his friends as they turned the corner. Even though he'd been expecting it, his heart jumped anyway at the sight of several enormous guards walking towards them. The guards stopped in their tracks, sharing looks with each other. Since they were wearing helmets, Owen couldn't see the expressions on their faces, but he could guess that they were surprised.

The shock wore off after a second, and the guards charged towards them, raising their futuristic-looking guns. The guards looked twice as big up close, looking even more intimidating to Owen than before. While Orion went straight to punching the guards, Kiel aimed both wand-knives at the group and murmured a spell. Immediately, all of the guards started dancing. Some even lost their grips on their weapons, which made Owen grin.

His hope was short-lived, however, because more guards came barreling down the hallway. Charm muttered something under her breath before raising both ray guns and firing them into the group. The guards fired their guns right back at them, and Owen had to duck several times to avoid getting hit. Next to him, Bethany transformed into a giant fist and punched through the guards, sending many of them falling back into the wall, completely unconscious.

"Nice job, Beth!" Kiel shouted as Bethany transformed back. She grinned back at him, only for her smile to fade as a guard advanced towards her, pointing a gun at her. She quickly transformed into sleeping gas, and the guard collapsed to the ground a second later.

As the minutes wore on, more and more guards came running down the hallway. It was becoming overwhelming, and Owen wasn't sure if the fight would ever end. The guards only seemed to be multiplying, and their group was quickly being outnumbered.

"Look out!" Gwen shouted as one of the guards tried to punch Owen, only for Orion to whack his Twilight staff into the guard, catching him off balance.

The guard swung another punch — this time at Orion — but Orion sidestepped the punch as easily as if he were passing pedestrians on the street. The guard shouted in rage, pointing his gun at the boy. Without even flinching, Orion dropped to the ground and swept the guard's feet out from under him, then knocked him out with one punch. He got to his feet again, shaking out his hand.

"Whoa!" Owen said, his eyes wide with awe. "That was so cool. Where did you learn to punch like that?" Orion only smirked, and he raised his Twilight staff, hitting it into another guard.

As even more guards came running in, Bethany rewrote herself into gigantic inanimate objects, which was useful for knocking out entire groups of guards. While Charm used her ray guns and robotic arm to fight off the guards, Gwen soared into the air, plucking guns from the guards' hands and tossing them into the wall, where they smashed into pieces. Kiel cast spell after spell, seemingly enjoying the entire thing.

Owen, on the other hand, had to jump out of the way a few times, just to avoid getting hit with any spells or bullets. When he found the opportunity to, he used his blow-dart to knock out the guards, which proved to be harder than he thought it would be. With so many moving targets, it was hard to direct the blow-darts where he wanted them to go.

He was about to fire another one at an unsuspecting guard before a bullet sailed through the air — almost in slow motion — towards him. Owen gasped, and he forgot to even use his time powers to avoid it. He was suddenly shoved out of the way, and he hit the side of the wall, groaning from the impact. He was even more shocked when he looked over to see Charm, who seemed to realize just then that she'd protected him.

"Come on, Owen!" she growled, annoyed. "Can't you take care of yourself for like, five seconds?"

He put a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it. He flushed red once he realized that Charm was talking to him. "My bad?"

"Exactly! Now keep moving!"

Disoriented, Owen hurried after her as she shot more guards, sending each one falling to the ground. He watched as Charm punched one guard hard in the face, then shot the next one in the chest without even a hint of difficulty. Owen wasn't sure if it was just his imagination playing tricks on him, but it seemed like the amount of guards was lessening.

As the fight wore on, he realized that he was right. Guards stopped swarming into the hallway, which made things easier. Between the six of them, they were able to fight off the remaining guards until each one was unconscious. What came next was silence, and Owen moved towards his friends, who all looked exhausted from the fighting.

He felt like celebrating. He didn't know how they'd managed to fight all of the guards off. It should've been impossible. There had to be hundreds of them, and yet, they'd taken them all down.

"We did it!" Gwen said, touching down on the ground. She quickly hugged Bethany, then proceeded to high-five Kiel and Owen.

Owen grinned. "Yeah!"

"Is that it?" Orion asked, raising an eyebrow. Owen didn't blame him. The fight had gone on for maybe thirty minutes, but it still felt shocking that they had won.

"I hope so," Bethany said.

Without warning, a noise came from one of the metal doors along the wall. Uh oh. Were there more guards to come? Owen shared an uneasy glance with Bethany, and they all raised their weapons. As they cautiously advanced towards the door, Owen felt nervous butterflies form in his stomach. His fear grew as they got closer and closer to the door, but he forced himself to keep moving.

Then, the door creaked open, and a very shocked pink-haired girl walked out. Her eyes darted around the room before landing on him, and that was when Owen stopped breathing. But he knew that it wasn't from fear. Not this time. He was staring at someone that he'd never expected to see again, not in a thousand years.

Time jolted to a stop, or so it seemed. Their eyes connected from across the room, and it was like the distance between them melted away in an instant. Owen stared at Kara, his heart in his throat and his mouth hanging halfway open in stunned disbelief. He couldn't move. The room went silent. The weapon in his hand clattered to the ground, but he barely heard it.

It'd been three weeks since he last saw her, when she'd been captured by the time agents. But now she was standing before him, looking exactly as he remembered. Both of them were at a complete loss for words. Then, the realization that Kara was here, _actually_ here, caught up with him. Owen found himself slowly beginning to smile, feeling as though he was in a dream. An amazing, spectacular, wonderful dream. It was nothing like he'd imagined yet everything he'd hoped for.

He didn't have to wonder about her anymore. The colors around him seemed to have amplified, making everything look more beautiful and brighter than before. All of the uncertainty and fear washed out of him, and his smile grew. The shock wore off, and he could suddenly breathe again. Kara was alive! She was _really_ okay, and she was safe. She was right in front of him, seemingly unharmed. She was here.

"O-Owen?" Kara whispered in a shaky voice, her eyes shining and a smile starting to form on her own face.

"Kara!" Owen happily exclaimed, blinking back tears. Just the action of saying her name again felt like a relief, and he repeated it over and over in his head, hoping that this wasn't a dream.

At the same time, they moved towards each other, and Owen didn't have time to react before Kara threw her arms around him. He stumbled backwards, but she pulled him towards her, keeping him upright before he tripped. Both were a bit unsteady on their feet, and swayed slightly as they hugged. The relief of holding her again nearly knocked the breath from his lungs once again, and he shuddered. He closed his eyes, and a few tears escaped, slowly sliding down his face.

He held her close with his good arm, and she hugged him back just as tightly, her head buried against his chest and her hands tightly clutching the top of his shirt. She gasped, then sniffled loudly. Owen could feel her shaking, just as much as he was. In spite of the tears that streamed down his face, he found himself smiling again. Sheer euphoria rushed through him all at once, and he felt strangely at peace despite the danger he'd gone through a minute ago.

As he held her, Owen felt like he was on a cloud. He forgot about everything. Nobody, his mother, his time powers, Bethany, Kiel, Charm, and the rest of his worries all vanished from his mind. All that mattered was that she was okay. After three weeks of worrying that she was suffering and that he'd never find her again, she was here with him now. It seemed as though nothing bad would ever happen again. All felt right in the world.

When Owen finally pulled away, he was beaming so widely that he could feel his cheeks ache with the strain. He couldn't stop smiling if he tried, and the happiness gushed out of him like a waterfall. He was even happier to see that Kara's expression looked much of the same, and she stared up at him with a smile that looked so undoubtedly, unexplainably, unconditionally happy.

He stepped back, shaking his head slightly as he looked at her with amazement. "Kara," Owen said again, his voice catching in his throat. He quickly wiped his cheeks, sniffling as he tried to wipe his tears away. His hands were shaking, and his heart pounded in his chest. But it was a good feeling, and Owen didn't want it to ever go away.

It felt so impossibly surreal, and at this point, Owen was pretty sure that nothing could disperse the butterflies from his stomach or tear the smile from his face. He was unable to look away from her, out of fear that this was all just a dream. No, this _wasn't_ a dream. If it was a dream, he wouldn't have cried. He would've been able to form a sentence. He wouldn't have held her tighter than he'd ever hugged anyone, and felt her hugging him back.

Owen swallowed hard and continued smiling at her, suddenly feeling awkward yet still happy all the same. There was so much he wanted to tell her, but the words wouldn't come out. He'd been waiting for weeks just to see her again, to make sure she was safe and tell her how much he'd missed her. He'd been _dreaming_ about this moment, and miraculously, he couldn't think of anything to say. It didn't help that she was standing merely a foot away from him, giving him almost no ability to think.

"You did it! You got out of the prison," Kara said, filling in the words for him. There were tears on her cheeks, and her blue eyes were brighter than ever. "I can't believe you're _here_! I was so worried that something bad happened to you."

"Well, _mostly_ nothing bad happened. Don't worry. I escaped," Owen said, his whole body shaking. "I went back to my world with my friends. But I was worried about you _too_. I never thought I'd ever see you again. I'm so sorry that the time agents took you away. I'm here. I-I mean, that's why I'm here. To rescue me. I mean — you! I'm here to rescue _you_." His face reddened, and she giggled. In spite of his embarrassment, he couldn't help but laugh, too. The happiness was infectious.

"Um, how have you been?" he continued, a wildfire spreading across his face. In that moment, he didn't care if she saw. Hesitantly, he reached over and put a shaking hand on her shoulder. "What did those time agents do to you? Are _you_ okay?"

"I'm fine now," she said softly, her eyes only on him. "Aside from being stuck in solitary confinement, it wasn't _so_ torturous. I'm more glad that you got to go back home." She half-smiled. "I was worried that you'd never escaped . . ."

"You didn't need to worry about _me_ ," Owen said, cracking a smile. " _You_ were the one who was put into solitary confinement! I'm really sorry. It sounds like it was horrible."

Once he said it, he knew that he meant it wholeheartedly. Kara had been put into _solitary confinement_ , which was even worse than a regular prison cell. She must've spent weeks being completely trapped and alone in that dark cell. Owen didn't know how she'd been able to withstand it. He was glad that he came when he did. Any later and she might've gone just as crazy as some of the other prisoners had.

"Mind introducing us to your friend?" Charm asked, coughing into her hand. Owen flinched. He'd forgotten they were there.

"O-Oh." Owen looked back at the group, blushing hard. He quickly let go of Kara and scanned his friends' faces. Kiel was standing next to Charm, a huge grin on his face. Orion and Gwen looked confused — although Gwen looked happy — and Charm looked much of the same, if not with a hint of disgust on her face. Bethany wore a shocked expression, but slowly began to smile when Owen looked her way.

Owen cleared his throat, quickly glancing at Kara before looking back at his other friends. "Everyone, this is Kara."

"Hi," Kara said, walking away from Owen and towards the others. "Nice to meet you all. I was with Owen in the time prison."

"I'm EarthGirl!" Gwen informed her. "But, you can call me Gwen." Before the other girl could respond, she threw her arms around her, hugging her tightly. She pulled away with a smile, and though she looked confused and surprised, Kara smiled back.

"Wow, okay," she muttered, seeming to relax more. "Nice to meet you. Do you normally hug people when you first meet them?"

"Not usually," Gwen admitted, shrugging a bit. "But I could tell you needed a bit of optimism, anyway."

Kara's eyes widened. "You could?"

Gwen nodded, not looking fazed. "I bet an experience like that must've been hard. From what I heard, it seemed like those time agents were really careless." Kara only nodded, and Gwen added, "You're an Earther too, right?"

Kara furrowed her brows in confusion. "'Earther'?"

"It's a term for people from Earth," Bethany said. "She's from a planet called Argon VI, so she's not from Earth."

"Oh! Got it. Okay," Kara said, turning back to Gwen with a small smile. "Then yeah, I am." She glanced at Bethany. "You're . . . Bethany, right? I recognize you from Owen's description. And you're the only one with red hair." She leaned in closer to whisper, "And don't worry, I know that you're half-fictional, so you don't have to hide it."

Bethany extended her hand out, and Kara shook it. "Um, yeah, I am. I'm Owen's best friend." She side-eyed Owen with a grin. "I've heard a lot about you."

Kara smiled sheepishly back, blushing a bit. "You have?" She glanced at Owen, and he blushed too, the smile never leaving his face.

"Yeah," Bethany said. "I'm really glad that he wasn't alone in that time prison. It sounded terrifying."

"It was," Kara muttered.

"You were in prison? _Two_ prisons?" Orion asked, raising an eyebrow. Being a superhero and an advocate for justice, he didn't look pleased with that. Then again, he never looked pleased about anything.  
  


"It was a prison for time travelers. Not a prison with supervillians, like the one you'd think of," Owen said quickly. The experience of being in the time prison had been terrifying for both of them, and he didn't want to accidentally upset her with the mention of it.

"Still a prison," Orion said. "Crime is wrong, whether it's for time travel or not."

"Do you have something against time travelers?" Kara asked, though she didn't look offended.

"No." The hint of a smile was on his face. "Just criminals."

She grinned. "Then you _do_ have something against me."

"Oh, he definitely does," Kiel said, winking at her as Orion gave him a look that he didn't see. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Kara peered at him. "Are you . . . Kiel?"

He gave her a surprised look, then nodded. "How did you know?"

She glanced at Owen again, no doubt to see if he was still there. "Owen told me you were eaten forty-three times by dragons — which sounds super gross, by the way. I don't know, you just seem like that type of person."

Kiel laughed. "Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment." Charm snorted, not saying anything.

After the rest of Owen's friends introduced themselves to Kara, they filled her in on the situation with Nobody and his plans to destroy the fictional world. Since Kara already knew who Nobody was and had seen what he'd put Owen through, it didn't take much convincing for her to agree to come along with them. She seemed just as determined as the rest of them to put an end to Nobody's evil schemes.

Owen was ecstatic that she'd agreed to come with them, mostly because there wasn't a single part of him that wanted to leave her side. After three weeks of being separated from her, he'd missed her possibly more than he'd ever missed anyone. Now that she was here, it felt like things were right again. He would've been disappointed if she'd decided to stay, just like when she'd let herself get taken away by the time agents.

Ever since Kara's older self told her about the future she would create — where she would destroy the world — she'd tried everything to prevent that from happening. Owen knew that she wouldn't want her world to be destroyed, especially given what she'd gone through. That was another reason he knew she'd said yes. Any fictional person would be crazy if they _wanted_ their world to disappear.

"Did you guys see any time bracelets around here?" Kara asked. "I'm not sure how much I can do to help without one."  
  


"I think there might be some over in that room," Gwen said, pointing at a closed door, which was dark inside. As they walked over to it, Owen could make out a placard, which read "time-traveling equipment". Kara opened the door and ran her hand along the wall before coming in contact with the light switch. She flicked it on, and the room was filled with light.

Owen gasped. Not only did they find what they were looking for, but there were time bracelets all along the wall, each of them plugged into what looked like a cell phone charger. Walking over to the wall, Kara grabbed one of the bracelets and slipped it over her wrist. She looked back at them with a grin. "Let's do this."

* * *

_  
“I'm feeling like right now I wish you were here with me. 'Cause right now everything is new to me . . .”_


	32. The Unexpected Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After rescuing Kara, the friends initiate their next plan of action.

_**Greek Tragedy (by The Wombats)** _

_"_ _We're smashing mics in karaoke bars. You're running late with half your make-up on . . ."_

* * *

Orion didn't like detours.

Whenever he was on a quest, it was better to not get distracted or unfocused. Now that they'd finally recruited a group to fight Nobody (took them long enough!), he would've preferred to head straight to wherever this villain was and get his father figure back. To be honest, he would've preferred to ignore everything else and go alone to rescue Doc Twilight.

But then, Orion would just be dooming himself and leaving his friends behind. While he knew he could count on himself to get the job done, he also would've felt bad about ditching Bethany . . . along with her friends, who he'd gradually started to think of as his _own_ friends. But he'd never say that aloud. Him, having _friends_? A few years ago, he would've completely denied the idea.

Orion never wanted anyone to think that, even if Gwen _was_ growing on him. Somehow, she made him feel better about himself, with her relentless optimism and bright smile. He didn't think being optimistic was a realistic outlook on life, especially after all he'd been through. The whole "non-violence" thing was also really unhelpful, but he was starting to think of her as a friend nonetheless.

He was also slowly warming up to Owen and Kiel (though he still definitely thought they were annoying), but he really could've cared less about Charm (he was impressed with her brilliantness, but that was it). Lastly, he didn't know _what_ to think about Kara.

She was a time criminal who'd been in jail, which was the same place that Orion had locked up hundreds of supervillians. Just the sight of a criminal made an anger swell up in his chest, along with a need for justice to be fulfilled. But since she didn't seem nearly as bad as the criminals he'd dealt with, he didn't think she'd be a bad person to have around, either.

Since he liked being alone, Orion's ideal way of enjoying himself wasn't by being surrounded by six other people — most of which deeply annoyed him. The only one who didn't annoy him so much was Gwen, but the same couldn't be said for the rest of the group.

It felt weird and unusual to have so much company, but he didn't _completely_ hate it, either. Orion just wasn't used to it, and he didn't know if he ever would be. He was used to spending time with one or two people all his life, and that was it. He reminded himself that they wouldn't be on this mission forever. It'd only last for the next day or two before they defeated Nobody . . . if that even turned out to be successful.

He could only hope that this mission wasn't going to be a waste of time. If they failed to save Doc Twilight, it would be. There was also defeating Nobody to think about, but he cared more about saving his father figure over defeating a villain who he'd never met. Orion might've lost his father and sister figure a few times, but he was determined not to lose them again.

If this Nobody guy really did have Doc Twilight like Bethany said he did, then Orion wanted him to suffer greatly. It was only fair for the injustices Nobody had caused, along with the evil act of destroying Kiel's world and trying to destroy others. The more Orion heard about Nobody, the more he grew worried. Judging from everything he'd seen, Nobody was more powerful than he'd thought. They would all be doomed if they failed on this mission.

And while finding Nobody right away was exactly what he and his friends had agreed on doing, it wasn't working out so well at this point. Like he'd mentioned before, Orion didn't like detours. He tried to avoid them at all costs. But unfortunately, he wasn't alone anymore, so the decisions had to be made by the entire group.

By noon, the group had made a good distance from the time agent facility. It was no less than a few hours after they'd rescued Kara from prison, and everyone had agreed that a small relaxing break — at least for an hour — would be helpful. Orion, who never felt relaxed in his life, had no idea why a break would benefit anyone.

Begrudgingly, he had agreed, but he didn't feel happy about the decision. Charm hadn't either, but they were outnumbered by the rest of the group. Orion just didn't see how stopping at a run-down diner for breakfast was helpful when they needed to defeat Nobody. But seeing that they were all relatively hungry, it was probably for the best.

The bell on the door signaled loudly as they pushed it open and walked inside. Despite them being in the past, the diner wasn't very different or special-looking. In fact, it looked as normal as the diners he'd seen on Jupiter City. Families and friends sat at booths and tables, eating breakfast together. The buzz of soft conversation drifted around the room. Rays of sunlight spilled out from the windows, brightening the diner.

The place looked surprisingly normal, but as always, Orion kept his guard up. From experience, he knew that diners weren't always as peaceful as they seemed. He knew there weren't any supervillians _here_ , in Kara's world, but one could never be too suspicious.

What caught his attention most was the jukebox was set up in the corner of the room, playing a song that Orion had never heard. It made his heart twinge. When he was young, he used to come to diners with his parents. He'd throw coins into the jukebox, requesting that it play the same songs over and over again until his father nearly died of laughter after the restaurant manager asked him to stop.

Ever since then, diners became somewhere that he did not go to very often. He didn't avoid them on purpose, but he'd be lying if he said that the sight of one didn't make him a bit nostalgic. He didn't think about his parents as much as he used to, but the remains of the anger and sadness that their deaths had brought him was still there.

"Hello!" a woman at the front desk said. "Do you have a reservation?"

"No," Owen said. He tilted his head, confused. "Did we need to make one?"

The woman shook her head, giving him a warm smile. "No, no. We have plenty of seating." She glanced around at them, and Orion noticed that Kara stepped behind Owen, purposely hiding her face. "How many?"

Charm sighed loudly, crossing her arms. "Seven."

The woman nodded, and typed something into her computer. "Wait here. Your table will be ready shortly."

"This is so exciting!" Gwen said as they turned back to each other.

"How is this exciting?" Orion blurted out, unable to help himself. "We're going to eat food. That's it."

"At an _Earth_ restaurant!"

"Why does that matter?"

Bethany shot him a look. "Hey, she's never been to an Earth restaurant. Don't judge her for being excited."

Gwen smiled gratefully at her. "Thank you, Bethany."

"Sure."

"I felt the same way when I first went to a restaurant in Bethany and Owen's world," Kiel spoke up. "It was so weird. On Magisteria, they never had anything like this."

"Makes sense," Owen said. "The Magisterians just use magic to make their own food, don't they? Or they grow it themselves, and the Quanterians built machines for making their own foo—"

"Stop acting like you know everything about my world." Charm cut him off, looking a mixture of uncomfortable and annoyed. "You don't."

"That's the thing. He actually does—" Kiel began.

She pointed a robotic finger at him. "I won't hesitate to punch you. Everything that you say is stupid, so _stay_ out of it."

"Charm!" Gwen frowned.

"That doesn't really seem fair," Kara said.

"She's _always_ telling me that," Kiel said. "It's really insulting. But I'm very understanding of other people's flaws."

Charm placed her hands on her ray guns. "I'm seriously going to shoot you all."

Bethany quickly stepped in front of Charm before she could do anything. "Come on, Charm. Really? Owen knows a lot about your world. So what?"

Charm made a disgusted face. "'So what'? It's creepy. Does he know _everything_ about us?"

They all turned to look at Owen, who's face was turning red. "Kind of?" he said. "B-But it's not a bad thing! Isn't it good to be, you know, knowledgeable?"

She stared at him, then rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Guys," Gwen said, holding her hands up in a calm manner. "There's no need to argue. Love and communication is the best way to solve things. We can solve all of our problems by talking it out." Her comment seemed to lighten the mood, and even Orion found his tension releasing ever so slightly.

"True," Kiel agreed.

"Punching works better sometimes," Orion whispered under his breath.

"Well, I'm excited too," Kara said, looking at Gwen. She'd only been with their group for an hour, but she didn't seem to have any uncomfortableness around them. "For seventeen days, I ate all of my meals in solitary confinement." She shuddered, then glanced over at the tables. "I'm just ready to eat some waffles or something."

"Me too. I feel like I haven't eaten in _days_ ," Owen said, and they shared a smile that went unnoticed by no one.

Orion didn't know much about Owen and Kara's history — aside from them being in a prison together — but he hadn't recalled seeing two people so happy to be with each other. Normally, Orion would've found it irritating. And it definitely was.

But he accepted it, since he knew how it felt to reunite with someone after not seeing them in ages. Like how he'd felt when Doc Twilight had changed back to his normal self after he'd turned into the Dark.

A different woman — a waitress — walked up to them, seven menus in her hands. "Follow me. Your table is ready."

They followed the woman until they reached a booth. Charm gestured to it. "This is where we're sitting?"

"Yes," their waitress said, backing away slightly at Charm's intense gaze. "You kids okay with that?"

"Not—"

Kiel nudged Charm in the side, smiling at the woman. "Of _course_ we are!" The half-robotic girl gave him a death look, but he only winked.

"Yeah, we're good with sitting here," Bethany added.

"Great," their waitress said. "Sorry, we're kind of packed this morning. The only tables we have left are booths."

Orion raised an eyebrow at that. There were a few empty tables that weren't booths, and they seemed perfectly available for them to sit at. Not that he really cared. The empty tables must've been reserved for some reason.

"No, this is perfect!" Gwen assured the woman. "Thank you so much!"

With the promise that she'd be back in the next few minutes (though Orion suspected she'd take a lot longer) their waitress walked away, leaving them with their menus. Not wanting to be squished into the booth, Orion slipped into the chair at the end of the table.

He preferred having some personal space, especially since booths required touching the person you were sitting next to. Orion didn't _completely_ mind it depending on the person, but he didn't like it. Being touched was something he rarely tolerated, unless it was the quick shoulder pats or the handshakes that Doc Twilight gave him.

Up until Bethany came into his life, Doc was the only person that Orion tolerated if it came to affection. And by affection, that didn't include hugging. He was pretty sure that he'd only hugged his father figure a few times in the time he'd known him, which had been years. As for Bethany, he'd only hugged her once. But that was a one-time thing. Once was _more_ than enough.

The others piled into the booth: Owen first, then Kara and Bethany on one side, and Gwen, Kiel, and Charm on the other. As they settled into their seats, Gwen looked around them with fascination, while Charm kept her hands positioned on her ray guns. The others were observing their menus, so Orion leaned forward to stare at his own, despite having no intention to get any food.

"Uh oh." Kara's eyes widened. "Does anyone have any money?"

"Um . . ." Owen looked down at the table, and Bethany started to dig through her pockets, only to come back empty-handed.

Orion glanced at his unresponsive friends, who had gone silent. He pulled his purple cape around him like a cloak, giving them all a dark look. "That's inconvenient. _No_ , apparently no one brought money."

"That's okay!" Gwen said in a cheerful tone. "Can we use something else to pay with?"

"Like what?" Orion raised an eyebrow. "A rainbow?"

"What is a rainbow?"

"It's a —" He grunted in annoyance. "I don't have to answer that. It doesn't matter. But I'm not going to break the law by not paying. Supervillians break the law, and they go to jail for it. I have never broken the law, and I _never_ will. Not now, not ever."

"It's not that bad," Kiel said, winking at him. "It's actually quite fun. Rules are _meant_ to be broken!"

"Not _all_ rules," Bethany muttered.

"Most rules," he said. " _And_ , I've stolen food before. This is easy. Easier than half the things I've done. All we have to do is make a run for it while no one is looking."

"This sounds really exciting!" Gwen whispered.

"Trust me, it _is._ "

"Did you not hear anything I just said?" Orion asked, unable to hold back his annoyance. Couldn't _one_ person in this group think that this was a bad idea? "Stealing food means breaking the law, which I won't be participating in."

"You're with us, so technically you _will_ be," Bethany pointed out.

"Oh, shut up."

"I've watched enough movies to know that running from a restaurant without paying is considered illegal," Owen said, then paused. "Well, I'm _pretty_ sure. But I really don't want to be associated with the police if it is!"

"We won't be." Bethany rolled her eyes. "And we don't have a choice!"

"Of course we do!"

"Not if we don't have money."

He groaned. "We shouldn't have gotten food."

"I thought you said you were hungry," Gwen said, looking confused.

"I am! But we don't have money, so now we're going to leave the restaurant without paying. Isn't there anything else we can do?"

"I don't think so," Kiel said. He winked at them again, and Orion felt the urge to punch him. Why did he have to wink so much? It was getting annoying. "Guess we'll have to 'dine and dash', as Bethany says."

Bethany turned to stare at him. "When have I ever said that?"

"I may have seen it somewhere on TV." He grinned. "Or maybe Owen told me?"

"Um, no, Kiel! That probably isn't true!" Owen said quickly.

Kiel gave him a odd look. "But weren't we watching that TV show together? It was called, um—"

"Nope! We definitely didn't do that. I don't condone this."

"It'll be okay, Owen!" Gwen said, reaching over to pat his hand.

"You all could go to jail for this," Orion whispered, not liking this conversation one bit. He narrowed his eyes. "I might be on your side, but there's no way I'm associating with thievery."

"It's not _thievery_ ," Charm said a matter-of-factly. "It's not that complicated. We just won't be paying for our meals."

"And that's a crime."

"Maybe it'll be fun?" Kara suggested. "I've stolen things before. Like, really old things. From the fourteenth century. You should _see_ the artifacts I've got in my room. I've just used my time bracelet to jump into a different time, and then—" She slammed her hands on the table, making Owen jump. "BAM! I'm not in trouble."

"I never knew you stole things," Owen said, looking shocked.

Kara smiled. "Oh, Owen. Trust me, I haven't stolen enough to get caught."

"How much have you _stolen_?"

She shrugged. "Maybe just three or four things? Maybe five?"

"What?" He laughed.

Orion glared at her. "That makes it worse."

"I had to, okay?" Kara said. "Sometimes, historical artifacts are too cool to be left alone."

"Eh, that's not even close compared to what Moira has stolen," Kiel said. "She's stolen a _lot_ more. Even more than _I_ have!"

Bethany snorted. "True."

Charm looked up. "Who's Moira?"

"Someone you'd probably hate," Bethany told her. "Okay, uh, about the money problem. We can figure something out for this, right?" She searched their faces. "Can't Kiel cast a forget spell on our waitress, or something? Make her forget we ever had our meal?"

"Sure," Kiel said. "I guess we could."

"Will that make her forget everything?" Gwen asked, glancing over towards the restaurant's staff.

He shook his head. "No. She'll only forget everything within the past hour, which . . . should solve our money problem! That way we wouldn't have to pay for it."

"I don't like this idea," Orion said darkly, his voice coming out much lower than he'd intended it.

"You're starting to repeat yourself," Bethany remarked. "It'll be _fine_."

"You sure about that?"

" _Yes_."

Kiel grinned. "Yeah, what could go wrong?"

_A lot of things_ , Orion thought to himself. Everything in his life already seemed to go wrong, and had gone wrong ever since Doc Twilight had turned into the Dark. Now, Doc was missing, Bethany was taking him on a mission that would surely get them all killed, and they were about to steal food. Great.

"Oh!" Owen suddenly exclaimed, catching them all off guard as he turned to Kara. "That reminds me: the people here don't recognize you, do they?"

"I don't think so," Kara said. "A ton of people don't know what I look like. They've only heard of me. They always think I'm much older than what I actually am, so I think I'll be fine. Unless . . . the time agents somehow track me down again."

Bethany leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table. "Would they be able to do that?"

"No, definitely not." Kara paused. "Well, I have no idea. Maybe they can."

"The good news is we won't be here for long, so you don't need to worry about getting captured again," Owen told Kara. "By the time we leave your world to find Nobody, they'll probably _still_ be knocked out." He smiled at her.

"Yeah." She grinned. "I can't believe you guys _did_ that."

Charm scoffed. "I can. It was easy."

"You call that easy?" Kara asked, giving her a strange look. "Huh, okay. I just hope they won't notice I'm gone before we leave my world."

"Oh, they'll be knocked out for a while," Orion spoke up. "Bethany made sure of that."

"What do you mean?" Kiel asked. He glanced at Bethany, a casual grin on his face.

Bethany shrugged. "I used sleeping gas on them, so hopefully, they won't be waking up at least for another few hours."

"Impressive."

She raised her eyebrows, a smile on her face. "More than you are?"

"Ha!" He laughed. "No way."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Eh, I'd say I'm still more impressive," Kiel said, then flinched when she reached across the table to hit him on the arm. "Ow! What was _that_ for?"

"You definitely deserved it," Orion noted dryly as the rest of them laughed, and he looked back at the menu.

The food here wasn't at all different compared to the food on Jupiter City, yet he didn't feel very hungry. In general, he tended not to eat very much when he was on a mission. Maybe he'd get something small, just to keep anyone from getting concerned.

Seriously, why was the waitress taking so long to come back? They must've been sitting at this table for ten minutes already. Either he was just imagining things, or the service here was terrible. He was growing impatient, which wasn't uncommon.

Gwen tilted her head down towards the menu in front of her. "Hey, what are you guys getting? I've never heard of a waffle or a . . . pancake? The eggs sound delicious, too!"

"Those are all really good," Owen said with a smile. "Maybe you could get one of each."

Her eyes widened. "You can do that?"

"I think so!"

Gwen beamed. There was a genuine enthusiasm that danced in her eyes. "Amazing. I have literally never been as happy as I am right now."

"That's an understatement," Charm muttered. "You're _always_ absurdly happy."

"You're right, Charm! But, I wasn't happy when I found out about Nobody splitting apart the worlds, and Bethany turning into light, and Kiel almost dying under all that rubble. But I knew that it wasn't worth giving up hope or optimism."

"Wait, you almost _died_? When did _that_ happen?" Kara asked, looking at Kiel with wide eyes.

"Yesterday," Kiel said. "But don't worry, I've almost died plenty of times."

"Oh. Okay." She grinned a little. "So have I."

"Speaking of Nobody . . ." Bethany said, lowering her voice. They all turned to stare at her. "Now that we're all here, we need to have a plan to defeat him."

Owen nodded. "Nobody _is_ really powerful, and we've all seen what he can do. I honestly don't know if he can be beat, but we still have to—"

Charm glared at him. "Stay here if you're too afraid, Owen. But I'm going after him. He destroyed my planet. For that, he's going to _pay_."

Kiel nodded. "I agree! We're defeating him, one way or another."

"What? I'm not staying here! I'm gonna fight him too!" Owen said, his eyes widening. "But I'm just saying, he can turn into _anything._ We should be prepared for that."

"I still say that this isn't a good idea," Orion muttered. "If this guy _is_ as powerful as you say, we're only going to get ourselves killed. Do we have an actual plan here?"

"Of course!" Bethany said, but she looked nervous. "We'll fight him as a group, I guess. It won't be easy, but we have a better chance of defeating him that way." She swallowed hard. "I just hope this works."

"It will," Gwen said. "We can do it!"

Charm nodded. "Right. He can handle each of us individually, maybe, though I'm definitely powerful enough to take him on my own. But if we all attack him as a unified force, he won't be able to fight back."

"Sounds good to me." Kara shrugged.

"Me too!" Gwen agreed. "I love the idea of working together!"

"But it's not going to be easy to reach him, either," Bethany said. "That's the other problem. I don't know where he'd be."

"Me neither," Owen said, his voice quiet. "The last time we saw him was in Jupiter City."

That made Orion freeze. An unpleasant chill went down his spine. He looked back and forth between Owen and Bethany. "Nobody was in Jupiter City," he said slowly.

"Yeah, about a week ago," Bethany said. "Didn't I tell you?"

" _No_. You failed to mention that, Bethany."

Kara leaned forward. "What happened?"

"Owen and I tried defeating Nobody on our own—" Bethany began.

"Without me," Kiel added.

"But it didn't work. We locked Nobody up with these chains in Jupiter City, but he escaped and now I have no clue _where_ he is." She ran a hand through her hair. "It's a long story."

It was almost frustrating to Orion. There were so many 'long stories', which meant that Bethany certainly owed him a _very_ long explanation for every single thing that had happened since her disappearance. There was much of it that he didn't understand, which bothered him. He usually understood everything perfectly, and was the one who crafted the plans. Now, he was working in a _team,_ and he still didn't know if Doc Twilight was actually captured by Nobody.

He furrowed his brows. "If you fought Nobody in Jupiter City, won't he still be there?"

"I don't think so," Owen said, shaking his head. "He can travel between worlds. If I could guess, he'll be somewhere like a secret lair. Villains _always_ have those."

"Like that prison he put me and Kiel in," Gwen breathed.

"Do you know where that was?" Owen asked.

She shook her head. "Sorry, I would tell you if I did. But I don't."

Owen glanced expectantly at Kiel. "Kiel?"

"I know what the place looked like, but I'm not sure I could tell you where it was," Kiel said. "Not to mention, I don't think Bethany would be able to jump us into that. I don't think he was _in_ a book."

"But what if he is?" Bethany said. "Maybe we can use your location spell to find him."

"Sure, that could work."

"And if it doesn't?" Charm asked, looking irritated. "There's a definite chance that it won't work."

"That won't be a problem. My magic _always_ works." He glanced at Kara, pointing at Charm. "She's not big on magic."

"If it doesn't work, we'll have to figure something else out," Bethany said. "There has to be a way to track him." She looked at Owen. "Don't superheroes always track villains through energy trails or the makeup of mud from their footprints? Something like that?"

"Yeah?" Owen said.

"Then we can use something like that to find him!"

"I don't think that'll work," he said. "This isn't a comic book world. If Nobody wanted to be found, we would've found him by now. The location spell is the best option to find him, anyway." Then, he smiled. "And I don't think he has footprints!"

"Worth a shot."

Someone behind them cleared their throat, and they all quieted down, quickly turning around to face their waitress. For a moment, no one said anything. Orion cursed himself for not being more observant and realizing that the waitress was standing behind them. There was no telling what she'd heard. This wasn't good.

Kara coughed, breaking the silence. "Um, you didn't happen to hear anything we just said, did you?"

"No." The waitress looked confused. "I just walked over here now. Are you ready to order?"

"Yep!" Owen said, exhaling as he quickly flipped through his menu, which Orion was certain that the boy hadn't touched since they got here.

The woman nodded, and turned to Orion first, a pen raised over the notepad in her hand. "What would you like to get?"

* * *

It was a while later before they finished breakfast and made their way through town, where they searched tirelessly for the best hiding spot. So far, they'd just passed stores and houses, but going inside any of them would attract attention. And according to Kiel, his location spell would drawl plenty of attention if they weren't careful. _Especially_ since it was daytime.

So that meant they'd need to find an abandoned building — or anywhere deserted — where there wouldn't be anyone nearby. Unfortunately, while Kara had been to the 2000's plenty of times, she'd never been to this town before. The prison she'd been put in must've been far away from her own town, because she didn't recognize a single place here.

Not too long ago, Gwen had suggested the idea that she go ahead to search for the perfect place that they could cast Kiel's location spell at. Since she had a jetpack, it made it easy for her to fly above the buildings and look at their surroundings. Bethany had also gone with her, leaving the rest of them to wait for their return.

They were sitting on the sidewalk, all of them bored and lost in thought. Kara wasn't sure how long they'd been waiting, or if they'd wait much longer. She hoped Bethany and Gwen would return soon with good news. She could probably jump forward in time to the spot where they came back, but she went against it, out of fear that the time agents would track her down as soon as she used her time bracelet. Kara didn't want to put herself or her friends at risk.

After being locked in solitary confinement for nearly three weeks, she was more focused on things like the sun, and the sky, and even the cars that rolled across the street. Prior to her life as a prisoner, she never would've thought differently of it. But now, she felt to urge to take it all in, to appreciate it more than ever before. Being told countless times that she'd never escape had made her believe she wouldn't . . . and yet, here she was.

Free.

Another thing she was focused on was Owen, along with the other new faces that she'd met just this morning. She wasn't sure what to think of them all just yet, but she already knew that she liked Kiel and Bethany and Gwen. Orion, she hoped, would warm up to her eventually. As for Charm, Kara was almost positive that Charm had a disliking for her. Almost.

Kara still couldn't believe that she wasn't locked up anymore, that she was _free_. She wasn't sure if she'd ever been this content and happy. Not about the fighting Nobody part — that part would definitely be terrifying. No doubt about it. But right now, she didn't want to focus on her future, like she always did.

For now, she wanted to appreciate being with Owen again, who had crash-landed into her life just this morning. It was totally unexpected, and yet, it was the best thing that could've happened to her. Being separated from him had felt like the worst kind of pain. And reuniting with him had felt like the sun — literally — had reentered her life. Even in the face of danger, she felt more hopeful now that he was with her.

Unlike before, she was more than ready to leave her life as a prisoner behind. Maybe it was from the amount of times she'd been locked in a jail cell, or the way the time agents had hurt her, but she'd changed her mind about the whole thing. Locking herself up _wasn't_ going to stop the world from ending. Maybe nothing would, but she didn't want to turn herself into the TSA again because of it.

The only thing that still bothered her was the knowledge that the world was going to end in three days. The woman had told Kara that she wasn't even the cause of it, which was all the more shocking. Normally, Kara was always the cause of the end of the universe. No matter what. But this time, it was different.

Kara knew that she _had_ to tell Owen before it was too late, but she was nervous nonetheless. How would he react? This future was impossible to change, so there was no way that they could put a stop to it. If she told him, that might crush all of his hopes about defeating Nobody.

She didn't want to do that, but telling him _would_ be the right thing to do. Kara didn't think she could keep this a secret. She hated keeping secrets, especially from Owen. It'd been weighing on her ever since yesterday, giving her no other choice but to think about it over and over again.

Kara would just have to tell Owen about it later — maybe tonight — while everyone else was asleep. It would be the best time to catch him, and hopefully, he wouldn't be mad that she'd waited the entire day to tell him. Telling only him was the best option, because she hardly knew the others well enough to share what she knew.

It was hard to figure out if the woman was right about her _not_ being the cause of the world ending. Was that true? For all she knew, the woman could be lying. Kara tried to believe her words in an effort to feel more positive, but she couldn't bring herself to. After years of hearing that she was the destroyer of the universe, it was a hard thing to let go of.

And if she wasn't going to bring about the destruction of the universe in three days . . . who was?

"Blue car," Owen called out, his shoulder pressed up next to Kara's.

Squinting her eyes, Kara watched as more cars soared past them, rustling their hair. "Red car."

"Another blue car," he said, then added, "Two more!"

"Why aren't there any black cars?" Kiel asked from Owen's other side. "I've only seen like, five, in the past twenty minutes."

"Maybe black cars weren't as popular back then?" Owen suggested.

Kara nudged him with her shoulder, unable to help the grin from stretching across her face. "Of course they were! It's still the 21st century here."

"How would I know? I've never _been_ to the 2000's."

"It's not that different from your timeline." Two blue cars came into Kara's vision, and she shouted, "Blue car! _Two_ of them." She counted with her fingers. "So that makes fifteen for me, and nine for you."

Owen laughed. "It's not my fault that no one is driving red cars!"

"At least you're getting more points than I am," Kiel said, then pointed as a black-colored car rolled across the street in front of them. "Hey, there's a black one!"

"Could you all shut up?" Charm snapped loudly. "Your stupid game is getting on my nerves."

"We have nothing else to do until Bethany and Gwen come back," Owen said, but he didn't look very confident as he said it.

"You could _definitely_ do something else. For example, shutting up would be nice. I'd really appreciate it."

"We're good," Kiel said, winking at her. "This is more fun."

"How long have they been gone?" Orion asked abruptly, for what probably had been the fifth time.

"I don't know," Owen said, his expression turning worried. "It feels like they've been gone for ages."

Kara crinkled her eyebrows. "Should we look for them? They could be in trouble."

"They can handle themselves," Charm said, sending her a glare that made her shiver. "And if anyone goes to look for them, it'll be _me_. Not you."

Charm’s words seemed to be directed at all of them, but Kara couldn't help but think that they were only directed at _her_. She didn't understand why the half-robotic girl was acting this way towards her, but she was getting some serious chilly vibes from her.

"We should still look for them," Kiel said. "They should've found a place for me to cast the location spell by now."

"Or maybe they can't find _us_ ," Owen suggested.

"Like I said before, they can handle themselves," Charm said.

"Not if they're kidnapped!"

"They don't need us running after them when they aren't in trouble."

"We don't _know_ if they aren't in trouble."

"Fine," Orion grunted, using his staff to hoist himself onto his feet. "Kiel, let's go find Bethany and Gwen."

"Why not me?" Owen frowned.

"You'll only slow me down. You, and paradox girl over there."

"What? No, we wouldn't!"

Something from a block away caught Kara's attention, and she quickly stood up. "Hey, I think I see them!"

"Really?" Kiel asked.

"Yeah!"

Slipping her hand into Owen's, Kara ran over to the spot she'd seen, the others following right behind. However, the flash of movement that she'd seen was gone. They entered what turned out to be an empty alleyway, without a person in sight.

"Huh?" Kara looked all around her, but the only thing there were trash bags. "I could've sworn that I saw them!"

"Maybe don't jump to conclusions," Charm said. "Let's go—"

"Up here!" a voice hissed, and they all looked up to see Bethany crouching on the roof.

"Beth!" Kiel called, relief flooding into his voice. "Are you okay?"

"What are you doing up there?" Owen asked.

"Just get up here!" Bethany insisted, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Gwen was going to look for you guys. Wait one second." She disappeared, and they waited in silence until Bethany returned, now with Gwen. Turning on her jetpack, Gwen flew down towards them, landing gracefully on the ground.

Orion frowned. "Don't tell me you didn't find a place."

"Oh, we did!" Gwen said, a smile exploding over her face. "It took us a little while to get there, so it'll be easier this time since Bethany can just use her powers to get us there!"

"Powers?" Kara repeated, as she watched Gwen grab Charm and lift her up onto the roof. "Like, her half-fictional abilities?"

"She also has shape-shifting powers," Owen whispered to her.

"Did she get those from her father, too?"

"Sort of." He flashed her a smile, and her heartbeat quickened inside her chest. "It's complicated."

"Oh, okay." She paused, feeling slight dread. Ever since she'd met Owen, he'd introduced her to things like the nonfictional world and readers controlling him. It wasn't that she didn't believe him, but it was slightly hard to wrap her head around, since it was so much more complicated than her own world. "It's a nonfictional thing, isn't it?"

"Um . . . no, not really."

When Gwen returned, she hovered above the ground in front of Owen. "You ready, Owen?"

"Y-Yeah," Owen said, pulling his hand out of Kara's.

He swallowed hard, eyeing the jetpack with slight nervousness. Gwen hooked her arms under his armpits, and they took off into the air. As they got higher, Kara could make out Owen's slightly panicked, slightly excited, face. They were only in the air for a few seconds before they landed on the roof, where Bethany and Charm were waiting.

It didn't take long before the rest of them were on the roof. Despite being seemingly strong, Gwen still had some trouble lifting Kiel and Orion, who were much taller than her. By the time Gwen finally swooped down to grab Kara, Kara was already ready, and lifted her arms, just like she'd seen the others do.

After getting a good grip, Gwen jammed on the jet pack's throttle, lifting them into the air. A cool wind whipped through Kara's short hair, blowing it out of her face. Her eyes widened as the ground left her feet, and her feet swung widely below her. She accidentally threw her foot out, kicking someone's window and shattering it in the process.

"Whoops," Kara muttered, as she heard yelling coming from inside the house. "Sorry I smashed your window!"

"Don't worry!" Gwen told her, giving her a cheerful smile. "It was only an accident. I'm sure they'll be able to get their window fixed."

Kara wasn't so sure about _that_ , but she didn't object. Gwen guided them away from the buildings, and they continued flying upwards until they landed on the roof. Kara's feet gently touched the surface of the roof, and Gwen let go of her arms. The other girl landed beside her.

"Took you long enough," Orion said.

"What happened down there?" Bethany asked, looking concerned.

"Nothing!" they both said, flashing her innocent smiles.

". . . 'Nothing'," Charm repeated, raising her eyebrows.

Deciding it was best to tell them, Kara added, "Well, I accidentally smashed someone's window."

Bethany's eyes grew wide. " _What_?"

"Seriously?" Kiel laughed.

" _Accidentally_ ," Kara repeated.

"Those poor people." Gwen glanced over the edge of the roof. "I hope they don't step on any of the shards of glass."

Orion stared at her. "That's what you're worried about?"

"Of course! I really hope they're okay. But on the bright side, we made it up here fine, and no one actually got hurt."  
  


"But you smashed someone's _window_ ," Bethany said, her jaw dropped.

"Yeah!" Owen said. "That's horrible!"

Kara cringed, but she waved them off. "They'll live."

Sighing, Bethany turned to look at each of them. "I might have a really bad plan."

"What is it?" Owen hesitantly asked.

"It's not _that_ bad . . . but it's, you know, it might not work because we have so many people."

"Could you just tell us already?" Charm demanded.

"You'll see," the redhead said. "Give me some room, okay?"

They all backed away to give her space. Bethany closed her eyes, looking like she was deep in concentration. Then, her body disappeared, replaced by a small jet plane. Even though Owen had told her beforehand, Kara hadn't been expecting this. She stared at Bethany/the jet plane in shock, then looked at the others, who looked much less surprised than her.

"Get in!" Bethany's voice rang out from the loudspeaker.

Owen grinned. He swung open the door and rushed immediately to the pilot seat, where he sat down and spun around in the chair. "This is so _cool_."

"I'm taking that other seat!" Kiel shouted, and squeezed past Kara in the doorway to sit next to Owen. Orion silently walked over to them, analyzing the hundreds of buttons on the dashboard.

"What is this thing?" Gwen asked, her face filled with awe as she walked around the inside of the plane.

"You've never seen a jet plane before?" Kara asked her.

She shook her head excitedly. "No, but this really cool!"

Kara couldn't have disagreed if she tried. She might've been a time-traveler who was immune to paradoxes, but that didn't mean she was used to someone having abilities. She'd never met anyone with superpowers besides Owen, who had the ability to freeze time. Seeing a shapeshifter in real life _was_ really cool, and it was also efficient for getting them to places faster.

"This is an _antique_ ," Charm said as she entered the plane, looking around with disgust. She sat down on one of the comfy seats, leaning her arm against the arm of the chair. "It's a bunch of junk. Why didn't you turn into something better? Like a rocket ship?"

The jet plane suddenly shook, which caused the half-robotic girl to hit her head on the wall. Charm rubbed her head, a scowl on her face. "What was that for?"

" _Payback_ ," Bethany said through the inside radio, as Kiel and Owen laughed. "Now, we only need to get to the place that Gwen and I saw. Is everyone inside?" There were a chorus of yes's.

"Have I mentioned how incredible your powers are?" Kiel said. "Because they are." He leaned forward in his seat to grab the guidance sticks, but an alarm blared from inside the plane, making him and Owen jump.

"Hey!" Bethany shouted. " _I'm_ the one flying here." She paused. "And, uh, you might want to sit down first."

At her orders, Gwen and Orion went over to the chairs, where they sat down. Seeing that there weren't any other seats available, Kara walked over to the seat next to Charm's. The other girl didn't seem to be paying her any attention, so Kara sunk into the chair next to her, internally hoping that she wouldn't get yelled at. After all, she was starting to suspect that Charm hated her.

A burst of excitement went through her, not only from being on a jet plane for the first time but also because of the adventure that came with it. She was pretty sure that nothing could be boring anymore after the weeks of solitary confinement she'd gone through. Without even realizing it, Kara found herself smiling.

"Hold on!" Bethany said. "This might be a little rough." A second later, the jet plane whirred to life, and started to slowly roll across the roof.

"There isn't enough room!" Charm shouted. "You need to go fast if you want to take off into the air."

"I know. I've been on a plane before."

"I've never _been_ on a plane, but I'm pretty sure that we need to go on a runway," Owen said as he looked out the window. "This is someone's _roof_."

"Do you _see_ a highway?" Charm asked. "Because I don't. Bethany, how about you morph—"

"Can't we just . . . roll across the roof?" Kara interrupted.

Orion narrowed his eyes. "It's not big enough for that."

"No, I mean — look at all these people's roofs. They're flat, which means that we should be able to use them as a runway."

Gwen gasped. "That sounds so fun!"

"That is the dumbest idea I've ever heard," Charm stated. "It would never work."

"Not with that attitude," Kiel said, grabbing the guidance sticks again. "Let's go!"

"No, don't!" Owen shouted, pulling Kiel's hands away. "This is a crazy idea!"

"It is," Bethany agreed. "Hold on." Seatbelts suddenly formed around the seats, locking around each of them. "I guess we'll have to test it out."

" _What_? Are you trying to kill us?!"

"That's exactly what she's doing," Charm told him, then shouted, "If I die here, I'm taking you all with me!"

"We're going to be fine!" Gwen said. "I trust Bethany."

"Well, I hope you trust her enough to survive a crash-landing. Because I guarantee that that'll happen."

"It won't," Kara said, shaking her head.

"How would _you_ know?" Charm asked, directing a glare at her. "You don't know anything."

Gwen frowned, and looked like she wanted to say something, but Kara spoke up first.

"I don't — _what_?" Enough was enough. Kara furrowed her brows, feeling annoyed. "Am I missing something? What's your problem with me?"

The half-robotic girl scoffed, turning to stare out the window without even giving her a reply. Now wouldn't be the best time to confront her about it, Kara realized. She didn't want to keep being apart of this one-sided rivalry. It was pointless, and it confused her more than it angered her.

All of the sudden, the jet plane started forward. Kara held her breath, as they rolled across the roof, quickly gaining speed. They'd barely gained enough, however, before they sailed off the end of the roof. Everyone screamed as the jet plane flew through the air, then landed on the next roof. All of them lost their balance from the impact, and Kara fell onto the table in front of her.

"Turn left!" Kara heard Owen scream. "Turn left!"

"What?" Bethany shouted.

"There's a pole! Turn _left_!"

"Okay!"

The jet plane suddenly lurched sideways. To Kara's relief, it quickly straightened out, allowing them to keep moving. It continued rolling across the next roof, then the next, then the next. Every jump got a little easier, and Kara found herself grinning once she realized that they weren't going to crash.

Charm glared up at the ceiling. "You're going to get us killed!"

"I can't believe it's _working_! This is so—" Owen pointed at something in the window. "Oh — oh no! Chimney! There's a chimney! Go right! Go _right_ —"

"Beth—" Kiel began.

"Everybody, shut up!" Bethany shouted as the jet plane veered to the right, making Kara's head slam into the table again. "I'm trying to focus!"

The plane sped up even faster until the objects in the window were zipping past. Kara quickly climbed back into her chair, holding on as tightly as she could as the ground trembled beneath her. There was a loud groaning noise coming from inside the plane's engine, which gave her an indication that this wasn't the best idea. But as long as they could get into the air, they'd be fine.

Finally, after rolling across the roof of one last house, they took off into the air. Pressure filled Kara's head, and she leaned back into her chair, breathing heavily as the jet plane ascended into the sky.

"We're alive!" Owen shouted, starting to laugh hysterically. Gwen joined in, steadily at first, then harder and harder. It must've been a side effect of the relief that they were all feeling.

"What's so funny?" Orion asked, irritation flitting across his face.

Gwen just shrugged, still giggling. "I have no idea!"

"We're almost there," Bethany reminded them, and the plane dipped down, straightening itself out.

Kara leaned across her seat to stare out the window, amazed at the scene below her. From this height, the buildings and cars looked like tiny specks in the distance. The only time she'd been this high above the ground was when her and Owen had climbed a volcano, and she doubted that that had been the same height.

"Do you see it?" Kiel asked, leaning forwards in his chair.

"Yeah. It's a few minutes away."

"Can't you go faster?" Charm said, kicking her foot into the ground. She huffed. "I still don't get what the point of morphing into a jet plane was about. Anyone will see us coming for _miles_."

"I'm going as fast as I can," Bethany said, sounding annoyed. The jet plane seemed to speed up slightly, only to abruptly slow down a minute later. All of them fell forwards again.

"What's happening _now_?" Owen asked, looking around worriedly.

"We're here."

Kara glanced out the window, but all she saw was a gigantic white building in the middle of a forest. Was that the place Bethany and Gwen had found? It must've been, because the plane was still slowing down. The jet plane tilted downwards, and all of the sudden, hundreds of pillows appeared all over the room. Helmets also appeared on each of their laps, and everyone hastily put theirs on.

"Oh," Owen said. "So does that mean we're going to find somewhere safe to park the—"

"Hold on," Bethany ordered. "We're gonna have a rough landing."

Everyone quieted down at that, and Kara saw the others brace themselves against their seat. She quickly moved to do the same. Her heartbeat quickened inside her chest. Even though she was surrounded by the pillows and was wearing a helmet, she still felt a shiver of fear — and excitement — race down her spine. Then, the jet plane tilted all the way towards the ground, and they began falling.

Kara's stomach dropped. Her first instinct was to hit her time bracelet and transport herself somewhere safer, but she fought against it. Despite her seatbelt, she still hovered about a foot in the air. Her hair was blown upwards, and she began to scream. Everything became a blur in her eyes.

She could hear the others screaming too, all holding onto their seats for dear life. It was the looks on her friends faces that made her fear lessen slightly. She nearly laughed at the sight of Owen, who was screaming the loudest of them all. As for Kiel, he seemed to be having the time of his life. The same could be said for Gwen, who had sheer joy in her eyes as they plummeted to the ground.

As they drew closer, an enormous pressure came from the ground, rocketing into Kara's body. She fell back into her seat, not even sure if she was still breathing. She realized that the jet plane was tilting upwards again, halting their fall ever so slightly.

"Stay in your seats!" Bethany shouted over the noise. "I have an idea!"

"Great," Orion said, looking furious now. " _Another_ idea."

Without warning, the jet plane around them vanished, and Kara was yanked out of her seat. She screamed again, this time in surprise. A strong gust of wind rushed up to her face, and it took her a moment to realize that they weren't on a jet plane anymore.

They were free-falling _in the air_.

"BETHANY!" Charm yelled from next to Kara. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Either Bethany was far away or the wind was too loud, but Kara didn't hear a response. The force of the wind caused her eyes to water. She couldn't breathe as she stared at the world below her, which was much closer than she'd anticipated. She waved her arms and legs around, trying desperately to halt her fall. As the trees rushed up to greet her, Kara felt something yank on her chest, and she was abruptly pulled upward.

Feeling confused and disoriented and relieved, Kara glanced above her and saw an enormous parachute, which was holding each of them. She heaved a sigh of relief. If Bethany hadn't turned into a parachute at the last second, Kara doubted she'd even be alive.

The adrenaline was still pumping through her as they slowly floated the rest of the way to the ground, giving her enough time to catch her breath. As soon as they landed on the grass, Kara collapsed to her knees, placing her hands in front of her. She looked up to see Owen sitting down, his eyes wide and his hair incredibly windblown.

"Wow," Kara said, flashing him a shaky grin. "Can't say I saw that coming."

"Me neither!" Then, he clutched his stomach as if he might throw up. "I think . . . I'm going . . . to be . . . sick . . ."

"You guys okay?" Bethany asked, and Kara looked over to see that she'd morphed back into her human form.

"Yes!" Gwen exclaimed. "That was _so much fun_!"

"That was _amazing,_ Beth!" Kiel agreed, and Kara glanced over to see an excited look on the boy magician's face.

Charm snorted, brushing blades of grass off of her robotic arm and leg. "I'm not surprised that you enjoyed that."

"It was fun," Kiel insisted. "As I always say: the more danger, the better."

"Not _that_ much danger. A warning would've been nice," Orion snapped, massaging his head. "We could've died."

"But we _didn't_ ," Bethany replied, flashing him a smile. He glared back at her. "Come on." She helped Owen to his feet before taking a shaky breath. "Let's go cast this spell."

Once all of them were back on their feet, Bethany and Gwen led the way, and the rest of them trailed behind. The path was long, and was filled with several dips and hills. Birds chirped above their heads as they made their way towards the large building, which — according to Bethany and Gwen — was completely abandoned.

"What is this place?" Kara asked, craning her head up to see the massiveness of the building.

"It's a hospital!" Gwen said, her tone cheerful as ever as she skipped ahead of them. "It's incredible. I've never seen a hospital like this before."

"A _hospital_?" Kara froze, thinking back to how she'd thought the prison had looked like a hospital, due to its white walls and metal doors. If this place wasn't actually a hospital, then it could mean that it was another prison that the Time Security Agency was in charge of. She felt uneasiness seep inside of her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Bethany said. "When we went inside, there was medical equipment in each room."

"And it _was_ completely abandoned, right?" Kara asked, fidgeting with her time bracelet. "There weren't any closed metal doors or . . . cells . . . in there?"

"No." Bethany gave her an odd look. "There was no one there, I promise. We checked. If there _was_ someone here, we definitely wouldn't be coming here. It'd be too risky."

"Right," Kara said, relaxing a bit. She didn't know why she'd gotten so afraid all of the sudden. It was only a hospital. Not a prison. But any reminder of the time prison brought a painful feeling in her chest. All the _time_ she'd spent there, putting every ounce of blame on herself. It'd taken everything she had to stay sane and hopeful.

They started walking again. Out of the corner of her eye, Kara saw Owen give her a concerned look. She forced a smile back, letting him know that she was okay.

There wasn't anything to be afraid of, she told herself. The time prison might be impossible to forget, but there was no point in thinking about something that had made her feel horrible. Just because the time prison looked like a hospital from the inside _didn't_ mean that an actual hospital had anything to do with the TSA.

After crossing an eerily empty parking lot, the seven of them clambered up to the front double-doors. The whole place looked so run-down that Kara was tempted to jump backwards in time, just to see what it looked like when it was being used. She'd been wanting to time travel again for _months_ , after all. But it wasn't the time for that.

Gwen reached the door first, and pushed it open, holding it so the others could walk through. They entered what had once been a lobby, but the entire room was covered it dust. If it weren't for the light coming in from the windows, the hospital would've looked much creepier.

Gwen looked back at them with a smile. "So, this is it!"

"Ugh." Orion made a face. "This is the best you could find?"

"Well, yeah! It might look kind of creepy with all the cobwebs and stuff, but—"

"AHH!" Owen suddenly screamed, and all of them jumped. Kara's heart nearly stopped at the sound, and she immediately held up her fists. She whipped her head around — ready to jump to her best friend's aid — but all she saw was Owen . . . who faced what looked like two skeletons.

Kiel burst out laughing. "You're scared of _those_?"

Owen's face was bright red. "Shut up, Kiel!"

Charm's mouth twitched into a smile, the first one that Kara had seen on her. "That was actually enjoyable."

Kara rushed to Owen's side, gently touching his shoulder. She tried her best to stifle her laughter, but it was hard given the circumstances. "Are you okay?"

"F-Fine," he stammered. "I just wasn't expecting that to happen! Is no one else bothered by this?! There's literally two _dead people—_!"

"Those aren't even real," Bethany said, walking over to the skeletons that Owen had seen a moment ago.

"Wait, no—" Charm began, but it was too late. Bethany kicked her foot hard into one of the skeletons, and the half-robotic girl winced. But the skeleton didn't break, which was surprising. It looked so realistic.

Bethany looked back at them, a smug smile on her face. For emphasis, she kicked it again. "See? Not real."

"You're lucky they aren't," Charm said, as they began walking down the hallway again. "Skeletons are a useful contribution to science. I wouldn't have wanted it to go to waste."

"I think the people here _did_ use it for science," Kara said. "To study the anatomy of it, I'm guessing. Since doctors need it for people who break their bones."

"That's . . . correct," Charm replied, looking almost surprised at what she'd said. But her surprise quickly faded, replaced by the hard look that Kara had seen her wear.

"I still can't believe you thought those were _real_ ," Kiel said as he retrieved his wand-knives from his sheaths.

"They were real enough to _me!"_ Owen said, still looking flustered.

Bethany rolled her eyes. "You get scared so easily."

"Because of all the times you forced me to see horror movies with you!"

"You were _fine_." She almost smiled, then went to Gwen's side at the front of their group.

They continued walking in silence until they came across a waiting room, which had an assortment of chairs and tables. Just like the rest of the building, both the chairs and the tables had a thin layer of dust on it. Cobwebs had formed on some of them, which was a clear indication that this hospital hadn't been touched in years.

"Would this room work?" Gwen asked, her tone hopeful. They simultaneously all turned their heads to Kiel, who nodded, his expression becoming serious. He muttered some words under his breath, and a small ball of light appeared from his belt. Kara's eyes widened as the light grew bigger, expanding to the size of a huge spell book.

"Whoa," Kara breathed. It was one thing to _hear_ about Kiel, a boy magician who could cast magic spells. But it was another thing entirely to see it in action.

Kiel glanced at her, flashing her a wink. "Cool, huh?"

Picking up the book, he carried it over to one of the tables. He quickly dusted it off with his sleeve before dumping the monstrously huge spell book onto the table, where it jumped to life. As he kneeled on the floor, they all gathered around him, peering over his shoulder. Kiel closed his eyes, and the pages of the book started to flip so fast that Kara couldn't make them out.

The sound footsteps from down the hallway made Kara perk up. She quickly glanced up, expecting to see someone. But the hallway ahead of them was empty. After straining her ears for another sound, she didn't hear anything else. A shiver ran down her spine. It was probably just her imagination playing tricks on her, since they were sitting in an old, creepy hospital.

She returned her attention to the spell book, which had come to an abrupt halt, landing on the page that had the location spell. A warm glow radiated off of the book, and Kiel laid his hands on the page, allowing the light to slowly seep into his body. A moment later, the light quickly faded. If it hadn't been glowing a second ago, Kara would've mistaken the spell book for an oversized dictionary, or something along those lines.

Kiel began to speak the words for the location spell, and Kara held her breath as a ball of light appeared in front of his outstretched wand. She felt half-excited, half-nervous to see what would happen. It was magic, after all, and she wasn't used to seeing it.

All of them leaned forward, waiting to see where it'd go. For a moment, the ball hung in place, not even moving. Then, it sprung upwards . . . only to pause in midair. Instead of moving in a specific direction like Kara assumed it would, it stayed there, rooted to the spot.

"Why isn't it going anywhere?" Owen whispered.

"I-It did this when I tried using it to find my father," Bethany said, her eyes only on the ball of light.

The ball continued to hover in the air, as if unsure where to go. It darted left, then right, never staying in one area for more than a second. It started to shake, glowing brighter as it vibrated with more energy. The friends stared in mesmerized shock as the ball continued to shake. The ball of light soon became so bright that it was hard to look at, and they shielded their eyes.

A loud popping sound was heard next, and Kara had just enough time to see the ball of light exploding into tiny pieces. The pieces separated from each other, growing smaller and smaller as they did so. With every piece that broke off, the brightness died down more and more. Within seconds, the lighting in the room was back the normal. The ball of light was nowhere to be found. It'd turned into _light particles_.

Kara slowly lowered her hand from her eyes, her mouth hanging open. "Uh, was it _supposed_ to do that?"

"Not even a little bit," Kiel replied, while the others were shocked into silence. He glanced back at them with a wince. "Well, _that_ didn't work. Guess it's time for a plan b?"

" _How_ didn't it work?" Bethany demanded, jumping out of her seat. "Nobody's _here_ , in the fictional world!"

"Because it's _magic_ ," Charm grunted. "It's completely useless."

"Hey!" Kiel said. "My magic isn't useless! It usually always works."

"It didn't work this time."

"The spell couldn't find him because Nobody doesn't _want_ us to find him," Orion said. "You think the Dark wanted us to find him? No, he didn't. For that reason, it was nearly impossible to."

Bethany nodded. "Nobody must not be in a book, then."

"But if he's not in a book, how can we find him?" Owen asked. "He must be in one. Or maybe he's somewhere that just isn't reachable with a location spell."

"The location spell would've found him," Kiel said, frowning. "It's never wrong."

"It was wrong when I used it to find my dad!" Bethany shot back.

"But it's been right for _all_ the other times."

"Let's come up with another way to find him," Gwen piped up, raising her hands in a calm manner. "Yes, the location spell didn't work. So what? We don't need it. We can come up with another amazing idea to find him!"

Owen bit his lip. "Like what?"

"I . . . I have no idea," Bethany said, sounding nervous. "If the location spell can't find him, how will _we_ find him? I don't know how much luck we'll have with that."

"Unless we come across any paradoxes, maybe?" Kara asked hopefully, glancing at Owen.

"That sounds really cool!" Gwen said. "Could that help us find him?"

"It could," Kara said. "But it might take too long to find one."

" _How_ long?" Orion asked.

The thought of the world ending in four days popped into her mind, and she shrugged, saying, "Long enough."

"Okay, since we don't know where Nobody is, we need to find a source of reliable intelligence," Charm declared, pulling out her ray guns. "Someone who can direct us to him."

"But who would be able to do that?" Owen asked.

"That's the part we'll need to figure out," she said. "It's not _hard_. Once we do, the interrogation part will be easy. Kiel and I got it down to a routine that I call nice guy/smart girl. He'd be polite and I'd be myself."

"I remember that!" Kiel said, winking at her. "It's exactly like that good cop/bad cop thing."

Bethany looked wary. "How do we find someone who knows him? _We_ know him, and we don't know where he is."

"That's a good question."

"Guys," Orion spoke up, his eyes narrowed. "Someone _took_ _my staff_."

Charm flashed him an annoyed look. "Now is not the—"

"What?" Gwen gasped. "That's horrible!"

"I thought you had it with you the whole time," Bethany said, her eyebrows crinkled in confusion.

"I did too." Orion huffed. "But after we cast the spell, it vanished. So that leaves me with no other option. Who took it?"

"Don't look at me," Kiel said. "I was holding two wand-knives, _and_ I was casting a spell!"

"Bethany?" Orion questioned, walking over to her. He circled around her, clearly searching for his staff, but she wasn't holding anything.

" _Really_?" Bethany rolled her eyes. "I don't have it! I'm not even holding anything."

"Fine." He moved away from her. "Gwen?"

"Please." Charm snorted, as Orion went to Gwen next. "Gwen's too nice to steal anything."

Gwen gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I don't have it. I hope you find it, though."

Before Orion could reply, Charm said, "Don't even _think_ about searching me. I don't have your stupid staff."

Orion glared at her before sweeping his gaze across their group. " _Who has it_?"

"I don't," Kara told him, showing him her empty hands. "I was standing next to Owen, not you."

"Then that rules out one last person. Owen was standing closest to me. _He_ must've done it while Kiel was casting his spell! I _know_ he did."

"What?" Owen cried, quickly backing away as Orion advanced on him. "Hey, it wasn't me! I would never do something like that!"

"He wouldn't," Bethany agreed.

"Then who was it?" Orion remarked, crossing his arms. "Your evil twin?"

"Wait . . ." Kara looked at Owen, her eyes widening. "I might've heard footsteps earlier from down the hallway, but I didn't see anyone there."

"Someone else is here?" Kiel asked, turning his head in every direction.

"Well, I don't know," Kara said, feeling a bit embarrassed as everyone's eyes were on her. "I thought I only imagined it."

"And you didn't say anything?" Charm demanded.

"Because she wasn't sure!" Owen defended. "That explains a lot, because . . . I think I heard someone, too."

Bethany stiffened. "What?"

"It wasn't me that stole Orion's staff, because I was in the same spot the whole time!" Owen clarified.

"Who was it, then?" Orion asked, all of his patience gone.

"Someone I bet you weren't expecting," a cold, taunting voice said.

Each of them whipped around, and what — more specifically, _who_ — Kara saw made her gasp. A boy was standing there, smirking as he held what undoubtedly looked like Orion's Twilight staff. But it wasn't that that shocked her. Even from a distance away, she would recognize his face anymore.

The boy looked exactly like Owen.

* * *

_  
"_ _Cars are flipping, I'm in hot pursuit. My character's strong but my head is loose . . ."_


	33. Fowen’s Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fowen gives the group some helpful... or harmful information. Bethany wonders if they can trust him.

_**Baba O'Riley (by The Who)**_

_"_ _Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals. I get my back into my living . . ."  
  
_

* * *

Bethany was certain that they'd had everything under control. But that certainty didn't last very long. As soon as Kiel's location spell had failed to find Nobody, shock — quickly replaced by determination and irritation — had went through her. She had expected it to work. She'd been mentally preparing herself for their fight with Nobody, trying to feel hopeful that they'd defeat him. It was hard to, especially when Nobody had already captured her father.

Internally, she'd been worrying over every little thing that could happen to her, her father, and her friends. Bethany had tried to be careful to keep her friends safe, but time and time again, they kept falling into danger. A part of her enjoyed the fights and the adventure, but the other part grew increasingly worried.

She knew that she couldn't let her worries hold her back. A few years ago, back when she was jumping into books, she'd always held herself back, afraid that her father could never be found. But she knew where he was now. Her father was with Nobody. Wherever that was, he was surely suffering. Saving him was the most important thing to her. If she lost him again . . . she wouldn't know what to do. The idea only made her worry _more_.

It wasn't uncommon for her to worry. She had no idea what would happen when they found Nobody, and that freaked her out. They'd made up a decent plan, though, which made Bethany feel a bit better about things. If they had a plan, the whole thing felt more controllable. Almost like they'd win this fight against Nobody.

But once Fowen, Owen's _fictional self_ , walked into the room, Bethany knew that _nothing_ was under control.

" _Fowen_?!" Bethany, Owen, and Kiel shouted at the same time, sharing equal looks of surprise.

"Don't act so surprised," Fowen said.

"Owen, I didn't know you had a brother!" Gwen said.

Kiel shook his head, not taking his eyes off of Fowen. "That's not his brother."

"Oh, great." Charm glared at Owen. "So Owen has a _clone_ , too." Then, in a hushed tone, she muttered, "How many of him will I have to deal with?"

"He's not my—" Owen sighed. "That's Fowen, my fictional twin." He turned back to Fowen, a look of disgust on his face. "Are you _kidding_ me? You? Again?"

"Yes, _me_ ," Fowen said, rolling his eyes. "I'm not happy to see you either, by the way. You shouldn't be complaining about me."

"Oh, _really_? And why's that?"

"Because I'm going to do you a favor—"

He had the nerve to show up here and say he was doing them a _favor_? Was he kidding? After everything that had gone down, with Fowen attempting to steal Owen's story, almost drowning Bethany, and causing Kiel to lose his magic . . . he expected them to listen to him. That would _never_ happen, not in a million years.

"A _favor_?!" Bethany scoffed. "We don't want any favors from you!"

"Hey! You'll be thanking me once you know what my favor _is_. I know how to—"

Before Bethany knew it, she was moving towards him. Once he realized she was coming for him, Fowen quickly backed away, but Bethany was faster. She grabbed him by the shirt, then ripped the Twilight staff from his hands. She tossed it behind her, where Orion caught it easily.

"Was that necessary?" Fowen asked, quickly wrenching himself out of her grasp.

"How did you get out of the book I left you in?" Bethany demanded, anger coursing through her veins. She slowly breathed in and out, feeling the urge to punch him right then and there.

"And how did you find us?" Owen asked, sidling up next to Bethany. "What are you _doing_ here?"

"Those are a lot of questions," Fowen stated.

"Yeah, and we expect you to answer them," Kiel told him, flashing a wink at him. "Don't want you trying to kill us again, do we?"

Owen's fictional self rolled his eyes. "That happened a long time ago. I'm not your enemy. We're on the same side here."

"Oh yeah?" Bethany glared at him. "So who was it that tried to drown me and steal my powers?"

"You tried to _drown_ her?" Orion asked, his voice threatening and low.

Fowen glanced between them, looking almost guilty. It was a look she'd seen on Owen's face numerous times, but Fowen, of all people? Bethany wasn't buying it for a second. All he cared about was himself! He'd shown that when he'd revealed himself as pretending to be Doyle, all so he could trick and steal from them.

"In my defense, I don't want your powers anymore," Fowen said finally.

Kiel raised his eyebrows. "So you want something else from us, then?"

Fowen growled in frustration. "No, I _told_ you why I'm here. I'm going to pay you back, okay? Think of it as a peace offering. To do you a—"

"Favor, right," Bethany interrupted, finishing his sentence. "Which we'll _never_ agree to."

"I think you will once you hear it."

"No, we won't," Owen said. "I don't trust you!"

Fowen looked at him. "You think _I_ trust you? I don't. But if you listen to me, we can benefit each other."

Bethany narrowed her eyes. "Who. Let. You. Out."

Fowen sighed. "It was Nobody, okay? He found me not too long after you left me there."

All of their eyes went wide.

Owen groaned. " _Nobody_ let you out? Why would he bother?"

The other boy turned to glare at him. "Shut up, Nowen! Your opinion is worthless here!"

Kara furrowed her brows. "Excuse me?"

That was it. Already sick of Fowen — plus due to the fact that he'd insulted her best friend — Bethany stormed forward, anger flooding through her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kiel moving forward too. But before either of them could grab Fowen, Gwen latched onto Bethany's arms, and Orion grabbed Kiel.

"Please don't hurt him!" Gwen said quickly. Apparently sensing that Bethany wasn't going to do anything potentially harmful, Gwen let go of her. "He might be evil, but he still has a right to speak."

" _Thank_ you," Fowen said. "See? I don't even know who she is, and _she_ gets it."

" _No insulting Owen,_ or else I'm seriously going to punch you," Bethany warned. "Just tell us the truth. If you're helping Nobody capture us or something, then we can't do anything you tell us."

"I'm not working with him!" He scoffed, looking offended. "If I were, I wouldn't have come here without some type of disguise."

" _That's_ reassuring," Owen muttered.

"So you must know where he is, then," Charm said, pointing a ray gun at Fowen. The boy flinched as the ray gun began powering up. "I'll give you three seconds to tell us. Three . . . two—"

"I don't know where he is, I swear!" Fowen said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I haven't seen him in months."

"You saw him recently?" Kiel asked.

Fowen nodded. "He came to visit me. Told me what he was doing, and what he was planning. I had proved myself helpful to him, but after I had helped him steal that light machine from Bethany's dad—" He glanced at Orion. "And his sidekick by pretending to be Nowen."

Orion clenched his jaw. "I remember you, now. You _stole_ from me."

Owen blinked in surprise. "You _pretended—"_

"That's not relevant anymore. That was years ago!" Fowen said quickly, as Bethany felt her rage building up. "Forget about that. After I helped Nobody with that, he stuck me in that prison of his. He never took me out of there until a few months ago, to tell me what was going on. I didn't agree to help him, so he let me go back to my hometown. I haven't seen him since."

"Oh, that makes it so much better!" Bethany said, rolling her eyes. "You worked with Nobody, and now you show up and expect us to listen to you? For all we know, you could still be working for him."

"Exactly," Owen said.

"That's where you're mistaken," Fowen hissed. "As much as I loathe admitting it, we're _on the same side_. You think I want to get turned into pure possibility and get erased? There's no way Nobody would ever bring me back. I want to take him down too, except I haven't been able to find him anywhere. And I know that you haven't either."

"How would you know that?" Charm demanded, giving him an intimidating look.

"Because I've been watching you, okay?"

Owen frowned. "That's creepy."

"I know that Kiel's location spell isn't working, so I can tell you how to find him," Fowen continued, watching for their reactions. When they said nothing, he added, "There's this place I heard about, which should have a magical cave, if I'm remembering correctly. Inside the cave is a stone that grands you any wish. You can only use it once every hundred years, but it _always_ works. It can take you to Nobody."

"Like in _Aladdin_ ," Owen said, his eyes lighting up. "But how should we know you're telling the truth?"

"Yeah," Kara said, glaring at Owen's fictional twin. "From what I've heard, and I don't think _I'd_ ever want to trust you."

"Me neither," Orion said darkly. "You're obviously on Nobody's side."

Irritation passed over Fowen's face. "No, I'm _not_! I don't want to the worlds to disappear as much as you do! This concerns me, too. I'm fictional!"

"So?" Bethany said. "Nobody could just bring you back later after he wipes out everything."

"But he won't."

"Guys," Gwen spoke up. "He _wants_ to help us. Maybe we should listen to his idea. We know that we haven't been able to find Nobody with Kiel's location spell. Maybe this is great opportunity, or maybe we'll find a better one. But we should try to listen."

Bethany didn't like the idea of listening to Fowen at all, but Gwen was right. Somehow, Gwen was _always_ right. They needed to find Nobody, and Kiel's location spell wasn't allowing them to do that. If they went with Fowen's idea, then maybe . . . it would work.

But the thing was, not a single part of her trusted Fowen. It was impossible to. He was a liar and a traitor! She needed to be cautious, especially after he'd helped Nobody. He'd proven himself to be skilled at lying when he'd pretended to be Doyle. He could easily be lying right now.

Owen bit his lip. "Yeah, I guess so. We all want to defeat Nobody . . . right?" He warily glanced at Fowen, who nodded wordlessly.

"Wait." Kiel held up a hand. "He could easily be lying. We should cast a Fog Of Truth spell on him."

"Good idea!"

"Fog of . . . what?" Kara asked.

"He's forced to tell us the truth, no matter what," Kiel said, a grin forming on his face. "And if he doesn't, his brain will apparently collapse." He shrugged. "That's what the Magister used to tell me, at least."

Fowen rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. You can trust what I'm telling you! You don't need some stupid spell to prove it."

"We _do_ need a spell for that," Bethany pointed out. "The last time we trusted you, you hurt Owen and tried to steal my powers. So _sorry_ if I'm a little untrusting." She nodded to Kiel, signaling for him to cast the spell. They watched as Kiel murmured some words, and a weird sort of fog drifted from Kiel's wand-knives and flowed into Fowen.

"Are you on Nobody's side?" Bethany asked.

"I was," Fowen said, then winced as more of the magic entered his system. "I mean — kind of? He said he'd help me get revenge on Bethany, but then after I helped him steal the light machine, he threw me in that prison of his. So no, I'm not working with him. Nobody only works to benefit himself. The only person he's allowed to work with him that _hasn't_ been put into his prison is the Magister."

Kiel's eyes widened, and he clenched and unclenched his fists. "So it's true? The Magister really is working with Nobody?"

Bethany felt her heart twinge at the disappointed look on Kiel's face. She wasn't very surprised to know that the Magister, of all people, was working with the evilest person on the planet. But she remembered that Kiel used to have a special bond with the Magister, thinking of him as almost a father figure. It must've been hard for him to hear that his former teacher was working with Nobody.

"Yeah. You didn't know?" Fowen smirked. "Of course you didn't. You were in Magisteria, too busy writing a spell to properly notice anything that was going on around you."

"That sounds like him," Charm muttered.

"A spell for a _good cause_ ," Owen cut in, shooting her a look. "Let's go back to this cave you were telling us about. I don't trust you, but . . . since you _are_ telling the truth, this could help us find Nobody."

"I don't think this is a good idea. It could be a trap, Owen!" Bethany hissed at him.

He didn't look at her, and chose to stare expectantly at Fowen. Really? Why was he even believing what Fowen had to say? Fowen had _tortured_ Owen, and he deserved to suffer for it. Following along with this plan was a stupid idea! Kind of useful if it worked, but still stupid!

She glanced around at her other friends, who — aside from Gwen — looked wary. She knew that none of them felt very good about listening to Fowen, and Bethany felt the exact same way. After everything he'd done, how could they trust him? She didn't feel comfortable without having the knowledge of what might happen. There were too many horrible ways that this could go.

Butterflies had lodged in her stomach, but not the good, euphoric kind. It was an all-too-familiar feeling, and she had it more often than not. Whenever her emotions got hectic, the feeling grew worse until her stomach felt as though it was twisting itself into knots.

"She's right," Charm said, and they all looked over at her. "Why should we even agree to this?"

"It might be our only option," Owen said quietly. "And he's telling the truth . . . he's not working with Nobody."

"He wasn't working with Nobody when he tried to drown me and hurt _you_!" Bethany said, her voice growing louder with every second. "He wasn't working with Nobody when he stole Kiel's spell book and wands! He might not be working with Nobody now, but he wasn't back then, either! That's the whole problem with —" She gestured at Fowen. " _This_! He can't be trusted."

Owen stared at her, looking at a loss for words. There was nothing he could say to disagree with her, because it was _true_. She shook her head and turned to Fowen, feeling annoyed. "Are you trying to betray us again?"

Without even a hint of a lie, Fowen said, "No."

"Fine." Bethany sighed. "What's the plan?"

That was all that she'd needed to hear from Fowen, and yet, she still didn't trust him. She guessed that she never would. If it was up to Bethany, she would never allow Fowen to help them. But it wasn't her choice. Now that they knew Fowen wouldn't try to betray them, they'd have to go along with his plan.

"Like I said, inside the cave is a stone that grands you any wish," Fowen said. "No one in the book ever ends up finding it, which I think is a complete waste. But you can't reach the cave without a group. And by group, I mean the summer camp that they have set up. It's a summer camp for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts."

"What's a summer camp?" Gwen asked.

"It's, um . . ." Owen glanced at Bethany. "It's a place that you can go to in the summer. They usually have lots of arts and crafts, and different games you can do. It's really fun."

"Yeah, but that's a _nonfictional_ summer camp," Bethany reminded him. "This is different."

"Still a summer camp!"

"So we'd have to blend in?" Kara asked, looking far more interested now.

Fowen nodded. "That's the only way you won't look out of place. Anyway, the scouts go on missions outside their camp to earn these badges, but they won't be going anywhere near the cave. You can't leave without a group, so you'd have to blend in with them, go with them on one of their missions, and sneak off to find the cave. It's simple."

"Simple?" Orion repeated slowly, narrowing his eyes. "Simple could mean a lot of things. What are we facing here, exactly?"

Kiel frowned a bit. "All all we have to do is get that stone from the inside of the cave, right? Yeah, that sounds easy to me."

"Getting there should be easy. The only difficult part might be finding the stone, since it's hidden in the cave," Fowen said. "I'm not sure how big it is, but it shouldn't be dangerous with the amount of people you have."

"'Shouldn't be'?" Bethany repeated, exasperated. "Is it dangerous or not?"

"I don't exactly know. I've never been inside. But I _know_ that the stone is in there."

"And you're sure it'll help us find Nobody?" Owen asked.

"Positive," Fowen said, then winced as more fog flowed into his head. He made a growling noise. "I _hate_ this stupid spell. No, okay? I'm not sure if it can do that, _Nowen_. But it's your call on whether or not you want to go through with this. I don't really care what happens to you."

"Okay, Fowen," Owen said quietly, not looking at any of them. "We'll do it."

"Smart choice. Now, for the blending in part, you can use one of Kiel's disguise spells to create the uniforms. Once you do that, everyone will think you belong there, so you should be able to find the cave _easily_."

"What if we don't find it?" Charm challenged.

"You will. It's the only cave there. The forest —- the one that the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts always take on their missions — isn't big."

She massaged her forehead with her hand. "This is the most Kiel Gnomenfoot-like garbage idea I've ever heard."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Kiel said, smiling at her.

She glared at him in silence, then turned away and walked away from them, muttering not-so-pleasant things under her breath.

Kara knitted her eyebrows together. "So it's just a regular summer camp, aside from a random stone that's laying around in a cave?"

"Yes," Fowen said.

Orion harrumphed. "I hate this already."

Gwen smiled brightly at him. "It'll be fun. You see!"

"No, I really don't think so."

"Wait, what's the book called?" Bethany asked Fowen, just to be sure that he even knew where this place was.

"It's called _Scouting,_ " Fowen informed her.

Bethany stared at Fowen for a moment before grabbing Owen by the arm, pulling him away from the group. "Owen, we don't know if this will work."

"But what if it does?"

"This is _Fowen_ we're talking about. He might be telling the truth, but he doesn't even know if this cave is dangerous."

"I know," Owen whispered back. "But it's the only way to find Nobody! Can _you_ think of another way?"

". . . No."

"See? Then we _have_ to do this."

"This doesn't have anything to do with wanting to be a hero, does it?" Bethany asked, and his eyes widened. "Because this doesn't sound fun to me."

"Nothing sounds fun to you!"

"Can you just answer my question?"

"It's not . . . about being a hero," Owen said quickly, and Bethany could detect a hint of remorse on his face. "I get that you're suspicious, Bethany, but I really _do_ think that this is the best option for us."

"Even though Fowen is telling us?" Bethany asked, glancing nervously at Fowen.

"Hey, I don't trust him either," he replied. "He's completely evil and crazy! _But_ we used the Fog of Truth spell on him. He won't betray us. He wants the same thing we want: to defeat Nobody."

She sighed deeply, stepping away from him. "I seriously hate it when you're right."

For the first time since Fowen had arrived, Owen smiled. "I know."

All of the sudden, Bethany heard a banging noise, and they turned around just in time to see Charm throwing a punch into Fowen's face. Everyone gasped. Bethany's mouth dropped open, and she could only stare in shock as Fowen fell to the ground, completely unconscious.

Well, at least they didn't have to worry about him following them _._

"What did I say?" Charm shouted as she stood above Fowen, her face contorted in anger. Her fists were curled into balls. " _What did I say?!_ "

"Was there a reason you just punched him?" Kara asked, frowning.

"He said something to annoy me! That was a good enough reason!"

"I think that was directed at you this time," Kiel said to Owen, who gulped.

"Probably," Owen whispered back.

* * *

Despite every sign that pointed to a book about summer camp, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts being a children's book, Bethany couldn't find it _anywhere_ in the children's section. She and Kiel had been scouring every inch of the children's section, but after nearly twenty minutes of searching, there was nothing to be found. It made her wish that Owen's mother was still here, because she knew where every single book was located.

Since Owen had surprisingly never heard of the book that Fowen had told them about, they spent the next hour in the library, searching through the rows of books for anything that resembled it. They all had split up to speed up the process, but so far, none of them had found the book. It was hard to find it when they didn't know the author, too.

"Where to next, Beth?" Kiel asked as they met back up again, both empty-handed. "Fantasy section?"

"Aren't Owen and Gwen doing that section?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt to check!"

She groaned. "I feel like we should've found it by now. Why wouldn't a book about summer camp be in the children's section? Where else could it be?”

"Hmm." Kiel looked thoughtful for a moment, then grinned out of nowhere and motioned for her to follow him as he walked out of the children's section. They passed the sci-fi section, the romance section, and the self-care section until they finally came across the young adult section. "Looks like no one is checking this section."

"This is the young adult section," Bethany said as they walked into the first aisle, which was filled with books that resembled nothing about summer camps. "That means it's only about _teenagers_. Only kids go to summer camps!"

He smiled. "I may not be _completely_ sure about what a summer camp is, but I do know that 'young adult' still counts as a kid."

She stared at him. "It counts as a teenager."

"Either way, don't teenagers go to summer camps?"

Bethany shrugged. She assumed so, but unlike many people her age, she'd never even _been_ to a summer camp before. It must've never crossed her mother's mind, either, because she'd never been forced to go to one.

Her entire childhood had only consisted of her jumping into books in her free time, since she'd never had any friends before she met Owen. It made her feel a twinge of sadness, to know how much of a childhood she'd truly missed out on. She must've been the only girl in the world who never did exciting things, such as summer camps, as a child.

"Let's see if this section has it," Kiel said. He start scanning the rows of books, giving her no other option but to do the same.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Bethany asked quietly as she started looking through the first row of books on the opposite end.

"Yeah. The young adult section might have it!"

"No, not _this_." She glanced back at him. "I mean, going along with Fowen's plan."

He paused. "Oh, that. Well, I think it'll be okay. How dangerous could a summer camp be?"

"Wait until I show you the Percy Jackson books."

"Oh, Owen loves those books!" He smiled, and she returned the smile without even realizing it.

"Yeah, he does. And there were _tons_ of dangerous things that happened in there. Like monsters invading their camp." She shuddered, remembering the time that she'd jumped into _Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian_ , right as a monster had attacked.

"Monsters are enjoyable to fight," Kiel said, adding his signature wink.

"That's — that's not the point," Bethany said, shaking her head. "The point is that this summer camp that we're going to might have something like that."

He frowned. "Fowen said that this summer camp was completely normal. We should be fine, Beth."

"I guess you're right." She resumed her process of looking for the book. "But this whole thing: going to this summer camp that we hardly know anything about, all to find a magical stone that's in a cave? I feel like we shouldn't be doing this. We should find an easier way."

"My location spell was the easiest way," Kiel admitted softly. She felt his eyes on the back of her head, but she didn't turn around. "As much as I hate Fowen, I don't think we have any more options. And besides, at least we'll get to go to a summer camp. That's cool, huh?"

Bethany turned back to face him. It seemed like the only thing she could do was worry about this, and she wished the feeling would go away already. "Nonfictional summer camps are always the same thing. But for all we know, it could be super dangerous."

"You're afraid," he said in realization, and he wasn't asking.

"Yes." She nodded slowly, her stomach twisting itself even more into a knot.

"Just relax, okay?" He smiled reassuringly at her. "You don't have to be scared. Everything will be okay, you'll see. Even if something bad does happen, there's no point in worrying over it."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that he was right, but it was something she'd heard plenty of times from him. Didn't he know her well enough by now? She _always_ seemed to worry. Telling her that there was "no point in worrying over it" was like telling a depressed person to "just be happy". It was completely impossible, and it wasn't good advice.

"It's not that easy," Bethany said, furrowing her brows. "I don't think I'll ever be able to stop worrying. It's impossible."

"Hey, nothing is impossible! It's only impossible if you _believe_ it is. You can't let fear take control over you. You just have to let things . . . happen."

"Easy for _you_ to say." She felt the urge to smile. "Is that what you do, just accept what happens?"

Kiel shrugged. "I guess so. What else can you do?"

"Worry about it."

He tilted his head. "Does that help?"

Bethany sighed. "No."

Kiel gave her a look that clearly said _see?,_ and walked over to sit beside her. He patted the ground next to him, and she sat down, leaning her back against the bookcase. She knew that they were probably wasting time by doing this, when they were supposed to be looking for the book. But at the moment, she didn't care.

It felt nice to relax for a moment, to talk to Kiel, who always knew what to say. His very presence seemed to make her world shine brighter. His words were like magic; they never failed to soothe her. She wasn't sure if she'd even spent alone time with him within the past few days, but it felt nice now that she was.

"What are you so afraid of?" he asked, his voice soft and concerned.

She looked at him, contemplating what she could say. At this point, she was terrified of what might come in the future. There was so much responsibility on her shoulders, to save the fictional worlds and defeat Nobody. She wouldn't accept what would happen if it didn't work. That wasn't an option. But what if it _didn't_ work? What if her friends got hurt? What if something terrible was happening to her father, and she'd never be able to save him? What if—

"Honestly?" Bethany said, shaking herself out of her whirlwind of thoughts. "This entire situation. With how much danger we've gotten into, I don't want this to go badly." She dropped her head into her arms.

"I thought you _liked_ danger," Kiel said. "It's exhilarating! I always see you smiling when you're fighting villains."

She ignored him. "And then once we're done finding this stone . . . we'll have to fight Nobody."

"Don't you want to fight him?"

Her eyes widened, and she looked over at him. "Yeah! Of course. I . . . I don't know. I don't even know how to fix this. What happens if we can't? Think of what someone like Nobody will do if he rewrites the fictional world."

Kiel nodded. "I have been. It's . . . unpleasant to think about. But don't worry, we'll beat him."

"Will we?" Bethany said, still looking at the ground. "Last time we fought him, he escaped from the chains we put him in. What if that happens again?"

"Sure." He made a face. "It could."

She hit him on the shoulder. "Kiel! Don't tell me that. This is a serious conversation!"

"Fine." He laughed. "That won't happen this time, because _you—"_ He jabbed a finger into her hand. "Have _me_. That was your first mistake when you and Owen went to Jupiter City without me. My incredible spell-casting will save us all."

Bethany couldn't help but smile. "You aren't as incredible as you say you are. You do know that, right?"

He nudged her on the shoulder. "Oh, so you still think I'm incredible?"

She blushed. "I never said that."

"You just did."

"No, I _didn't_."

"It's okay, Beth. You don't have to admit it if you're afraid to."

She rolled her eyes. "So how about you? Are _you_ scared?" she teased, trying to hide her smile but failing miserably.

"Me, Kiel Gnomenfoot? _Scared_?" Kiel winked at her, a mischievous grin on his own face. "Never would anyone dare to accuse _me_ of being scared!"

"I just did!" Bethany laughed. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I can think of a number of things! Maybe I'll turn you into a book. You'd fit in perfectly—"

She smacked him on the arm again. "Shut up!"

Grinning, Kiel withdrew his wand-knives from his sheaths. "Want to test it out?"

Bethany felt a jolt of fear, and she scooted away from him. "No!"

He dramatically raised one of his wands and pointed it at her. "And you said _I_ was scared!"

"Don't you dare!" she shouted as he began to murmur something. "Kiel, I _swear_ —"

"What's going on?" a gruff voice asked from the end of the aisle, and they both turned to see Orion standing there, his arms crossed.

"Orion!" Bethany said, her eyes widening.

Kiel straightened up. "That was bad timing. I was about to turn her into a book. Preferably a Kiel Gnomenfoot book, because that's the _best_ kind of book." He grinned.

Orion just stared at them. "I don't even want to know. Have you been looking for that book that Fowen told us about, or have you been sitting there the entire time?"

"Of course we were," Bethany snapped.

He raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I can totally see that."

"We _were_ looking, I swear."

"Sure."

"She's right," Kiel insisted. "We were!"

"Not helping," Bethany hissed.

He gave her a hurt look in response, then stood up. His eyes drifted to a shelf above her head, and he exclaimed, "Ah-ha!"

"What?" Orion and Bethany asked together.

As Bethany got to her feet to see what he was looking at, Orion walked over to them. Reaching up, Kiel pulled a book off of the top shelf, right above where Bethany had been sitting. He showed it to them, and sure enough, the word "Scouting" was written on the front cover.

"Told you it was in the young adult section," Kiel said, giving her a triumphant smile. "I'll go get the others."

Without warning, he leaned down and quickly kissed her on the cheek. It only lasted for a second, but the moment he came in contact with her, there was an overwhelming jolt of electricity that coursed through her body. He ran away, leaving her standing there in shock. She reached up and touched the spot where he'd kissed her, feeling warm and fuzzy all over. She couldn't process it. Had that actually just happened?

"What was that all about?" Orion asked as he stared at her, looking just as shocked.

"Uh . . ." Bethany said, her face growing hot. "No idea. It was probably nothing."

A tiny, mocking smile appeared on his face. "'Probably nothing?' I hate to break it to you, Bethany, but not even a _blind_ person could tell you that that boy doesn't has feelings for you. I don't know _why_ he would—"

She pointed a finger at him. "Don't you _dare_ tease me about this, Orion. From now on, any conversation about my love life is off limits!"

"You have a love life? I _never_ would've seen that coming."

Bethany groaned loudly, feeling the most embarrassed that she'd probably ever felt. "Would you drop it already? I'm sick of hearing Owen say that Kiel has a crush on me! Now you, too? I don't want to talk about this!"

"If you don't want to talk about it anymore, _drop_ it," Orion said, and she glared at him. If he wasn't her father's sidekick/adopted brother, she'd probably punch him right then and there. Of course, she doubted she had the upper arm strength to do it, even if he _was_ really annoying her.

"We. Aren't. Talking. About. This."

"We are right now."

"Okay, but there is _nothing_ going on between me and Kiel!"

"I can see that," he replied, and before she could say anything else, he walked away.

Bethany felt her irritation rising, and she called after him. "It's true!"

But he either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her, because he continued walking. Ugh. She'd never hear the end of this. Orion was going to hold this over her head forever. She _hated_ it when he did that.

As soon as Orion had walked out of view, she found a small, uncontrollable smile exploding onto her face at the knowledge of what had just happened. She slowly reached up to touch her cheek, which was still tingling. She felt weirdly jittery, almost like she'd had too much caffeine. And she _rarely_ drank coffee.

So _this_ was how Owen had felt when Kara had kissed him on the cheek. It all made sense now.

She couldn't help but wonder if the whole thing had been her imagination. Had Kiel really kissed her on the cheek? Was that just a friendly thing to do, or did he like her, like Owen had claimed? What did it mean? She felt so confused. Her first instinct was to run to Owen, to tell him what had happened. But she couldn't tell him. He'd only make fun of her, just like Orion had!

Oh _no_. If he _liked_ liked her, would that change anything? Did she like him too? She must've been overthinking too much, because she wasn't even sure. It was hard to tell, with the way she was feeling. Her emotions were all over the place, but mainly, she felt good.

The most astonishing part of all was that she didn't hate the fact that he'd kissed her on the cheek. It'd been embarrassing, sure, but a part of her had liked it. She wasn't sure if she'd ever experienced a feeling like that before, to feel so exhilarated and carefree and flustered all at once. She didn't know how to deal with it, or if she was only overthinking everything.

She figured that the feelings had always been there, yet she didn't know how deep they were, or what they meant. She'd always been aware of them, but she'd pushed the complicated feelings aside, telling herself to think about something else. Now, it was all she could think about.

. . . At least for the next few minutes, until they went inside a potentially dangerous book about summer camps and magical stones.

She quickly caught up with Orion, and the two of them walked briskly towards their friends, who were starting to gather near the computers. When they arrived, Kara was sitting in a chair, scrolling through pictures on the computer. Owen, Gwen, Kiel, and Charm watched over her shoulder, mostly blocking Bethany's view.

"Uh, what are you guys doing?" Bethany asked. All of them turned around to look at her, but Kara was the one who answered first.

"Fowen said that we needed a disguise, so while you guys were doing that, I looked up Boy and Girl Scout designs online." She pointed at the computer, and Bethany and Orion walked forwards to see what was on the screen. Sure enough, there were various photos of costumes that Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts wore.

Orion looked disgusted. "You have to be joking. I have to wear _that_?"

Kara smiled. "If you wanna blend in, yes."

"Remember, it's for the purpose of our quest!" Owen reminded them. "We all have to wear it."

"You're just excited to wear a Boy Scouts uniform," Bethany told him.

He grinned in response, confirming her thoughts.

"Whatever," Charm said. "Let's just get this over with."

"This is going to be fun," Kiel said, winking at them. He peered forward to stare at the computer again, before sitting down on the floor, where his spell book was laying. As he came close to the spell book, it instantly jumped to life, flipping its pages faster than Bethany could see. It came to a stop near the back of the book, showing the disguise spell.

Kiel placed his hands on the page, and a warm light seeped into his body, just like she'd seen hundreds of times. Once the glow faded, Kiel pulled away and stood up abruptly. He glanced at the computer screen again before facing Owen first, who's expression was unmistakably one of excitement.

Bethany didn't know why Owen was so excited about getting an outfit change. Really, all it was was a Boy Scouts uniform. What was so exciting about that? But from experience, she knew that she shouldn't be surprised. Owen never failed to be excited when something like this was happening, especially if it had to do with magical disguises.

"Ready?" Kiel asked, shifting from foot to foot.

Owen nodded eagerly. "Completely."

"Okay. Stand still."

Kiel began to mumble something, and instantly, Owen's clothes transformed into those of a Boy Scouts'. He was wearing green, khaki pants, along with a red tie, and a short-sleeved, tan collared shirt that had several badges across it. All and all, he looked like an absolute replica of a Boy Scout . . . not that Bethany had ever seen a Boy Scout in real life before.

"Whoa! This looks so cool!" Owen exclaimed, running a hand over the badges on his shirt. His face was filled with awe. "There are badges on here and everything. What do they say?"

Bethany stepped closer to read them. "'Bad at math, nerd, and annoying'."

Owen gave Bethany a dirty look. "Hey, it does _not_ say that!" He looked at the others for confirmation. ". . . Does it?"

"No, idiot," Charm said. "You're too gullible."

Owen's smile faded ever so slightly. "I — um . . . yes?"

"Me next," Kiel announced, and before anyone could protest, he mumbled the words to the spell again. His clothes — which once had consisted of a ripped German shirt and black cape — transformed into the same uniform that Owen wore. He looked so different from his usual self, looking exactly like a normal boy instead of a highly-confident magician.

"Aww." The boy magician felt for something behind his back. "My cape is gone!"

"You'll get a new one," Bethany said. "Your old one was all ripped, anyway."

"That's true.”

"Can I go next?" Gwen asked, excitedly bouncing on her feet.

He winked at her. "I don't see why not."

"Yay!”

He casted the disguise spell on her next, and Bethany watched in slight fascination as Gwen's EarthGirl clothes melted away, replaced by a Girl Scout uniform. The outfit looked the exact same as Owen and Kiel's, which made Bethany feel relieved. If she had to fight in a skirt, she'd be very disappointed. It was always much easier to fight while wearing pants.

The remaining disguise spells were cast on Bethany, Kara, Orion, and Charm. When it was over, each of them were wearing uniforms, looking straight out of a Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts camp. It surprised Bethany just how well they could pull this off. They fit their roles perfectly. Even Charm, who's robotic eye, leg, and arm would give her away, now looked like a normal fifteen-year-old girl due to the disguise spell.

That was the easy part. The only thing they had to do now was pretend to be regular kids at a summer camp . . . and the only person that'd be easy for was probably Owen, since out of all of them, he was the only one who'd actually _been_ to a summer camp.

Before jumping into _Scouting_ , they read through more websites on the computer, to make sure they had everything they needed to properly fit in with the summer camp. Owen had claimed that they needed bug spray, which Bethany agreed with. They also all needed backpacks of their own, since apparently every kid had to bring their own supplies when going to a sleep-away camp.

Bethany doubted they'd be there for more than a day, but she thought it was a good plan. The more they blended in, the quicker they'd be able to find that cave. Hopefully, their disguises would work. That was another thing that Bethany wasn't too sure about, but they were doing the best they could to prepare. It'd have to work.

After conjuring up some backpacks and the rest of their supplies with his magic, Kiel had collapsed into a chair, falling almost instantly asleep. Bethany had nearly forgotten how much using magic in the nonfictional world exhausted him, and she felt a bit guilty for making him do all of this for them.

While they waited for Kiel to wake up, they packed up their supplies, making sure to stuff their weapons in the very bottom of their backpacks. According to many of the websites, summer camps often required you to bring your swimsuit, so they'd each packed one just in case. Not that Bethany actually planned on swimming.

She really, really hoped that they wouldn't be forced to do all the activities and could go straight to their quest. The most important thing was to find that stone as soon as possible, which apparently would take them to Nobody. Would it actually? Bethany had no idea, but she would feel incredibly annoyed if it didn't. They hardly had enough time as it was!

Bethany was sitting in the chair next to Kiel, across from Owen and Kara. They'd talked for a while, but all of them had quickly gotten bored. For what felt like ages, they'd been sitting there, waiting for Kiel to wake up. Charm had lost patience long ago, deciding to head to the back of the library to do something else. Gwen had gone to look at the books around the library. As for Orion, Bethany had no idea where he'd gone.

"He's still asleep?" Kara asked, propping her chin on her arms.

Bethany glanced at Kiel before looking back at her. "Yeah. He hasn't woken up yet."

Owen rubbed his eyes. "He needs to sleep after using that many spells." He sighed. "Can't we spray whipped cream onto his face or something? That'll wake him up faster."

"No way. We aren't doing that!"

Kara laughed a little. "Where would we even get that? I thought your town was destroyed."

"It is," Owen said. "But who knows, maybe the grocery stores are open. That's what always happens in apocalypse movies. The town gets destroyed, and the survivors can legally go to the grocery store and get food, since no one works there anymore." He shrugged. "It's kind of a thing."

"In case you've forgotten, the military is still in our town," Bethany reminded him. "Don't you think they'd notice if a couple of kids showed up out of nowhere at a grocery store?"

He sunk back into his chair. "Yeah. So what do we do, then?"

"We could just wait for him to wake up," she said. "You know, like a normal person would?"

"I _am_ a normal person.”

"You aren't," Bethany and Kara said at the same time. Kara grinned, and she reached out, hitting Bethany's palm with her's.

Owen blushed, but Bethany could tell he was trying not to smile. "Hey!"

"We could travel to the future to the moment where he wakes up," Kara offered.

"Won't that create a time paradox?"

She nudged him with her shoulder. "Paradoxes don't effect me, remember?"

"But they'd probably effect _me_!"

Suddenly, there was a groaning noise, and they all looked over to see Kiel slowly sitting up. He looked tired and disoriented, and his black hair was a mess from laying on the table. "Huh . . . what?"

"Never-mind," Kara said. "No time bracelet needed! Looks like we didn't need to wait much longer, after all."

Kiel blinked, crinkling his eyebrows. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Five hours," she said simply.

His eyes widened. "Five _hours_?"

" _One_ hour!" Owen corrected. "Kara, that'll only confuse him more!"

Kara laughed and patted Owen's hand, which Bethany noticed caused a noticeable blush to form on his cheeks. Kara shot up from her chair. "Hey, where's everyone else?"

"Somewhere around here."

"I'll get them," Bethany said, sliding out of her chair.

As she walked away from the table, she heard voices up ahead, from the back of the library. She sped up her pace, her sneakers squeaking against the carpeted floor. She didn't have to look for long, because she found Gwen sitting in the fantasy section, her eyes alight with wonder as she held a book in her hands.

"What're you reading?" Bethany asked, pointing to the book in her hands.

Gwen jumped slightly, then grinned as she looked over at Bethany. "Oh, the most incredible book! Owen told me that I have to read it. It's called . . ." She flipped the book over to stare at the front cover. " _Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone_."

"That's a great book," Bethany agreed, feeling her heart flutter at the happy look on her friend's face. "I used to jump into that a lot. What part are you at?"

"Hagrid just brought Harry to Diagon Alley. It's in this place called . . . Lon . . . din."

"London." Bethany couldn't help but smile. "I've only been to the fictional part of it, but I'll have to bring you to the real thing someday. I hear they only drink tea there."

"Amazing." Gwen giggled. "I have no idea what that is!"

"It's really good," Bethany said. "You can drink it when you're sick, but a lot of people just drink it in the morning."

Mentally, Bethany made a note that she had to make a list of Earth things for Gwen to try. Having lived on Argon VI her whole life, Gwen deserved to try everything that she'd missed out on. Once this whole thing with Nobody was over, making a list would be the first thing Bethany would do.

Then, she remembered what she'd come here for. "By the way, we're gonna get going since Kiel just woke up. Are you ready?"

Gwen gasped excitedly, and she jumped up, leaving the book on the floor. " _Yes_! I'm so excited to meet more Earthers!"  
  


As they started walking, Bethany smiled fondly at her. "Nobody actually calls them that, you know."

"Nobody does?"

Bethany quickly backtracked as she realized her mistake. "No! I meant _no one_." She blushed slightly. "Not _Nobody_."

"Oh!" Gwen laughed. "Well, I can't think of anything else to call them. I've always called them that."

"Fair enough."

By the time they'd found Charm and brought her back to their other friends, everyone else was already prepared, their backpacks on and their disguises ready. Orion was there, too, which Bethany hadn't expected. He must've come back while they were grabbing Charm.

Owen was holding the book in his hand, flipping through the pages. Bethany came up from behind him and peered over his shoulder. Hopefully he'd found somewhere safe that they could jump into. "See any pages for us to jump into?"

"Gah!" Owen flinched, and he sent her a look. "Don't _do_ that!"

Bethany rolled her eyes. "Do you have a page?"

Wordlessly, he handed the book to her. It was a page from the beginning, where it seemed that the campers were moving into their temporary homes for the summer. Since it'd probably be crowded, that would definitely be the safest spot to jump in without being noticed.

"Does it look okay?" Owen asked, his expression nervous, almost as if he expected her to say no.

She nodded wordlessly, placing the book on the floor before she could change her mind. She tried to ignore her nervous feelings, channeling Kiel's comforting advice from earlier in her head. It didn't do much to calm her nerves, but it helped. A little.

She glanced around at the faces of her friends, and she was struck with the realization that she never used to jump into books with this many people before. It felt almost strange. At first, it was her and her father. For a time much longer than that, it used to only be her. Then, it was her, Owen, and Kiel. Now, it was six people at once.

Definitely a major shift.

Slipping her hands into Gwen's and Owen's, she jumped them into the book. The first thing she noticed was the scenery, which was so beautiful that she had to blink a few times to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating. Bright sunlight came in above, and the pleasant sound of birds chirping filled the air. They were surrounded by nothing but trees and lakes and grass and more trees.

And then there was the heat.

The last time she'd felt this hot was last summer, when her AC had stopped working. After months of winter, she thought she might enjoy the warmth at least a little. But Bethany couldn't deny that it felt _way_ too hot. It was the type of weather that felt downright awful if you weren't eating ice cream or jumping into a pool. Great. Now she might have to go swimming, after all.

She felt beads of sweat gathering at the back of her neck, and even was starting to form on her face, arms, and legs. Her hair was already beginning to frizz all over, so she pulled it up into a ponytail, hoping that would relieve pressure of the heat somehow. It didn't.

She held back a groan, exchanging an exasperated look with Owen, who's expression mirrored her's. There was no denying that it was far too hot outside. She hoped that the campsite wouldn't be too far away, but given how they were in the middle of a forest without an indication of where to go, she figured it would take some time.

"It's so hot," Charm complained, waving a hand in her face. "This is _torturous_."

"It feels nice!" Gwen said, her smile bright as ever. "Wow!" She ran her hand along a tree. "Look at all these trees, and the _grass_. It's beautiful!"

"It's almost like you've never seen a forest before," Orion said, but his remark wasn't particularly unkind in any way. Bethany couldn't help but smirk at the scowl on his face. He didn't seem too happy to be in the heat, either.

"I haven't seen an _Earth_ forest!"

They started walking, none of them having a clue if they were going in the right direction. Bethany was at least thankful that they hadn't landed anywhere with people nearby. It was still an important rule of her's, to keep a low profile whenever she jumped into books. If anyone happened to see her appear out of nowhere, things never turned out good.

The sound of voices and laughter somewhere up ahead gave her an indication that _yes_ , they were going the right way. They all sped up at the noise, pushing through a bend in the trees until they came to the source. Standing before them was a crowd of kids, who varied from all ages. Some of them were chatting excitedly with their parents and friends, while others were standing in line for what looked like a registration booth.

"Whoa," Kara breathed, shielding her eyes against the bright sunlight. Her short hair had fastened itself to the back of her neck, a side effect from the heat. "I wasn't expecting that. There are so many people here!"

"Wow, nice observation," Charm said in a sarcastic tone. "You want an award? How about a nice, polished trophy?"

"What?"

"The sleepaway camp I went to was fun!" Owen blurted out, clearly trying to relieve the tension between the two girls. Bethany glanced at Kiel, giving him every ounce of _Are you seeing this?_ into the look. He shrugged in response.

"We aren't here to have fun," Bethany said as they made their way towards the entrance of the camp. She felt a small ounce of guilt for saying it, but she knew that _someone_ had to remind them what they'd come for. "We're here to find that stone as soon as we can. No delays."

"Of course, yeah!"

"We're here to have _some_ fun," Kiel corrected, and Bethany shot him a dirty look.

"How long will this take?" Orion asked, pushing some people aside as they went.

"I have no idea," Owen said, raising his voice to be heard over the noise of the crowd. "Maybe a day, depending on—"

"Hey!" a woman shouted as they slipped past the registration booth, and they flinched. It took Bethany a moment to realize that the woman was talking to them, not someone else. "What are you doing over there?"

Bethany could feel her heart jump out of her chest, and she swallowed roughly. "We're here for the summer camp."

"You have to sign in over here."

"Sorry!" Kara said quickly. She made a face, then led the way as they turned back around and got to the registration booth. Despite how many people there were, the lines were moving quickly, so they didn't have to wait very long. As the seven of them clambered up to the registration booth, they all stared at the woman, who was writing something down on a sheet.

"Can you state your names?" the woman asked.

The people here wanted to know their _names_? Bethany's eyes widened. There was no way that that was happening. Although she'd broken her own rule a few times, she tried not to tell any fictional strangers her real name. It was safer that way. And even if they did tell them their names, they'd probably be kicked out because none of them had actually signed up for this camp!

"What do we tell her?" Owen whispered in Bethany's ear, but Kara was already talking.

"Wow, this is embarrassing," Kara was saying. "Our parents actually signed us up for this camp _today_ , so I don't think you guys would have our names on your list. But trust me." She pointed at Owen. "His older brother used to go here. You probably recognize the resemblance."

The woman stared from her to Owen. "I meet a lot of kids here. I don't recognize many people." She sighed loudly. "But you're right. Some parents decide to sign their kids up _way_ to late for these things, and it takes a while to print all of the names out."

"Right," Kara said. "Well, you can write our names down now, if you want."

Bethany was impressed. She hadn't expected Kara to be so good not only at lying, but also at making up a completely fake, believable story. She wasn't surprised that Owen had spoken so highly of her. The more she'd gotten to know Kara, the more she wanted to be friends with her. She really _was_ everything he'd claimed she'd been.

There was a slightly suspicious look on the woman's face that made Bethany freeze, but slowly, she nodded. "Alright. State your name, date of birth, and age."  
  


"Funny thing," Kiel said. "I don't actually _have_ a date of birth—" Charm nudged him hard in the side, and he stopped talking.

"Never-mind." The woman sighed. "Just tell me your name and age, so I can fit you into the right area."

Right area? Bethany wondered what she'd meant by that. Didn't everyone share the same area of camp, or were the cabins supposed to be separated depending on age? She already assumed that they'd be separated by gender, so she ruled that option out. Maybe the camp was too big, so the camp counselors wanted to keep things organized.

"I'm Kelly . . ." Kara trailed off for a few seconds. "Brooks."

"Kelly Brooks . . ." The woman wrote something down on her sheet of paper before looking back up. "Age?"

"Fifteen. Oh, we're all fifteen. You can put that down."

"I'm Kiel," Owen blurted out, and everyone turned to stare at him, including Kiel, who looked slightly uncomfortable.

"His name is _not_ Kiel," Bethany cut in, glaring at him. "It's —"

"Fine," he said, giving her a look. "It's Luke Skywalker."

It took every ounce of willpower not to strangle him right then and there.

Luckily, the woman didn't seem to notice that Owen had said the name of a famous fictional TV character from Star Wars. Either that, or maybe fictional people just didn't know what Star Wars _was_. It was lucky for Owen that the woman hadn't known the identity of his fake name, or else they'd be in big trouble.

"From Star Wars?" Kara asked quietly, turning back to Owen with a smile.

"Yeah!" He smiled back.

"How do you know about Star Wars?" Bethany asked her, keeping her voice barely above a whisper.

She shrugged a little. "Owen told me about it. I've yet to see the movie."

The woman cleared their throat. "Could the rest of you please state your names? We don't have all day!"

"Of course," Kiel said. "My name is Kie— Kyle _Bauer_." He then winked at Bethany. Ugh. He was using the German name again? At least he wasn't talking in a German accent, which surely would've made the woman even more suspicious than she already seemed to be.

Gwen went next. "My name is Gwe—" She froze. "Gwenda. Yeah, that's my name! It's Gwenda!"

"Nice save," Orion whispered sarcastically.

"Thanks!"

"Last name?" the woman asked.

"Oh." Gwen looked back at Bethany, who motioned with her hands, hoping that Gwen could come up with something quickly. But then, she turned back to the woman with a smile. "It's Earth."

"Gwenda . . . Earth?" the woman repeated, sliding her gaze across their group.

"Yes," Charm said, stepping forwards. "It's not an unusual name. Can you write mine next? It's Jaiden Laufer."

Bethany didn't have time to think of how smoothly Charm had come up with a believable name before the woman spoke to her next.

"And you?" the woman pointed at Bethany.

She froze. She went through a list of names in her head, trying to decide on one quickly enough. But the one that came out of her mouth was automatic, said without a second thought. "Catherine."

The woman looked at Orion, her pen hovered above her sheet of paper. "Your name?"

"Christian," Orion said quietly.

"Last name?"

"Sanderson," they said together. Orion held Bethany's gaze for a moment, and she smiled just a bit as understanding passed between them. Then, they each looked away, and the moment ended.

Bethany certainly hadn't expected to say her mother's name, nor had she expected Orion to say her father's. It was a painful reminder that her mother was back in that hotel, probably going crazy as she wondered where Bethany was, and her father was captured by Nobody.

"Okay." The woman sat back in her chair. "The boys' camp is to the left, girls' is to the right. You won't miss it. There are signs to guide you."

"There are two separate camps?" Owen asked, a frown on his face.

"Like I said, one is for Boy Scouts and one for Girl Scouts. Since your brother went here, he should've told you this."

"Right," Owen said, blushing. "He did! Sorry!"

As soon as they walked away from the booth, Bethany turned to her friends in a hurry. "I can't believe they want us to split up! We can't do that."

"Yeah," Owen agreed. "We're on a quest!"

"She said that we have to," Kiel said. He didn't look much happier than her at the news. "I don't think we really have a choice."

"But what if we can't find each other again?" Owen asked.

Bethany took a second to look at the scene in front of them. There were two wide paths, one leading to the Boy Scouts camp and the other leading to the Girl Scouts. There was an uneasy feeling inside of her, at the knowledge that she'd need to separate from Owen, Kiel, and Orion. But what choice _did_ they have?

"We just have to trust that we will," Kara said, looking directly at Owen as she said it.

"We can go on those missions that Fowen told us about," Kiel said. "Once we figure out when they're leaving, we can go on one." He pointed to Bethany, Charm, Kara, and Gwen. "You guys can go on the mission that your camp has, too. That way we can meet each other at that cave." He winked. "Problem solved."

"That's actually a good plan," Charm said, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "I might almost call that . . . clever."

He grinned. "My plans are _always_ good."

"No, they never are."

"And if we can't find each other?" Bethany asked. She was filled with nervous anticipation, and it'd only grown at the fact that she'd be separated from three of her closest friends. "This place is huge. I have no idea how we'll be able to coordinate leaving at the exact same time if we don't know exactly when your group is leaving."

"I could use my time bracelet," Kara said. "I can jump backwards in time and manipulate it so I'm moving a few seconds faster than everyone else. Maybe there are schedules for these missions that I can find."

"I like that idea!" Gwen said.

They reluctantly parted ways, the boys headed to the Boy Scouts camp as her, Kara, Gwen, and Charm headed to the Girl Scouts camp. There seemed to be a shift in the air at the loss of their friends. They watched them leave, walking further and further down the path. Soon, they were lost in the sea of kids, looking just like every other boy who was attending the summer camp.

Bethany sighed. She missed them already.

"You okay?" A hand laid on her shoulder, and Bethany tensed up. Then, she looked over to see Gwen staring at her with concern. She relaxed a bit, letting out a breath.

"Fine," Bethany said, glancing at Kara and Charm. "I just hope they'll be okay."

"They will. And so will we!" Gwen smiled, looping Bethany's arm through her's. "Let's make the most out of this. It'll be fun!"

* * *

After an afternoon of arts and crafts, kickball, and campfire songs, Bethany was relieved when she could finally get back to her assigned cabin. At first, it'd seemed almost enjoyable to relax for a moment and pretend that nothing bad was happening in her life. But that relaxation had quickly faded when they didn't even get to leave the campsite.

Much to her annoyance, none of the activities today had consisted of these "missions" that Fowen had talked about. Not a single one. There'd been a few Girl Scout chants they'd had to say when they were crowded around the campfire, but that was all they'd done for today. She even half-expected they'd started selling Girl Scout cookies to nearby homes, but that never happened, either.

Looked like they'd have to wait until tomorrow to find the cave.

As the final light was turned out, Bethany climbed up to the top bunk, right above Gwen, who was sleeping on the bottom bunk. While she, Gwen, and Kara had had a relatively enjoyable time doing some of the activities, Charm had clearly hated every minute of it.

With the way she'd been acting all afternoon, Bethany was surprised that the half-robotic girl _hadn't_ taken out her ray guns. She felt slightly bad that Charm had to be dragged into this, but it wasn't like they had a choice. Out of all of them, the only one who was having the most fun was Gwen. But that wasn't anything new.

Being inside offered little relief from the outside heat, unlike what Bethany had hoped. In fact, it was almost worse. The air was thick, stale, and still, and there wasn't even a breeze. There were only two windows on either side of the wooden cabin, one above the door and one on the opposite wall. But neither did anything to cool the cabin down, unfortunately.

As Bethany tossed onto her side, preparing to fall asleep, she heard a hushed voice from across the cabin. "Why do you hate me so much?"

It was Kara, Bethany realized with a start. Her eyes widened, and she curled her fingers around the blanket, keeping her body entirely still. Kara was still awake? But who was she talking to?

Her questions were confirmed a moment later as another voice replied, undoubtedly Charm's. "How could I hate you? I don't even know you, much less even _care_ about you."

"Yeah, but you obviously don't want me here," Kara whispered.

"Correct."

"What, are you threatened by me, or something? Is that it?"

Charm snorted out loud. "Please. You're about as threatening as a puppy."

"So what did I ever do to you that makes you feel that way about me? Because as far as I'm seeing it, you're acting like I'm your enemy."

There was a beat of silence, and then, "I don't hate _you_. Just _this_. The whole situation. It's aggravating."

"I get it," Kara said, so quietly that Bethany had to strain her ears to hear. "It's a lot to take in, I know. I mean, isn't it crazy? That we're on this quest to defeat Nobody? It's hard on everyone. It can be stressful to have all this responsibility on your shoulders, when you don't even know if what you're doing is the right thing."

"Yeah . . ." Charm said, the surprise unmistakable in her voice. "You're right. It can be. How did you know that?"

"It's a really long story that involves time travel. Back in my world, I'm kind of seen as a criminal, since I've always been destined to destroy the world. I've spent years trying to stop that from happening, but . . ."

"You couldn't," Charm said, finishing the words for her. She sighed, and just like that, Bethany felt a shift in the air. "I guess I owe you an apology, Kara. I can be . . . too harsh sometimes."

Kara laughed softly. "You think?”

Bethany didn't have to see to know that Charm was rolling her eyes. "Yeah, whatever," she said. "Don't remind me. And this doesn't mean that we're friends, alright?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Good."

* * *

_Twigs_ _cracked beneath Owen's feet as he ran, faster and faster through the jungle. He could hardly breathe. All he knew was that he had to run, to get away before any dinosaurs caught him. The sound of roars in the distance caused him to panic even more, and he sped up, his mind a blur as he pushed past vines and trees. His heart was racing out of control._

_The jungle seemed to go on forever, and no amount of running would ever help Owen escape._ _Each time he looked behind him, the dinosaurs loomed behind him, only seeming to get closer with every second. He didn't know how much longer he could keep going, but he knew that he had to. He had to keep running no matter what, or else he'd never escape._

" _Owen . . ."_

_All of the sudden, a rock appeared out of nowhere in his path. Owen had no time to dodge. He stumbled to the ground, his knees roughly hitting the floor of the jungle. Tears pricked his eyes as he realized what he'd done. He'd stopped running! His eyes widened, and he tried to push himself to his feet, but it was too late._

" _Owen."_

_Someone grabbed him from behind, dragging him back the way he'd came. He yelled in surprise, kicking with all his might so the person would let him go. But their grip was like iron, and no amount of fighting would help. He fought with every ounce of strength that he had, but he felt so exhausted, and the tears had already started to wash down his face._

_"_ _Owen!"_

Owen gasped automatically, and it took him a moment to realize where he was. Once he did, he calmed down instantly. He was back in the cabin of the summer camp, where the air conditioning was practically nonexistent. Oh, good. It'd only been a dream.

"Owen," Kara whispered in the darkness, and Owen realized that her hands were on his shoulders. "Are you okay?"

He stared up at her, feeling instantly calmer at the sight of her despite having no idea why she was in his cabin. "Kara? What're you doing here?"

"Wake up. There's something I need to tell you."

Owen blinked slowly, feeling exhausted. "Right _now_? But it's the middle of the night!"

" _Yes_ , right now."

"Wait . . ." His eyes widened, and he shot up in bed. "This is the _boys_ camp! How did you get in here?!"

She lifted the hand that her time bracelet was on, waving it at him. "I can teleport with it."

He nodded, sighing in relief. "Oh, right."

He sat up the rest of the way, sitting cross-legged as Kara took a seat beside him. For some reason, she looked worried. Something was clearly wrong. She didn't say anything for a moment, so he cleared his throat, hoping to help her with whatever problem she was dealing with.

"Is everything okay?" Owen whispered, scooting closer to her. In the darkness, he could tell that her eyes were closed, almost as if she was contemplating something.

Kara looked over at him, her brow creased with worry. "I — yes, everything's fine. I just . . . I didn't know any other time to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"It's . . . it's about the future, the one where the world gets destroyed."

Owen tilted his head, feeling a mixture of confused and surprised. Kara had woken him up in the middle of the night to talk about the future? That was surprising. He never knew much about it, other than the fact that Kara was destined to destroy the world. But he'd grown to understand that it was a touchy subject for her. She obviously blamed herself for it, and had done everything she could to prevent it from happening.

He frowned. "You came to tell me about your future?"

Kara nodded. "Yeah." She scratched her head. "But I get that it's really late, and you probably won't want to hear it—"

"No, don't worry. You can tell me!" Owen assured her, feeling internally glad that she was opening up to him about this. She'd never openly explained anything about her future, other than the part about the world getting destroyed.

"Okay . . ."

Seeing that she was reluctant to say more, Owen looked down, fidgeting with his cast. "What did you see when . . . you know, the world is destroyed?”

"Nothing," she said. "Absolutely nothing. As far as I can tell, there was this whiteness everywhere, and the rest of the world was gone. And then there's another thing. Something that I found out just yesterday, actually. The world getting destroyed used to be pushed so far into the future, but now . . . it's almost like the future has gotten _worse_." She stared at him, her expression fearful.

"Worse? That doesn't sound good." Owen gulped, not wanting at all to know the answer to the question he would ask next. "When does it happen?"

"In three days," Kara whispered, looking ill.

His eyes widened. " _What_? Are you serious? Why . . . why didn't you tell everyone else?"

"You're the only person I can talk to about this," she said. "You're my best friend, and I didn't know _how_ to tell anyone else." She let out a sigh, blinking several times. "This always seems to happen. The world is going to end even sooner than it was supposed to, and the time agents said that I _wasn't_ the cause of it, but that's hard to believe."

Bitterness seeped into her voice, and her voice got softer. "They said someone else was. Not me. I don't know _how_ to stop thinking that it isn't my fault, but I can't help but feel like it is—"

"This isn't your fault. I _know_ it isn't. The time agents told you it wasn't!" Owen said. He stared at her, willing for her to meet his eyes. She didn't. Instead, her eyes were glued to the floor, and Owen realized that she was trying not to cry. Instinctively, he moved a bit closer to her and patted her shoulder.

"Hey, it's not your fault," he said in the softest voice he could muster. "It's Nobody's. It's gotta be. But — but that's just the future it's showing right now, since Nobody is still out there. We're going to defeat him, and the future will change!"

She shook her head. When she spoke, her voice wavered slightly. "The future doesn't change. It hasn't for all the years that I've been time-traveling. It's destiny. I don't _want_ my destiny to be determined like this, but it is. I've tried so many times to stop it, and the same thing happens in the end. The same thing _always_ happens."

"We can still change it somehow!"

"No we _can't_." She bit her lip, tears flooding her eyes. Her shoulders shook slightly, and a few tears escaped, streaming down her cheeks. "I have no idea how to do that! When it's something as big as the world ending, it takes tiny changes in time to even change the future!" She wiped her cheeks. "But with my future, it doesn't change. It _never_ does."

"Maybe not," Owen said gently. "But I'm pretty positive that it was Nobody. Don't blame this on yourself, Kara. You're — you're—" He tried to think of something to say, anything that would convince her she wasn't at fault here. "The time agents told you that it was someone else's fault, not yours. So that means it's Nobody's. We just have to defeat him, and that'll change things. You'll see."

Kara looked up at him, an almost hopeful look in her tear-filled eyes. "Maybe you're right," she said, not sounding very sure about it.

"You're the one who's terrified of ending the universe, Kara," Owen pointed out. "But it's not your fault. I think the least I can do is help you realize that. You helped me when I was stuck in prison. I never would've gotten out if it weren't for you, so I owe you big time. Either way, I'm going to help, and so will the rest of my friends."

He smiled, glancing away from her. "We just didn't think the future would actually _show_ the universe ending. We just need to get to Nobody as fast as we can, and then we can hopefully save the world."

"Yeah," Kara muttered. "And what if it doesn't actually work?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. That would mean that all of the fictional worlds — all the people — are gone. Honestly, I can't imagine what'll happen if it doesn't."

"Me neither. I really hope that we can stop Nobody. And I hope that we can . . . you know, stop this future from happening."

"Of course we will," Owen said, forcing confidence into his voice. "We've got our friends _and_ a plan. I'm . . . really nervous about this too, but I think . . . I think it might work."

She sighed. "I was . . . I was wrong about the Time Security Agency. It took being locked up to see that, but I know that I don't belong there." She shook her head firmly. "Locking myself up wasn't going to change anything about the future."

"I'm glad you realized that," he told her. "I was worried you might turn yourself in again after we're done defeating Nobody!" He chuckled, trying to get her to laugh. But she didn't.

"I just thought it'd been the right thing to do," Kara said. "The whole thing seems kind of pointless to me, now. Almost like I've wasted a few years of my life either running from my problems or sitting around in a prison cell."

"You didn't waste _anything_ ," Owen said. "Look around! You have your time bracelet back, and we would never have met if it weren't for you being in that time prison."

"But we did meet before you came to the time prison." She glanced over at him with a small smile. "You just don't remember it."

"Um, that doesn't count. Only for _you_ it does."

A moment passed where neither of them spoke, simply enjoying each other's company. "Sorry about the crying," Kara said, breaking the silence as she wiped her face some more. "I've just . . . I haven't been able to tell anyone about that, so—"

"It's okay," he told her with a smile, completely genuine. "I think you look really pretty when you cry."

Owen's heart flipped in his chest. He froze as he realized what he'd just said. Did he really just say that? That she looked pretty when she was _crying_? Uh-oh. Now, she'd probably think he was crazy or something!

Kara stared at him, her eyes widening in surprise. A blush formed on both of their faces, and Owen quickly backtracked. "U-Um, I mean — you look pretty . . . nice. Y-Yeah, um, that."

He was fairly sure that he'd made the situation even worse. He felt the air rush out of his lungs. His entire face felt like it was on fire. If he had the ability to, he'd surely burst into flames at any moment.

The only other girl he'd called pretty was Charm, who had been furious at the compliment. At that time, he'd wanted to run away. Now, he was frozen with fear and embarrassment. Why had he _said_ that? He half-expected her to insult him, since that was what Charm had done when he'd called her 'pretty'. But he was pleasantly surprised at her reaction, which looked far from angry.

Apparently not feeling as embarrassed as he did, Kara only smiled. Her hand moved to his, giving it a gentle squeeze. Butterflies erupted in his stomach from the contact. "How did you break your arm?"

"Oh." His face reddened even more, and he wasn't sure whether it was from holding her hand or the mention of his broken arm. "Um, it happened shortly after the time agents took you away. I was — I was running from a dinosaur, and . . ."

He took a deep breath, trying to gather the courage to go through the entire story. It wouldn't take long to explain, but he never liked talking about the bad memories he'd had while in _Pick The Plot_.

  
The memory of breaking his arm, along with being hunted down by dinosaurs, still haunted him to this day. He didn't think about it too often, mostly because it brought him unpleasant emotions. He remembered it all too well. The adrenaline, the _fear_ that he felt as he ran for his life. The surprise that he'd felt when he went sailing off the edge of a cliff, only to break his arm a split-second later.

As if sensing his discomfort, Kara only nodded. "I understand. You don't have to explain it."

"Thanks," Owen said, smiling gratefully at her. He found himself squeezing her hand a bit tighter. "I don't . . . completely like talking about what happened."

"Yeah, I get what you mean," Kara said. "Once, when I talked to one of my older selves, she'd broken five bones in her body. She wouldn't tell me how it happened. I'm immune to paradoxes. I don't know why she _wouldn't_ tell me. I'm her!" She shivered, grinning a bit. "Either way, I don't think I would've _wanted_ to know how she broke that many bones."

Owen chuckled. "Maybe your future self had some really embarrassing story behind it, and that's why she didn't want to tell you. A lot of times, people have really cool stories about how they broke their bones. But she — um, _you_ — could've accidentally fallen down the stairs, or something!"

She laughed loudly, then clamped a hand over her mouth as one of the boys stirred in his sleep. Before they could be spotted, Owen yanked Kara to the ground.

"David, is that you?" the boy whispered from the top bunk across the room, his speech slurred.

"Uh, yeah! Go back to bed," Kara whispered, her voice suddenly much deeper than usual. Owen nearly burst out laughing. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand before that happened, which would surely give them away.

"Okay," the boy replied, and they watched with stifled laughter as he fell asleep almost instantly.

Owen let out a breath, and he suddenly wanted to laugh all over again. "That was close!"

"I know!" Kara whispered back, grinning at him. She fell silent, and for a moment, all Owen could hear was the chirping of the crickets outside. She glanced towards the door before quickly standing up again. "I should get back before anyone notices I'm gone."

"Oh." Owen nodded, trying to hide his disappointment. "Right! Of course. We both need sleep, especially to get ready for tomorrow."

"Are you ready?" Kara asked. "For tomorrow, I mean."

He didn't know how to answer. He kept telling himself that going to this cave was a good idea, but he had no idea if it was. If it was anything like the Cave Of Wonders in _Aladdin_ , it might be dangerous. Especially since it had been _Fowen_ who told them about it. But this was the only way to find Nobody. It would work out. He was traveling with six of his friends, and they each were capable of defending themselves if anything bad happened.

"I guess I'll have to be," he said finally, his voice coming out quieter than he'd intended. "What about you?"

She gave him a smile. "Not really sure what to expect, but I guess I am."

Owen nodded, swallowing hard. Before she could leave, he said, "Hey, Kara?"

"Yeah?"

"I-I, um . . ." He exhaled, feeling a bit nervous at his next words. "I really missed you."

It'd been something he'd been wanting to say all day, among other things, but it was slightly embarrassing to say it to her face. Still, it was true. For weeks, he'd wished he could see her again, to rescue her from the time agents and keep her safe. She meant so much to him, just as much as Bethany and Kiel, who were his closest friends out of everyone in the whole world. And he knew her well enough by now that she wouldn't judge him for saying it.

A grin spread across her face. "I missed you, too."

Without warning, Kara threw her arms around his neck. His heartbeat quickened in his chest. Heat crept onto his cheeks, and he felt slightly awkward as he hugged her back. He couldn't help but smile. He still couldn't believe that it'd just been this morning that he'd finally reunited with her. He wanted to spend as much time with her as he could, before anything got worse.

He wondered why anybody, ever, could've been afraid of Kara Dox. It just didn't make any sense! Over the time that he'd known her, she'd defended him until they end, quickly becoming someone that he grew close to. Yes, there was the whole thing with her destroying the world, but Owen knew that she was far from villainous.

When she pulled away, Owen felt his heart hammering within his chest, steady like the beat of a drum. And in spite of the looming danger that tomorrow would certainly bring if things went badly, he felt more content than he had in weeks.

Kara yawned. "Sweet dreams, Owen.”

He smiled warmly. "Night, Kara."

* * *

_  
"_ _Don't cry. Don't raise your eye. It's only teenage wasteland . . ."_


	34. The Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang head to the cave to find the magical stone, but Owen soon finds that there are consequences to everything.

_**Let It Happen (By Tame Impala)** _

_"_ _All this running around. Trying to cover my shadow. An ocean growing inside. All the others seem shallow . . ."_

* * *

Leaves and sticks crunched under the boys' feet as they followed their camp counselor into the forest, having just been told that they'd be hiking all day. The idea excited and relieved Kiel, who wanted some actual danger. All they'd done yesterday was hours upon hours of sports (which Kiel enjoyed), but they hadn't had the chance to go on the missions that Fowen had told them about.

Finally, they were leaving the campsite, which meant that him, Owen, and Orion could sneak off to find that cave. That was what he'd hoped they'd been able to do yesterday, but unfortunately, the opportunity had never come. By a stroke of luck, the opportunity _had_ come this morning. He hoped that the girls camp was doing the same thing, or else they'd have to wait a lot longer for Bethany, Gwen, Kara, and Charm to show up.

While he was excited to finally get going with this, he couldn't simply push his worries away like he usually could. It bothered him that he wasn't sure _exactly_ what to expect when they got to this cave. None of them were, not even Fowen. Kiel didn't care if he got into danger, because he normally enjoyed it. But if his friends got hurt? That was what he was more concerned about.

Not that he expressed any of this to Owen. Kiel didn't have to be his best friend to know that that boy was nervous, and he didn't want Owen to feel worse. From past experience, Kiel knew that hiding his fear from his friends had nearly killed him. But that wouldn't happen here. So Kiel kept his confident facade up, telling himself and Owen that everything would work out perfectly.

And it would! It was just a cave, and Kiel had been in plenty of caves before. What was the big deal? It'd be easy. Easier than many of the quests he'd been on, which was saying something. He doubted they'd even have much of a problem finding it. He was Kiel Gnomenfoot, after all! What _couldn't_ he do?

All they needed to do was get that magical stone, and then they could use it to find Nobody. Kiel was a bit annoyed that his location spell hadn't worked to find the faceless man, but at least this stone was magical, too. That meant it was trustworthy, because magic _never_ failed. He'd prove everyone wrong about that.

Kiel glanced at Orion, who was staring straight ahead, wearing a look of disapproval as he trudged next to Kiel and Owen. If the sidekick had any indication that he was nervous, he didn't show it. Or maybe he was pushing his nerves away, just like Kiel did. Kiel couldn't tell, especially with Orion, who wore the same expression majority of the time.

His backpack jostled against him as they went further into the woods, separating themselves further from the camp. Kiel glanced at Owen several times, trying to see what would be the right time to disperse from the group, but Owen only shook his head. They weren't far enough into the woods yet, Kiel guessed.

As much as Kiel wanted to get going, the others would probably notice right away if they left. And that couldn't just wasn't sure if he could spend more than thirty minutes doing this, when they really needed to get to that cave.

How hard could it be to slip away, anyway? It'd be easy. They were in a group of about twenty boys, and many of them were too distracted with the sights ahead of them to really listen to what the camp counselor was saying. There was a chance that they _wouldn't_ notice if Kiel and his friends left, but there was also the camp counselor to deal with, who was watching the boys like a hawk.

It would definitely be easier to slip away if he could just cast a spell, since that _always_ worked. Every time, actually. He'd flash them a wink and a grin, cast some spell that would knock their socks off, and then he and his friends could make a run for it. It would definitely work. But he knew he couldn't do that, for a number of reasons.

Once again, he had to pretend to be a regular boy who had no magical abilities. He'd already been doing that for the two and a half months that he was a German exchange student! It didn't seem fair that he had to pretend he was someone else again, even if it _was_ fun for a little bit.

The other reason (which made more sense to Kiel) was that his wand-knives were buried at the bottom of his backpack. This was to prevent anyone from finding them, which he had to admit was a good idea. But he'd have to dig through it for a while if he wanted to retrieve them, so there was no way he could cast a spell that quickly. He'd have to take them out once they got to the cave.

It was hardly an hour after the sun had risen yet Kiel was hardly tired. His body tingled with excitement, which only grew as they ventured further into the forest. The pleasant, carefree atmosphere added to the feeling. It made him believe more and more that the cave they were going to wouldn't even be dangerous. If they were in a world like _this_ , that meant finding that stone would be a piece of pie! Or cake . . . whatever that nonfictional saying was.

Birds sang a melody from the trees above their heads, and the sound of consistent buzzing filled Kiel's ears. It was undeniably loud last night when he'd gone to sleep, but the noise was even louder now that they were in the forest. According to Owen, the buzzing was coming from these bugs called "crickets".

The noise had startled Kiel at first, who had never heard bugs making that type of noise before. Why did they make that noise, and where _were_ they? It had to be magic. Had to be. Kiel had tried looking for some yesterday, but it was to no avail. For bugs that made such loud noises, they were apparently equally good at hiding.

"We need a plan for getting out of here," Owen whispered from next to Kiel, tugging the straps of his backpack higher up his shoulders.

Kiel flinged a tree branch out of his face. "Can't we just outrun them?"

Orion gave Kiel an annoyed look. "Are you seriously kidding me? It's better to be _stealthy_ , not reckless. I see that you and Bethany have plenty in common."

"Thanks!"

"That . . . wasn't a compliment. You're lucky I'm here to help you, because we need to be stealthy. We can't let these guys know that we've left."

"Unless they _do_ know that we've left," Owen said in a thoughtful tone, and both boys turned to look at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Kiel asked.

He took a deep breath. "I . . . I think I have a plan."

"Great!" Kiel broke out into a grin and patted Owen on the shoulder. It wasn't common to see Owen look so confident about a plan of his, so surely this meant that his plan would work! Kiel trusted Owen entirely, and since Owen was always the one dragging _Kiel_ out of trouble, this plan would probably be less dangerous than anything Kiel could come up with.

If it were up to him, he would've cast some magic spells on the group and run off. That always seemed to work in the past, and a little danger wasn't going to hurt anyone. It would be a quick and exhilarating way to get going, and they'd find the cave and their friends much faster that way! But he doubted that Owen had the same idea in mind.

"Owen, whatever you're about to do, don't—" Orion began, but Owen had already started talking.

"Excuse me, Mr. camp counselor?" Owen hesitantly spoke up, causing everyone's heads to turn to them. "I think I left something back at the camp."

Their camp counselor (who Kiel had also forgotten the name of) was a stout man that always seemed to have a smile on his face, even as he was going through all of the safety precautions. Despite the others finding him kind of annoying, Kiel had taken an instant liking to his good-natured attitude. Apparently everyone here had lots of camp spirit, as Owen had explained to him, because there wasn't a single person that Kiel had seen who didn't look enthusiastic to be here.

"Sorry, I _would_ let you run back and grab it, but we're already a mile away from the camp, kid!" the camp counselor said in his cheerful voice, placing his hands on his hips. His eyebrows furrowed in concern. "What did you forget?"

"My, uh . . . hat?"

Some of the boys laughed, and Kiel added, "He needs it when it's sunny out. You wouldn't deprive him of getting his hat, would you?" He winked, which made the other boys laugh more.

This usually happened back when he attended Bethany's school, when many of the students (mostly just girls) would laugh at anything Kiel said. He was certain that it was because he was naturally funny, but here, it was slightly . . . unsettling. Everyone, the camp counselors included, seemed to laugh at everything. Not that Kiel minded, because he thought most things were funny himself, and he wasn't one to back down from a good joke. But it was a bit strange, he had to admit.

"Sorry, can't do that! No one goes anywhere alone without the group!" The camp counselor beamed at them then, and gestured at the forest around them. "Besides, there's plenty of shade! What would you need a hat for?"

"He gets easily sunburnt."

Owen glared at him, though he didn't look very annoyed. "Hey! I do not!"

"Like I said, we're a mile away from the camp," the camp counselor said. "It would take too long to walk back, and we have a full day of hiking ahead of us!"

"Yeah, I kno—"

"And you wouldn't want to let your fellow Boy Scouts down, would you? Just because you forgot your hat?"

Owen blushed. "I, well—"

"Exactly!" The camp counselor grinned and stepped forward to ruffle Owen's hair. "I'm sure you can persevere without your hat! You're a Boy Scout. You don't _need_ a hat to do this hike."

"Actually, I—"

"You don't! Forgetting your supplies can be all part of the fun! And if you get sunburnt, we'll have everything you need when we return back to the camp. You'll be fine!" Smiling broadly, he went back to the front of the group. "Let's keep moving, kids!"

Orion sighed quietly. "I hate this place."

"But wait, we really need to get back to the camp!" Owen shouted. "Can't you guys go ahead, and we'll catch up with you later?"

"Nope!" The camp counselor laughed. "No one gets left behind! The forest can be especially dangerous when we're this far out!"

Owen groaned. As soon as they started walking again, the camp counselor started singing about nature and Boy Scouts, which, in all honesty, sounded like a catchy song if it weren't being sung by a thirty-year-old man. The other boys joined in, seemingly knowing every single word to the song.

With wide eyes, Kiel exchanged a look with Owen, who looked just as confused as he felt. It was an understatement to say that he hadn't expected that at all. Clearly, none of them had. Why on Magisteria were they singing? Was this something that Boy Scouts commonly did, even ones that weren't in the fictional world?

"I take what I said back," Orion said. "I _really_ hate this place."

"We'll be out of here soon," Kiel told him. "But in the meantime, isn't it kind of nice? Almost makes me forget that the fictional worlds are dying. I don't think I've ever been somewhere so positive."

"It _was_ nice, until that guy said all of that!" Owen said, raising his voice to be heard above the singing. "Why did he have to say that? He acts cheerful but then he doesn't let us do what we want, when a cheerful person normally _would_ let us do something like that! _All_ I asked was if we could run back to the camp. It was a completely normal question! If he's so friendly, why can't he let us go back to the camp?"

"Maybe he doesn't want you to get lost?" Kiel suggested, noticing from his ranting and expressions that his friend's mood had drastically changed from nervous to annoyed.

"But there's a path. It's impossible to get lost! We could've gone down it, and then when we were far enough away from the group, we could've left to find the cave! He should've let us go."

Kiel sighed. "Yeah, he should've. But it's going to be okay. We'll figure something else out. I can guarantee it!" He winked, which seemed to make Owen relax a little.

Kiel didn't understand why the camp counselor hadn't let them go, since they'd had a perfectly believable reason for it. It seemed that unfortunately, they wouldn't be getting out of here anytime soon, at least not if they asked the camp counselor for permission again. But he wouldn't except that. He just had to bend the rules to get them where they needed to be.

A plan started to form in his head. It wasn't anything elaborate or well-thought-out, but there was a definite chance it would work. If they asked the camp counselor to let them go, which was Owen's idea, that would never work a second time. But it would if they _broke_ the rules; that would always be Kiel's best method for solving his problems, and he would stick by it as long as his favorite color was black. Which it was.

Orion narrowed his eyes at Owen. "Okay, _that_ was your plan? To ask the camp counselor if we could go back to the camp?"

Owen frowned, a blush on his cheeks. "Sorry . . . I really thought it would."

"Well, it didn't."

"It almost did," Kiel said.

"Yeah. _Almost_."

"You guys have any other ideas, then?" Owen asked, glancing at the camp counselor again. "We still need time to get out of here and find Bethany, Kara, Charm, and Gwen!" They were in the very back of the group, which made it easier for talking without anyone being suspicious. But judging by the fact that they were singing, Kiel doubted any of the boys were listening to their conversation.

Orion was quiet for a moment. He scanned the group of boys. "There are only ten of us," he replied in a low, gruff voice. "If we fight them, we can take them all quickly."

Kiel grinned. That was probably the best idea he'd heard Orion say, and it wasn't too different from his _own_ plan that he'd made up in his head. "I'll take the first four. No, the first _five_. You guys take the other two—"

Owen's eyes widened. "No way! We aren't going to _fight_ them! They're just Boy Scouts. They won't be able to fight back. And they're not even dangerous."

"Yeah, but they're _annoying_."

Kiel raised his eyebrows at that, but he clapped his hands together, making sure he grabbed his friends' attention. "Okay, I have a better, much faster plan."

"What?" Owen and Orion asked at the same time, one expression hopeful and the other disgruntled.

"We'll start running on the count of one." He nodded at them. " _One_."

"Wait, Kiel —" Owen gasped, but Kiel had already sprung into motion.

Without a second of hesitation, he began sprinting away from the group. He grinned, feeling the warm wind whip through his hair. The singing had stopped. He could hear surprised shouts behind him, along with the sound of various shoes slamming against the ground. Bushes rustled from just behind him, giving him an indication that his friends were right at his heels.

"Hey!" the camp counselor shouted, sounding a lot less happy than he had a minute ago. "Where do you think you're going? We must stay together!"

"You'll never catch us!" Kiel shouted, leaping over a small stream. He was unable to stop grinning. Whether it was from the chase or breaking the rules or even the fact that he was running, he wasn't sure. It was more thrilling than anything, and a rush of adrenaline filled him, causing his legs to move even faster.

"He better not!" Owen said from behind him. "They're going to follow us now!"

Kiel threw a glance behind him, and saw that Owen was right. The camp counselor was racing after them, but was doing it with some difficulty. He didn't seem to be in shape, which was a good sign to Kiel. The other boys were following them too, huge grins on their faces. They were faster than the counselor, but Kiel knew he'd have no problem outrunning them. He'd been chased thousands of times, so he'd had plenty of practice with it.

"We should split up," Orion grunted, coming up beside Kiel. In all honesty, he looked relieved that they were leaving the group of Boy Scouts. "We can use the trees to our advantage."

”How will we find each other?" Owen asked, panting as he struggled to keep up with their fast sprint.

"Doesn't matter. We need to lose the Boy Scouts first." Then, he veered to the right, starting to run in the opposite direction. Kiel quickly glanced at Owen, who was still running next to him.

"Don't worry, I've got this!" Kiel told him with confidence, flashing him a wink. "Try to find the girls!"

Owen looked like he wanted to protest, but more shouts from the group behind him seemed to change his mind. Spinning on his heels, he turned back towards the campsite, disappearing behind some trees. Kiel only had a second to watch him go before he almost got his foot caught in a ditch, and he had to straighten himself out to avoid falling.

He sprinted across the forest floor, feeling more exhilarated and breathless by the second. One glance behind him told him that the group was still following, but some had split up to follow Owen and Orion, leaving the last three boys — plus the camp counselor — to chase after Kiel. Kiel didn't get why they were _still_ running after him, when clearly he was much faster and more agile than they were, but at least they'd be easy to lose.

"Hey! Wait! Come . . . back . . . here!" the camp counselor said, gasping for air. His feet slowed, and he took a few short breaths. He placed a hand against a tree, already looking exhausted. He gestured to the boys that were still with him. "Please, go . . . get . . . him!"

"Good luck catching me!" Kiel said, quickly changing directions. He pushed his hand against a tree, using his momentum to propel his feet forwards. Running made him feel alive and free, and he enjoyed the way that his heart pounded inside his chest. He could hear the boys running after him, all of them having some difficulty as the seconds bled into minutes.

This was going a lot better than Kiel thought it would! Splitting up had been a great idea, because now, the boys would have a lot more trouble catching them . . . if they even could keep up with them in the first place. The only thing he was worried about was Owen, but Kiel hoped that his friend would turn out fine. Even if he _did_ get caught, Owen had his time powers to help him out, so Kiel wasn't very worried.

Really, he wasn't worried at all! He felt more himself than he'd felt weeks ago, back when he'd been taking Five-Hour-Energy drinks to stay focused and awake. And he definitely felt more himself than he had a month ago, when he and Bethany were avoiding each other after their fight. Both of those times, he'd been close to losing hope. But here, all of the worries had drifted from his mind. The smile on his face wasn't plastered on to impress anyone. It was genuine.

That was why he loved this kind of danger. Maybe it was the way his heart was racing, or the wind in his hair or the smile on his face, but it made him feel carefree. He loved every second of it, more than anything else in the world. It distracted him from any worries of the future, and instead, it exhilarated him. It made him feel real.

When he was in danger, he felt exactly how he wanted to feel. Like the real Kiel Gnomenfoot, the hero who was fearless and unworried. The hero that fans had cried over and looked up to. It was the side of him that was the most inspiring, which was why he showed that side to his friends and fans. It was refreshing for that to actually be true, because right now, he really didn't _have_ any worries. He felt like himself . . . or at least, the part of himself that he showed to the world.

As Kiel continued to run, he heard shouting behind him, but assumed it was just the three boys yelling at him. Since they weren't being very loud, he could hardly hear what they were saying above his own loud breaths and racing heartbeat. A fallen log was in the path ahead of him, so he pressed his foot down on it, gracefully leaping off of it and landing back on the ground.

The trees around him seemed to multiply, and he had to push various twigs and leaves out of his way. He wasn't sure how much longer he should keep going, seeing that the forest seemed to stretch on for miles upon miles. Kiel didn't have a clue if he was heading the right way.

Plus, the farther he went, the farther he got from Owen and Orion. They were all going in opposite directions, trying to lose the group of Boy Scouts off their trail. He had no doubt in his mind that he wouldn't find his friends again, since he _was_ Kiel Gnomenfoot, after all. That part shouldn't be a problem, unless the forest happened to be much bigger than he thought it was.

If that was the case, it might be helpful to loop back in the direction that either of his friends had gone. But if he did keep going, there was a chance that he could make it to the cave first. The idea of that happening was enough to keep Kiel motivated. That would save them all the trouble of looking for the cave in the first place! Unless it was in the opposite direction, too.

The realization suddenly struck him that something had changed. He no longer heard footsteps behind him. A wave of confusion washed over him. Had they stopped chasing him? Bewildered, he gradually came to a halt. He was breathing heavily as he turned around and scanned the forest around him. Sure enough, no one was there.

His brows knitted together, and he felt even more confused than before. Had they really given up, or had they lost sight of Kiel? It was great if they had, but it just didn't make sense. They had just disappeared out of nowhere, without an indication of where they went or what happened to them. Where did they go?

"I don't think I've ever seen you stand so still," said a girl's voice from behind him, making him jump.

Kiel whipped around immediately. His eyes landed on a person walking from out of the trees. He broke out into a grin. "Charm? How'd you get here?"

She looked irritated. "We've been _looking_ for you. How long have you been standing there?"

"Hey, I've been running for like, ten minutes," Kiel told her. "I only stopped because I _lost_ those Boy Scouts when they were trying to follow us. A 'thank you' would be greatly appreciated."

"You didn't _lose_ them. I knocked them out."

"Ah." He nodded appreciatively. "Well, I did most of the work with outrunning them on my own. But great job knocking them out!"

Charm smacked him on the shoulder, just hard enough to send him stumbling a bit. "Seriously, Kiel?"

"What?" Kiel stared at her. "I said you did a great job!"

"Yeah, whatever."

Her ray guns must've still been in her backpack, because she was empty-handed. It wasn't the first time she'd used only her fists as weapons, which he assumed was what she'd used to knock out those boys. She also didn't seem to be injured in any way, which was a good sign. Most likely, the other girls were somewhere nearby, too.

"So, what happened to you?" he asked. "I'm guessing you guys went with your group into the forest, too? And what about Bethany, Gwen, and Kara? Did Owen get you? I told him to."

"No, I didn't see him," Charm replied, making an almost disgusted face. "Was I supposed to?"

He shrugged. "Well, I told him to look for you! I thought maybe he had. He was being chased by two of those Boy Scouts. Same with Orion."

"Why were you being . . ." She sighed, pressing her knuckles into her forehead. "You know what? I don't even _want_ to ask."

"It was all part of my brilliant plan," he said proudly, winking at her.

"I don't know why either of them would willingly _let_ you come up with a plan, but honestly I'm . . . really . . . _not_ surprised." She motioned for him to follow as she started walking across the forest. "Let's go. We'd better find them before one of us gets into more trouble." She gave him a pointed look, and he grinned back at her.

"Sounds good to me," Kiel said, kicking a rock with his foot as he fell into step beside her. "So, if Owen didn't get you, then how'd you know where to find me? This forest is pretty big, if you ask me."

"I didn't _know_ where to find you. I didn't even know you were here, specifically, but I had a hunch that you three would be somewhere around this forest."

"How'd you get away from your group?"

"We didn't go with a group. Our _stupid_ camp didn't send one, and according to Kara, they wouldn't be sending one out until tomorrow, which is _definitely_ too late. So we snuck out of the camp by ourselves."

"Nice." Kiel winked at her again, and she glared at him. "I would've thought of that, too."

"No, you wouldn't have."

"Is it really that hard to believe that I would've?"

"Yes."

Kiel glanced at the trees around them, where there wasn't another person to be seen. "Where are Bethany and Kara and Gwen?"

"They're waiting," Charm said. "Since I was able to track down Owen, I went ahead to find you all. Figured it'd be easier to send just me to look." A small radar dish pushed out of her human arm, spun around, then sunk itself back into her arm. "My signals detect movement that way." She pointed farther out into the forest. "All I know for sure is that's where Owen is."

"How could you find where Owen—"

"His robotic heart." She looked at him. "The one that I thought _you_ had, but instead, it was a complete stranger."

"Charm . . ." Kiel shook his head. "Look, I get it. A boy you barely know pretending to be the best-looking magician in the world? That was all so crazy. For me, especially!" He grinned, only for his smile to fade when she continued to frown. "Owen isn't a stranger. Not to me. He's my best friend. You need to give him a chance."

" _What_?!" Charm demanded, stopping for a moment. He stopped too. "Give him a _chance_? Why would I ever do that? After all he's lied about, why would I ever forgive him?"

"You don't have to forgive him," Kiel said. "What he did _was_ wrong."

She nodded. "It was."

"But I've forgiven him, haven't I?"

"You weren't there," she said, looking away from him angrily. "I asked him who he was. He lied directly to my face. He said he was _you_."

Kiel didn't know exactly how to respond to that. Yes, at first it had been weird when he discovered that Owen had been pretending to be him. But that'd been years ago, and he'd forgiven him instantly for it. Owen living out Kiel's final adventure had made them closer, almost like brothers. Kiel wouldn't have traded their bond for the world.

"It might be weird that he's read about us," he said finally. "But it doesn't change anything about—"

"It changes _everything_ ," Charm snapped. "For the longest time, I thought he was you. Why aren't you _angry_ about this? You should be. The fact that he pretended to be you in the first place is sickening."

"I _am_ one of a kind," Kiel agreed. "But I let go, Charm. I don't hold grudges. I never have. Maybe you should try letting go, too."

"No." She started walking briskly again. "I'm not about to take advice from you. I don't even know why I'm _talking_ to you about this."

"Being angry won't make you feel better!" he called after her, quickly catching up.

"You're very annoying, you know that?"

Undeterred, Kiel replied, "I prefer to think of myself as quite endearing, actually."

"Ugh." She made a frustrated noise.

"Remember when I found out I was a clone?" he said. "I was angry, then, too. But that didn't change anything. Owen makes mistakes, but he's still a good person. I'm sure it wasn't intentional if he hurt you. He cares about everyone. You have to see it from his side."

"I can't, okay?" Charm growled, not meeting his eyes. "I _can't_ see it from his side. All I know is that every time I look at him, I want to throw up."

Kiel found himself smiling. "Yet you say that about _me_. Why can't you forgive him if he's so much like me?"

"I just can't," she said, although she didn't sound so sure of herself anymore. "As of right now, I don't think I ever can. Nothing you can say will change my mind, so can you shut up already? I can't hear myself think."

He nodded, wishing he could say something more to convince her that Owen was a good person. But he knew that no matter how many good deeds he listed, Charm wouldn't forgive Owen. Kiel wished she would forgive him already so there wouldn't be any conflict between two of his closest friends.

Long ago, Kiel had forgiven Owen for living out his story in the seventh Kiel Gnomenfoot book. It'd only taken him a day to do that. So why couldn't Charm?

"Okay, I know you told me to stop talking, which I won't listen to because that was super rude," Kiel told her as he stepped over a tree root. "But since I'm _forgiving_ , I'm not going to hold a _grudge_." He emphasized his words, winking at her to get his point across. "I still think you should at least try to forgive him, Charm. I get it. You're super angry at him or whateve—"

"Shut up."

"Yeah, I'm not going to do that. As I was saying—"

She slapped a hand over his mouth. "No, _shut up_. Listen."

Kiel pulled her hand off of him, listening closely to the noises around them. Other than the noises of the forest that he'd heard ever since they'd jumped into this book, there was a rustling noise, and the unmistakable sound of footsteps. _Oh_. _That_ was what she was talking about!

His eyes widened as Charm pulled him behind a large tree, her eyes narrowed.

"That isn't Owen. I would be able to tell. Someone else is here."

"What's the big deal?" Kiel slowly poked his head out to see what was coming, only for her to pull him back into hiding. "It's not like anyone here is dangerous."

"You're too trusting of others," she whispered harshly back. "Now shut up before your stupid voice gets us both killed."

"Seriously? You're with Kiel Gnomenfoot right now," he said. "I will never die—" She then clamped a hand over his mouth again as the footsteps grew louder, and he went silent. He pushed her hand off of him again, but didn't say anything else.

He listened as the footsteps and rustling of leaves grew louder, indicating that the person was coming closer. He wiped his hands on his pants, which were sticky with sweat. Whether it was from nerves or the heat, he wasn't sure. Kiel blamed it on the heat. Him, being nervous because of something as harmless as this? No way! It was just footsteps; nothing to be nervous about.

The footsteps stopped for a moment, and both Kiel and Charm held their breath. Then, a boy's voice muttered, "Stop hiding. I know someone's there."

"Don't respond," Charm hissed in Kiel's ear.

"I can hear you," the boy said, louder this time. Kiel realized that he recognized the gruffness of the voice, and before Charm or anyone could stop him, he poked his head out from behind the tree. The dark-haired boy standing there was wearing a Boy Scout uniform, just like Kiel. It was—

"Orion?" Kiel said, his eyebrows shooting upwards in surprise. He pushed away from the tree, and Charm followed suite, her expression settling on irritation.

"Oh, it's just you," Orion grumbled, an edge of impatience to his voice. "Where's everyone else?"

"Bethany, Gwen, and Kara are waiting in a field not too far from here." She started walking, shoving past Orion. "Come on. We have to find Owen first."

Kiel followed right behind, but what he didn't notice was the shadow passing over the forest as the branches of the trees started to come to life.

* * *

The sounds of chirping crickets and birds accompanied Owen as he raced along the camp's nature trail, panting heavily. Several minutes after the two Boy Scouts had begun chasing him, he'd remembered his time powers and had quickly kicked them into gear, using them to get as far away from the Boy Scouts as possible. Luckily, he'd gotten so far enough away that he wasn't even sure where he _was_ anymore.

Owen wasn't exactly sure how long he'd been running. It helped that he had his time powers to help him out, because he could take breaks when needed. But since using his time powers tended to tire him out — plus, he'd fainted the last time he used them — he needed to keep going, just to get a good distance away before he almost fainted again.

Saying that he was annoyed was probably an understatement. He couldn't _believe_ what Kiel had done! He'd run off without giving Owen or Orion a choice but to follow! And even worse, the Boy Scouts had followed them. _Followed_ them! Owen had looked up to Kiel, expecting him to come up with something that would get them _out_ of trouble, not land them back into it!

It was a good thing that Owen had his time powers, at least. If he'd been running without them, he surely would've gotten caught. Not that getting caught was a _bad_ thing, because the Boy Scouts all seemed genuinely nice and it wasn't like they were going to hurt him. But if he _did_ get caught, he'd be taken back to the camp, and he would never have time to find his friends or the cave. That would be terrible!

As soon as he started to feel lightheaded, Owen slumped against a large boulder, slowly easing his hold on time. Immediately, his heart rate began to turn to normal. He wiped his forehead with his hand, which had long ago been coated with a sheen of sweat. That was a side effect of the humidity, and Owen had nearly forgotten what it felt like since he'd been immersed in winter for the past three weeks.

He took a few deep breaths, trying to ease the pain in his chest. Thankfully, the scent around him wasn't anything unpleasant. Breathing in the aroma of flowers and dirt was totally an upgrade from the gross dinosaur smell that was always in his nightmares. Not only did this place smell wonderful, but the scenery was stunning. It seemed so realistic — from the lush forests to the warm breezes — that Owen nearly forgot that he was in a book.

In a different situation, Owen might fully enjoy himself if he wasn't on an important mission to save the fictional worlds. All of the fun that the summer camp had to offer had been easy to lose himself in, and it felt good to enjoy himself at least for an afternoon, and part of this morning. He wished that he could be here for the purpose of enjoyment, not life or death.

With all the danger he'd gone through the past month, it was a nice change to be somewhere warm and inviting. At a summer camp, the only thing he needed to worry about was whether he accidentally forgot to tie his shoes or if he was having _too_ much fun.

But sadly, he wasn't here for the fun, as he had to remind himself . . . and Bethany, too had reminded him of that yesterday (because she didn't often enjoy having fun). Not that Owen blamed her. It wasn't right to enjoy himself for too long when there were more important things to do. They _had_ to stop the fictional worlds from being destroyed, and they had to do it fast.

He was here to find a stone that would grant them any wish, and hopefully that would take them to Nobody. Or maybe since it could grant any wish, it could help them _defeat_ Nobody! The idea made Owen hopeful. Could it really be that easy? Or would the stone work at all? Owen hoped so, but he knew that nothing was ever that easy. Nothing he'd faced in the fictional world had been.

He wasn't exactly dreading their mission for today, but the tight feeling in his stomach felt something close to it. He had no clue what would happen when they went inside this cave, or whether it was dangerous or not. But judging from the upbeat book they were in, he doubted that the cave would be anything but . . . well, a normal cave. Fowen would've told hem if it was a trap. Even as he told himself this, Owen didn't know what to think. He'd have to wait until he got there to find out.

Once his heart rate had slowed down enough that it felt close to normal, Owen cracked his eyes open and scanned the area around him. A small, relieved grin blossomed on his face. _Good_. He was alone. He'd have a much easier time finding his friends now that he wasn't being chased! Well, assuming he could even find where the girls' camp was from this direction.

He stepped away from the large boulder he'd been leaning against and glanced back at it for a better look. Campers — most likely grown-ups by now — had covered the boulder with friendly graffiti. It basically screamed "Girl Scouts were here", which meant that he might be on the right track to find Bethany, Kara, Gwen, and Charm.

If the Girl Scouts were planning the same activities as the boys today, they'd be somewhere around this area. At least, Owen really hoped so, because sneaking into the girls' camp by himself would be _way_ too embarrassing.

"Okay, Owen, your friends are counting on you. You can do this," Owen whispered to himself, but he didn't feel very confident as he said it. He slowly turned around in a circle. "If I was a Girl Scout, where would I . . ."

He trailed off as a shadow passed over the forest. Despite the drowsy heat, a chill went down his spine. A strange, cracking noise filled his ears. It took him a few seconds to see where the noise was coming from, and when he did, he gasped. The trees — which had been motionless a minute ago — had started _moving_. Slowly, the branches stretched themselves out, looking like skeletal hands.

His mouth hanging open in awe, Owen could only watch as the branches on the tree nearest him came towards him. He could hardly process what was happening, but he was more amazed than anything. Seeing trees come to life was something he'd read about in the Narnia books, but during the times he jumped in there with Bethany and Kiel, he hadn't actually _seen_ the trees move.

Fowen hadn't mentioned anything about moving trees . . . had he? Owen didn't remember, but he was pretty sure that he hadn't. Not that he ever would trust Fowen to tell the whole truth. Or maybe Fowen hadn't actually known that there were moving trees here?

Whether Fowen had mentioned it or not, it was really cool. A smile took over Owen's face as he slowly reached a hand out to touch the moving branches. He didn't know if trees got scared easily, so he didn't want to accidentally scare it away if he moved too fast.

Something curled around his ankle, and Owen only had a second to spot the tree branch wrapped around it before he was yanked into the air. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he was abruptly pulled upwards into the canopy of trees. He flailed around, still screaming as he tried to break free. All of the blood rushed to his head, and his eyes grew wide. He was hanging upside down.

"Hey!" Owen shouted, swinging his arms around as a second branch curled around his legs, tightly holding him in place. He desperately tried to move his legs, but it was impossible. "Let . . ." He balled his hand into a fist and tried hitting the tree with it. "Me . . . go!"

"Did you hear something?" a familiar voice asked.

Owen froze. He let his arms hang again, worn out from the effort of struggling. He tilted his head down just enough to see three people walking. They were wearing the same uniforms as everyone else here. Even when hanging upside down, he could just barely tell that the people were Kiel, Charm, and Orion.

"Help me!" Owen shouted, but before he could even say the words, a branch fastened itself around his mouth, causing his words to come out muffled. He rolled his eyes. Oh, come _on_.

Okay, these trees _definitely_ weren't the friendly ones from Narnia. _This_ was probably why the camp counselor hadn't wanted them to go off on their own. Could trees kidnap people? Maybe they'd turn him into a tree and Owen would be stuck like that forever! Oh no. He couldn't end up as a tree! He had to get out of here!

He tried to shout again, but nothing seemed to make his friends hear him. They continued walking just below the canopy, their heads turning in every direction except the one _he_ was in. Why couldn't they look up? If they did, they would see him right away, and Owen would be saved in no time.

"All I hear is birds and those cricket things," Kiel said. "Are you sure Owen is this way?"

"Of course I'm sure," Charm snapped, looking confused. "I don't get it. It says that he's right here, but I don't see him anywhere. If he's hiding on purpose, I am _not_ in the mood."

" _Guys_!" Owen shouted, but his voice was as muffled as if he was speaking through a pillow. It didn't help that he was hanging ten feet above their heads. "I'm right above you! Kiel, Charm, anyone, _help_!"

"I think I just heard something again," Charm said. Owen nodded vigorously, trying to get more words out but failing. He felt lightheaded from hanging upside down. The branches were curling around his stomach now, making it harder to breathe.

Owen had almost forgotten that Charm, being half-robot, must've had supersonic hearing. If anyone could hear him, it was her. He forced himself to try yelling again, even though he couldn't move his lips and the air was drifting out of his lungs.

"I'm still not hearing anything," Kiel said.

Orion frowned. "We should keep going. We're wasting time. Owen's not here."

"No!" Owen tossed his arm out, attempting to slap the side of a tree but missing by an inch. "Don't go! Help! I'm up—" The branch curled tighter around his mouth, and his words were completely cut off.

"I definitely heard something that time," Charm said, and dropped her backpack on the ground to take out her ray guns. She turned around in a circle before finally, _miraculously_ looking up. Her eyes met Owen's, and her jaw dropped open for a moment.

"Found him." She pointed, and Kiel and Orion followed her gaze. Both boys looked as shocked as Charm seemed to be.

"Well that . . . looks like a problem," Kiel said, shifting from foot to foot.

Orion raised an eyebrow. "How did he get up there?"

"The tree kidnapped me!" Owen said, but the noise that came out of his mouth was more like a weird moaning ghost. The tree branch twisted itself tighter around his waist, and he inhaled sharply.

"He says that the tree kidnapped him," Kiel translated, not tearing his eyes away from Owen.

Now _he can hear me?_ Owen thought, exasperated. A moment ago the only person who'd heard him was Charm. He was thankful at all that she'd managed to hear him. If she hadn't, he'd be hanging here forever, imprisoned in the branches of a tree.

"How could the tree have captured him?" Charm asked. "It's just a tree."

"Not just one tree," the boy magician said, and pointed at the trees that surrounded Owen. Even as he hung upside down, Owen could tell that the branches holding him weren't just from one tree; they were from various ones. Uh oh. This wasn't boding well.

"But trees can't move."

"Apparently they can here!" Owen tried to shout, but all that came out was a lot more muffled moaning.

"He said that they can here," Kiel said.

Orion just stared at him. "How can you tell what he's saying?"

Kiel winked. "I'm multitalented." He tilted his head towards Owen again, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Don't worry, Owen. We'll get you out of there!"

Owen swatted his arms around again, unable to do much but hang there helplessly. There had to be some way to break free, but since his arms were just out of reach of the branches, he couldn't pull himself out. The tree branches held tightly onto his body, not letting go even when he wriggled his legs around.

"Stand still!" Charm yelled up to Owen, and he glanced down again to see her aiming two ray guns at him. A muffled scream came out of his mouth, but it was barely heard over the loud noise that came next.

As Charm began firing at the tree branches that held him captive, an explosion-like noise erupted as the lasers came in contact with the branches. Owen was used to the noise that the ray guns made, but never had he been at the receiving end of it. He instinctively squeezed his eyes shut, yelping each time a laser came flying towards him.

It was a good thing that she had excellent precision, as she didn't miss the tree branches once. One wrong move and Owen would either be unconscious or dead . . . whichever setting that Charm had put on her ray guns. He _really_ hoped that she'd put them on stun.

He tried keeping his body as still as possible, but he couldn't stop himself from flinching each time a laser came near him. As the lasers peppered the branches holding him captive, the tightness around his legs gradually lessened. After getting hit a few times with lasers, branch around his mouth recoiled, giving him a chance to breathe.

Before Owen knew it, the branches lost their hold on him, and he found himself hurtling towards the ground. He opened his mouth to scream, but the sound wouldn't come out. His fear heightened as he fell down, the faces of his friends coming closer and closer. Time seemed to slow down, and for once, it wasn't because of his time powers. Kiel was calling his name, and Orion was quickly getting into position, looking ready to catch Owen at a moment's notice.

And then, a pair of arms unexpectedly wrapped around Owen's waist, and his entire body shook from the impact as his fall was halted. Blinking rapidly, Owen found himself staring at none other than Gwen, who's bright grin was enough to make him smile. "Gotcha!"

Gwen veered around, then set Owen back on the ground. The shock hadn't worn off yet. He wobbled a bit, feeling lightheaded and sick after hanging upside down for so long. He nearly fell to his knees, but Gwen quickly put an arm around him, and Kiel moved to do the same.

"Your timing is nothing short of fantastic," Charm said, shaking her head. Her expression was unreadable, but Owen thought he saw some relief in her eyes. Or . . . at least he _hoped_ it was relief.

Gwen smiled at her. "Thank you!" She turned to stare at Owen with concern. "Are you okay? Why'd you fall out of that tree?"

Owen was barely able to get the words out since he was breathing so heavily. "The . . . trees . . . kidnapped me . . ." He took a deep breath. "They were moving."

"It was like magic," Kiel said, glancing up at the trees. He frowned, looking almost disappointed. "But . . . they're not moving anymore! That's too bad. I would've wanted to fight one."

Owen had to smile at that. He had no doubt that Kiel would've tried fighting each and every tree just for the fun of it. He looked up, and saw that Kiel was right: the trees weren't moving anymore. He heaved a sigh of relief. Whew! The last thing they needed was for the trees to keep moving, since they were completely _surrounded_ by them.

"Wow, that was crazy!" Owen asked, still a bit breathless. "Did anyone hear Fowen mention that there were moving trees here?"

"I don't think so!" Gwen said.

"No," Orion said, glaring at the trees as if they were his worst enemy. "Definitely not."

"What matters is that you're safe," Gwen said, and Owen looked back at her. "I would feel terrible if you broke another arm!" She leaned closer and whispered, "I heard the story from Bethany."

He blushed, smiling. "Oh. Um, thanks."

"Could you explain to me what you're doing here?" Charm demanded, crossing her arms as she looked at Gwen. "I told you to wait until we came back."

"She saved Owen!" Kiel protested.

"I still told her to stay where she was," Charm said. She glanced around them. "What about Bethany and Kara? Did _they_ go anywhere?"

Owen perked up a bit at the mention of his other friends, and Gwen nodded. Then, she paused. "Well, they went into the future—"

"They _what_?!" Charm shouted.

"Looking for the cave!" Gwen finished. "Kara thought we'd have an easier time finding it if we watch our future selves find it and follow them! I think it's a great idea!"

"Of course _you_ do."

"I think it's a good idea, too," Owen said, and he wasn't just saying that because he trusted Kara. Despite time travel being crazy and insanely confusing with all its paradoxes, it would make finding the cave a lot easier.

He wasn't sure what was more surprising: that they'd gone to the future or that Bethany had gone _with_ Kara. He wondered if Bethany had agreed with Kara's idea that easily, or if she'd been against it. Probably the second option, if Owen had to guess. He didn't think that Bethany had ever time traveled before, so she likely would've been wary about it at first.

But if Bethany and Kara were following their future selves — well, at least a few minutes or an hour older than they were now — would that change anything about the present? Would it create a paradox, since the future versions of themselves had obviously found the cave without Kara traveling to the future? Or had the future version of Kara traveled to the future? Did that meant there were infinite versions of themselves in the futur—

Okay, all of this thinking about the future was giving him a headache! His brain would surely explode if he continued doing it, so he had to stop. He thought about asking Kara, but that would only confuse him _more_. He didn't know how Kara _wasn't_ confused every time she time traveled! It must've been because of her immunity to paradoxes, or something along those lines.

They made their way to the spot that Charm and Gwen had last seen Bethany and Kara, which was in an open field. On the way there, Owen's mind ran circles. Would Bethany and Kara have returned by now? Were they in danger? Had they seen anything exciting or terrifying in the future? There was no way to know, not until they returned to the present.

"Oh, um, thank you for saving me," Owen said as he hurried to walk beside Charm. "I really appreciate it. I wouldn't have gotten free if it weren't for you shooting the tree branches." Charm turned to look at him for a moment, then sped up her pace without saying a word.

"Great." He sighed. But when he looked at the situation from her point of view, he understood how she felt. Since it was Charm, it would take a long time for her to forgive him. Probably years, at this point.

He wondered for the hundredth time why he kept doing this . . . being nice to her when she only ignored him. It was risky to talk to her, he knew, but he really appreciated the fact that she'd actually worked to save him. It gave him a small ounce of hope, that maybe, just maybe, they could be friends someday. Even if it wasn't realistic, he held onto the thought.

As of right now, the only time she'd ever think of him as a friend was if he wrote her to. And he would never do that, because controlling others was wrong and it would prove to Nobody that nonfictionals were as cruel as he claimed them to be. Charm should have the choice whether she wanted to be his friend or not. Owen accepted that, even though he definitely didn't want to.

It was strange how time could change things. In the past, all he used to want was for Charm to have feelings for him. He'd draw doodles of her in math class or would reread all of her scenes in the Kiel Gnomenfoot books. Now, the only thing he wanted was to be her friend.

It was a strange realization, one that had begun to dawn on him the moment that he'd seen Charm two days ago. Maybe it was because he hadn't seen her in three years, or maybe from their fight just the other day, but the fluttery sensation that used to blossom in his stomach when he looked at her was gone. He didn't understand what it meant.

So instead of talking to Charm and getting more death glares in response, Owen walked next to his friends — the ones that made him feel confident and good — for the rest of the way. Kiel and Gwen were a given, but Owen had also made sure to include Orion, not wanting him to feel isolated.

Owen always felt a bit intimidated when he was near him, but over the past days he'd warmed up slightly to the boy. Maybe just because Orion was a superhero, and that was _insanely_ cool. Either way, Owen wanted the boy to like him. Orion was kind of Bethany's adopted brother, and since Bethany was Owen's closest friend in the entire world, he had to try.

As they walked, they contemplated what Bethany and Kara might be seeing in the future. There wasn't much to go off of, but it at least kept Owen from worrying too much about them. And he had to admit: he _was_ worried. He didn't know how they were doing in the future or if they were finding anything at all about the cave. He hoped that things were working out for them.

Owen was careful not to touch any of the trees this time, out of fear that he'd cause one to move again. He had no clue how the trees had started moving in the first place, but a shadow had definitely seemed to pass over the forest when they did. If they got to the field that Bethany and Kara were in before the trees happened to come alive a second time, that would be a miracle.

As Owen ducked behind branches and weaving beneath curved trees, he kept his eyes ahead of them, where he could see a field poking out of the line of trees. On their way, they passed a small pond, which seemed to glisten and sparkle in the morning light. He could feel beams of sunlight hitting the back of his neck, arms, legs, which hopefully wouldn't mean he'd end up with a sunburn by the time he left here.

They stepped out of the forest and scaled an old, rickety fence before entering a field, where the sun hit their faces full-force. Owen blinked, blinded for a moment. He squinted at the scene around him, his mouth hanging open. The field was filled with grasses that were long and golden, and wild flowers were in full bloom, scattered all around the field. A warm breeze shook through the field, causing the grasses to ripple and move.

"Where did they—" Orion impatiently began, but before he could even finish his sentence, the air in front of them began to spark, little electric fireworks exploding out of nowhere.

Without warning, two people appeared out of thin air, one of them crashing straight into Owen as the other kept their balance. Owen yelped as he was sent flying to the ground, and he fell right into the grass. He found himself staring at Kara from only inches away, who flashed him a slightly embarrassed smile.

She quickly jumped to her feet, luckily not noticing the blush that took over his face. "Sorry about that!"

"It's — it's okay," Owen said, somehow breathless again.

Kara extended a hand towards him, and he gratefully took it, allowing her to help him up. His eyes were wide as he looked between her and Bethany, who seemed to be unharmed, if not a bit uncomfortable. He opened his mouth to say something, since his mind was burning with questions, but Kiel beat him to it.

"What did you see?" the boy magician asked, eagerly leaning forward. "Did you run into any danger?"

"More importantly, did you find the cave?" Orion questioned.

"No danger." Bethany shook her head, still looking a bit weirded-out. She glanced at Orion and nodded. "But we found the cave."

"That's amazing! I knew you two could do it!" Gwen said, squeezing Bethany's hand, who — seeming to be in a daze — slowly looked over at Gwen before returning her smile.

Owen frowned. Whatever they'd seen in the future, it looked like Bethany was in some state of shock. Had something bad happened in the future? It hadn't seemed like it when he talked to Kara, but then again, she was used to bad things happening in the future.

He leaned over to Kara, whispering, "Is Bethany okay?"

"She'll be fine," Kara whispered back. "It's just a side effect of time traveling for the first time. It'll wear off in a minute. We saw our future selves — well, it wasn't that far into the future. More like a few hours — and when you're seeing them for the first time it can be weird."

Owen shuddered. "I hope my future self doesn't do anything stupid that'll get us all into danger."

She gave him an odd look. "Didn't look like it. All we did was follow the future versions of ourselves to the cave, but either way, I don't think anything you could do would be stupid."

Owen's heart skipped a beat from the compliment, which had surprisingly seemed genuine. Did Kara actually think that? She was acting like he wasn't someone that messed up all of the time. It was common knowledge, after all. Even so, comfort and even a dose of happiness filled him at Kara's words, and he muttered an "Oh."

"This way!" Bethany said, taking the lead as she started to walk across the field and up a few grass-covered hills. She gestured for them to follow. Whatever daze she'd been in had seemed to vanish, as she was now concentrated on finding the cave. Her hair seemed to catch on fire as the sunlight hit it, flowing all around her in the breeze.

Kiel grinned mischievously, then took off into a sprint before stopping a few feet in front of her. "Way ahead of you, book-girl."

Bethany rolled her eyes, responding with something that Owen couldn't hear, as he was at the very back of the group and many of his friends were moving faster than he was. He picked up his speed, trying to move up the hill at a faster pace. Gwen, who'd been walking slightly ahead of Owen, pressed the throttle on her jetpack and soared into the air. She stayed a short distance above their heads as they walked.

Somewhere along the way, Owen's hand fell into Kara's. He hadn't even realized it had happened, just because they'd held hands many times before . . . mostly just when he was using his time powers. He wasn't sure if it was her or him that had initiated it, but it felt like a strange mixture of nice and embarrassing. Embarrassing because their friends were with them, but nice because holding her hand always felt that way.

Owen glanced over at Kara, unable to keep from smiling. He didn't even know why he was smiling in the first place, because his apprehension for this quest had been building up ever since this morning. But the way his heart leapt in his chest felt closer to exhilaration than fear, and although Owen wasn't sure exactly which it was, he knew that he didn't want to let go of Kara's hand.

He was really glad for the gesture, because having some sort of comfort before they went inside this potentially dangerous cave was exactly what he needed. He was growing nervous about this whole thing, and even though it sounded like a good idea it still didn't seem _safe_. Maybe it was because Owen had never read this book before that he was feeling this way, but no matter what, he needed to keep his guard up once they got there. Just in case.

After what felt like hours later (and probably had been) they reached the cave. The opening was huge and jagged, stretching far above their heads. It was positioned in front of a small brook, surrounded by a mass of tall trees. Owen wasn't sure if he was just imagining it, but the air also seemed to be much colder.

Despite how bright the sunshine had been all morning, almost no light had traveled inside the cave, making it look utterly dark from the outside. The only cave that he could vaguely remember being in was the one that they'd found the First Magician in, so he didn't have many caves to compare this one to. Were all caves this dark and scary-looking?

Even more ominous was the lack of crickets, which — as Owen knew from his time in _Pick The Plot_ — usually stopped chirping when there was a sign of danger. He had nervously expressed this to Bethany once they'd neared the cave, and even though she'd brushed him off, she seemed to be nervous, too.

He could tell that the rest of his friends were feeling the same way, even if they didn't verbally express it. Not that he knew for sure, but he assumed that they would be. They were going somewhere that none of them really knew anything about, aside from the fact that there was a magical stone in there. At least for Owen, it was hard _not_ to be nervous.

He glanced at Kiel. The boy magician was busy excessively tapping his wand-knives, which Owen thought might be a sign that Kiel was nervous. At least, that was what he'd read on fan theory sites a few years ago, before he'd met Kiel. Truthfully, he doubted that Kiel was actually nervous about this. He never seemed to get scared. If anything, he'd be the first one to go inside!

"Our best bet is to split up," Orion declared as they came to a stop in front of the cave. He swept his gaze across their group. "I would say that I should go alone, because you all would just slow me down." Bethany opened her mouth to protest, and he added, "But, me and Bethany will go ahead first, since we're Doc Twilight's sidekicks."

"Daughter," Bethany corrected.

He sent her an annoyed glare, and she returned it. He turned back to the others. "How about . . . Kiel and Kara? You two, pair up. Owen and Charm, pair up. And Gwen, you're on lookout in case any intruders try to come inside.”

"I got you guys covered!" Gwen said, saluting with a smile.

"Shouldn't I go in first?" Kiel asked, clearly not keen on the idea. "I'm all set for pairing up with Kara, but I have my magic in case anything bad tries to kill us. Wouldn't that be more helpful than someone who doesn't have powers?"

Orion crossed his arms. "I wouldn't assume things that aren't true, if I were you."

"Who says it isn't true? You don't have powers."

Charm sighed. "I've saved two planets in the amount of time you've started this pathetic argument. Kiel, I know you're only saying that because you want to go with Bethany. Just admit it, so we can stop listening to this and get moving."

"That's not the reason," Kiel protested. "I have magic!"

"I think Orion and I are a better option," Bethany told him. "We trained a lot together when I lived in the fictional world, so we know how to fight together."

Kiel nodded, walking to Kara's side. Owen stared at the two of them for a moment, wishing that he had one of them as a partner for this mission. Or Gwen, but Orion had put her on lookout. Out of everyone here, he'd prefer to pair up with Bethany, but Orion was clearly set on pairing up with her. Even Orion himself would be better than partnering up with Charm, who Owen could barely talk to without getting his feelings hurt.

But there was nothing he could do, so he would have to get through this, one step at a time. Maybe it was a good thing that him and Charm were partners? No, who was he kidding? He was probably going to mess things up even more with Charm, and then she would never stop hating him.

Finding the stone, and _only_ finding the stone was his greatest priority here. It was all that mattered. Owen could only hope that pairing up with Charm wouldn't make this task any more difficult than it already was. It would be hard enough to find a magical stone in this huge cave. It would be even harder to try getting on Charm's good side.

While Owen internally freaked out, Charm sighed loudly and walked over to him, a frown on her face. He thought of the millions of possible things to say, but nothing came to mind. He nervously took out a flashlight from his backpack, fidgeting with it. Charm tapped her foot, a bored expression on her face as she studied her ray guns.

Owen took a deep breath. "So, do you think—"

"Let's get this over with," Charm interrupted, glancing over at him. "I'll do all the fighting, if it comes to it. Since, you know, you're basically useless and would instantly die if there was danger."

He was about to protest, but then glanced at the ray guns in her hands. He forced a smile, but it felt as difficult as pulling taffy apart. "Yeah . . . right. I get it. That sounds . . . good."

He inwardly cringed again at his words, wishing he could stop feeling so nervous and ashamed around her. Not even having time powers made him feel any more confident.

One by one, the groups entered the cave. First it was Bethany and Orion, who were each holding flashlights of their own. Next went Kiel and Kara. Each of them were prepared to use their weapons at a moment's notice, keeping it close by in case anything dangerous happened.

As Owen and Charm entered the dark cave, he found himself staring at the back of Kara's head. She was only a few feet away from him as her and Kiel made their way to the left side of the cave. She was talking quietly with Kiel, and they were laughing about something.

Owen felt a weird surge in his chest, and his heart twisted a bit. A frown formed on his face. It didn't seem fair that Kara and Kiel were laughing and smiling, when Owen was stuck with Charm. He wondered what they were laughing about, and how Kara and Kiel could be having more fun than Owen ever would with Charm.

"Let's go this way," Charm said, pointing one of her ray guns towards the back of the cave.

Owen held his flashlight up, following where she was pointing. The flashlight offered some light, but it wasn't enough to stretch towards the back of the cave, so he directed it at the spot a few feet ahead of them, instead. Without it, he couldn't even see his own hand if we waved it in front of his face. Hopefully his flashlight wouldn't run out of battery, or else there'd be a bigger problem to deal with.

"Okay," Owen said, nodding along. "But isn't that where Bethany and Orion went?"

"No . . . they're right over there," Charm said, and pointed to the right side of the cave, where Owen could just barely see two flashlights bobbing in the distance.

"Oh!" He tried not to cringe. "Sorry, I got confused. I didn't even look over there. I thought that maybe they had . . ." He trailed off as she walked ahead of him.

"This is going to be a long day," he heard her mutter.

He sighed quietly before quickly following her, his flashlight wavering in his hand. His friends' voices echoed through the cave, growing quieter as the distance stretched between them. A few times, he would hear one of his friends shout something, thinking they'd found the stone, but had quickly changed their mind. There were plenty of stones in the cave, but none of them were magical. They were normal, boring stones.

Owen and Charm continued farther into the cave, which seemed to be impossibly big. Owen almost thought that it would never end, given how the cave just seemed to keep going and going. The cave also appeared to be getting darker the more they walked, and every time he looked over his shoulder, the entrance of the cave was getting smaller.

It was dank and musty, and for some reason, water kept dripping on him. The surface underneath his feet was hard and uneven, and he almost slipped numerous times. He was glad that he hadn't fallen all the way, because the bottom of the cave was filled with sharp edges.

Owen's foot collided with something that felt like a rock, and his heart leapt. He quickly pointed his flashlight at it, his hope sinking immediately. To his disappointment, it was just another normal stone. Nothing magical about it, unfortunately. All of the stones here looked boring, but as Owen knew from years of reading books, looks could be deceiving. For all he knew, any of the stones here could be magical.

He glanced over at Charm, who was a few feet away from him, analyzing something on the ground. Instead of walking over to her, he turned in the opposite direction and crept forwards. Then, he stopped in his tracks. At the end of his flashlight beam was a pile of large rocks. They were stacked on top of each other, blocking what looked like the entrance to a cavern.

"Hey, I found something!" Owen shouted, feeling a shiver of fear going through him.

At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a bit proud of himself. If this cavern had the stone inside, then Charm shouldn't have anything bad to say about him anymore. And, it would just make him feel good in general, since he finally would be truly doing something helpful.

"What?" Charm walked over to him, and he pointed at the blocked cavern. Her eyebrows raised, and she went close to it. A red grid passed over her eyes as she stared down the rocks, and she turned back to him, shoving her ray guns in his hands. "Take these. And _don't_ use them."

"Got it." Owen shifted under the weight of the ray guns, but held them close to his body. He was careful not to move them too much, as he didn't want Charm to yell at him more.

He watched as Charm swung her robotic arm back and punched the rocks multiple times. With her super-strength, it was easy for her to push the rocks aside. Within seconds, all of the rocks had been destroyed, leaving the entrance of the cavern wide open. The impact caused dust to form everywhere, and Owen coughed, waving his hand around to send the dust out of his lungs.

Handing Charm's ray guns back to her, Owen pointed his flashlight at the cavern's entrance, moving it around to see better in the darkness. The two of them slowly shuffled through the entrance and found themselves in a huge cavern. The walls were made completely out of rock, and a small chunk of the ceiling was missing, allowing a small ray of sunlight to peak through.

"Huh," Charm muttered. He saw where she was looking, and he couldn't help but gasp.

In the very spot where the sunlight was hitting, a glowing object lay on what looked like a pedestal, which was made out of gold. It took him a moment to realize what it was. The magical stone! This was it. It _had_ to be. There was clearly no other stone that seemed to glow in the way that this one did. It was bright even from a distance.

All in all, it looked like one of the coolest things that Owen had ever seen.

"Whoa . . ." Owen breathed, his mouth hanging slightly open as he took in the scene before them. He glanced back at Charm, who wasn't moving. "Are you coming?"

"I'd rather stay here," Charm said, not bothering to move. She made a disgusted face. "I really hate magic."

_Fair enough_ , Owen thought. He started walking again, shining his flashlight at his feet so he wouldn't accidentally trip over anything. As he got closer to the stone, he noticed something that he hadn't before. He shuddered, and nearly would've turned around and bolted away if it weren't for Charm standing there.

Positioned behind the stone, wedged between two gigantic rocks was a mummy. It had clearly once been well-made, but now it was covered in dust, and looked close to falling apart. A small, squeaking noise emerged from Owen's throat. He felt the urge to throw up as he looked at it, or maybe just scream, but he forced himself to ignore it.

Okay, he definitely needed to be careful here. From all the times of watching Indiana Jones movies, Owen knew that mummies were bad news. One wrong move and the mummy would come alive, or maybe the entire cave would collapse. Owen prayed that neither would happen. He was terrified enough.

Tentatively, he approached the stone, which seemed to glow even brighter as he walked towards it. Owen could practically feel the energy radiating off of it. For a moment, he simply stared down at it, marveling over how cool it looked. To be fair, he didn't think he'd ever seen a magical stone before. It was bright green and shinier than anything Owen had seen before.

Owen was tempted to reach out and grab it, but he held himself back. Whenever a magical item was in a cave, such as the magical lamp in _Aladdin_ , taking the magical item would trigger some kind of curse. That had happened in the Indiana Jones movies, too, so he knew what to expect. Before he did anything, he'd have to make sure that that wouldn't happen. The last thing he wanted was to get cursed!

His eyes landed back on the mummy, then scanned the room. As far as he could tell, it was the only mummy here, which meant that his theory was very likely that a curse would be triggered. Well, it was now or never. They needed the stone, and they weren't going to get it if Owen chickened out. All he could do was hope that nothing bad would happen.

" _Please_ don't release a curse on me," Owen said quietly, as he glanced at the mummy again. "I know that that happens all the time in movies, but I really need it to _not_ happen now. I only need to borrow the stone. My friends think this whole thing is a bad idea, and I really don't blame them. I do, too. But it's the _only_ way to find Nobody, since my friend Kiel's location spell isn't working. So if it's all right with you, I'm gonna take it."

"You got it?" Charm shouted, and Owen jumped. Somehow, he'd actually forgotten that she was there.

"Yeah, one second!" Owen quickly yelled back. Hoping that things would go right for once, he took a deep breath and gently curled his fingers around the stone.

As he touched it, his hand began to vibrate intensely, and he gasped. He nearly leapt backwards in surprise, but he forced himself to pick up the stone and slide it into his shirt pocket. The vibrating immediately subsided as soon as he removed it from the pedestal, which was helpful. At least he wouldn't have to suffer while he carried it around!

Now that he had the stone, there was only one thing left to deal with. Nervously, he glanced back at the mummy, which wasn't moving. He sighed in relief. Good. He was just being paranoid! This was just a regular, harmless mummy. That was all it was. Just a mummy. A grin tugged at his lips, but his joy abruptly faded when the ground began to shake.

"Oh no," Owen whispered, and his hands shook so badly that the flashlight fell out of his hands.

He could only stare, his fear escalating as the mummy began to tremble. As it shook, the outer layer of the mummy began dissolving into dust. A strong wind ripped through the cavern, causing his hair and clothes to whip around violently. The mummy shook harder and harder, until finally, it exploded into pieces.

The explosion knocked Owen off of his feet, and he yelped as he hit the rocky ground hard. All of the air rushed out of his lungs, and for a moment he just laid there, feeling nothing but pain. He coughed, struggling to regain his senses. He tried to take a deep breath, but all he could breathe in was dust. That made him cough more.

Before he had the chance to climb back to his feet, a voice echoed across the cavern, making him freeze. "You _stole_ my stone. And for that, the ones that you call your friends will _pay_."

What?! This was so bad! What had he done? Owen opened his mouth to reply, but he was shaking so hard that he couldn't even form a sentence. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, still coughing.

He whipped his head around, trying to find the source of the voice. He couldn't see anyone. What was going on? Where was the voice coming from? And most importantly, what was going to happen to his friends?

Owen stumbled to his feet, feeling dizzy and afraid and sick. He took a step in Charm's direction, only to stop breathing completely. Charm wasn't there anymore. His eyes widening, Owen ran to the spot that she'd been, right at the entrance of the cavern.

"Charm? Charm, where are yo—" he began, but before he could even finish his sentence, the entire cavern shook. He held his arms over his head as rocks began to fall from the ceiling, causing little tremors to erupt. When the shaking had stopped, Owen slowly opened his eyes again. Fear seized him.

The entrance to the cavern was _closed_.

"Oh no," Owen whispered again, and now he _really_ felt like he might throw up. "Please, no. No, no, no!"

He raced to what used to be the entrance, slapping his hand against the huge rocks. Unlike Charm, he didn't have a super-strong arm, and the rocks refused to budge. He felt tears prick his eyes. He had to get out of here! He had to get to his friends before that creature, whatever it was, did something horrible!

"Guys!" Owen rasped, throwing himself with all his might against the wall in a panic. Not that it did anything, aside from making his shoulder sore. "Kara! Bethany! _Kiel_! Can anybody hear me?! _Hello_?!" He slapped his good hand against the rocks until it stung. "I need to get through! It's a trap! You're in danger!"

But it was too late.

* * *

_  
"_ _All this running around. I can't fight it much longer . . ."_


	35. Fires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awakening in a much-too-familiar place, Bethany begins to suspect that something is very wrong.

**_Someone To Stay (by Vancouver Sleep Clinic)_ **

_"_ _You've been fighting the memory all on your own. Nothing washes, nothing grows . . ."_

* * *

_i._ _thantophobia; the fear of losing someone you love_

Bethany heard laughter.

It wasn't the kind that you'd hear in horror movies, where a creepy doll giggled for an unreasonable amount of time. It was the kind of laughter that could be heard from children — all joyful, high-pitched giggles. The sound washed over her like a melody, comforting and sweet.

"Say 'cheese'!"

Her eyes snapped open, and the first thing she saw was a group of little kids standing around a kitchen table, hovering next to a red-haired girl in a blue dress. On the table in front of them was a cake with four candles on top of it. There was a sudden flash of light, so bright that it penetrated Bethany's irises. She turned to see that there were two adults next to her; one of them had just taken a picture.

In her dreamlike daze, she turned around, scanning the area. For some reason, this place was incredibly familiar. The colors of the walls, the furniture, and even right down to the cracks in the floor she recognized. It was as if she'd been here before, but in that moment, it was hard to think of much of anything.

Still laughing, the kids and even the two adults broke into song, their eyes on the little girl seated at the table. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Bethany, happy birthday to you!"

_Bethany?_ Bethany blinked. Wait, wasn't that _her_ name? This was confusing. Were they referring to her, or was the girl called Bethany, too? Something didn't feel right. Not that she could identify what it was, because her brain barely seemed to work and nothing in the party seemed to be a threat.

In fact, the happy environment made her feel more at ease. The partygoers looked peaceful and happy, which sucked the doubts right out of Bethany's mind. The atmosphere was rejuvenating and joyful, and there were delighted smiles on everyone's faces. A faint smile slowly came to Bethany's own face as she watched them with interest.

However, that contentment still left out the fact that Bethany had questions that needed answering. She walked over to the man. He had the same bronze hair color as she did, accompanied with a beaming smile on his face. She recognized him instantly, but she couldn't wrap her head around who he was, or how she knew him.

"Hi, I'm Bethany," she said. "I think I might be lost. Can you help me?"

Either the man was extremely rude, or he just didn't see her, because he continued looking right through her as if she wasn't there. She couldn't help but shudder. Everything felt unreal and foggy, like she was in a dream. But that couldn't be true, because the scene seemed very normal compared to the wild dreams she'd had before.

"Time to cut the cake!" the woman said in a cheerful tone, setting her phone down after another spree of picture-taking.

"Daddy, watch!" the little girl shouted, and she suddenly pitched face-first into the cake. Frosting, candles, and chunks of cake flew everywhere. Kids and adults alike flinched away, including Bethany, although she wasn't sure if she had to worry about getting hit with cake, given how no one was noticing her.

The man laughed, long and loudly in a way that made Bethany's heart squeeze. She found herself smiling at the sound. The little girl pulled her face out of the cake and laughed too, wiping frosting off of her face with her hands. She gleefully shoved her hands into her mouth, licking all of the frosting off of her hands.

"That's not how we eat cake!" the woman reprimanded, but Bethany caught sight of the blossoming smile on her face. "Save room for the other kids! What about them?" She glanced back at the man, placing the knife she'd been holding down. "Guess there's no point in using this now."

"You heard her, kids!" the man said. "Go for it!"

One by one, each of the kids shoved their faces into the cake, getting frosting all over their faces, hair, and clothes. Cake and frosting peppered every surface of the room. The woman cringed each time the room got dirtier, but she didn't move to stop the kids, instead sitting back and watching with an amused smile.

In spite of herself, Bethany grabbed for a chunk of cake that'd been sitting on the table and tossed it into her mouth. It seemed that she wasn't a ghost after all, because the cake didn't fall out of her hands. The taste of chocolate and frosting erupted in her mouth, and she easily swallowed.

She grinned through chocolate-covered teeth, feeling strangely blissful. She seemed to have forgotten all about the weirdness of earlier, how the man hadn't been able to see her. Neither had the rest of the kids or the woman, but for some reason Bethany was unbothered by that fact. She was so distracted that it hardly seemed to matter.

"Who's ready to open some presents?" the man asked, holding up a pile of wrapped gifts.

"PRESENTS!" the little girl shouted, her bronze hair flying behind her as she raced into the living room. The other kids followed, collapsing into laughter. As the woman started to clean up the dining room, the man retreated to watch his daughter open her presents. Just like that, the pleasant feeling wafted out of the room. Or at least, out of Bethany.

"No," Bethany whispered as she watched them, though she wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe it was the cold feeling that had entered her, or because her brain had just started to piece everything together.

Something horrible had happened here: a mistake that would haunt her forever. The realization hit her full in the face, and she felt the sudden urge to follow the kids. It was a memory that she was seeing. Her _own_ memory. She didn't quite remember what the mistake was, but she knew that she had to prevent it from happening. Whatever was about to happen, it would turn her world upside down.

She tried taking a step forward to follow them, but her feet had become glued to the floor. A shiver of fear coursed through her, and her eyes widened to the size of saucers. She tried moving again, but it was as if an invisible force was keeping her from moving. What was going on?

" _No_ ," Bethany said again, her voice rising in volume. She pushed her legs out, but it was no use. Nothing would make her move. "Let me fix this! Let me save him!"

"What is it?" she heard the man ask from the other room. This scene was so familiar to Bethany that she knew exactly what her own next words would be, even as she was watching from a room away.

"It's a book," Bethany and the little girl said at the same time, although the girl had a much happier tone to her voice.

Next to Bethany, the woman froze. She'd been busy piling up the plates in her hands, ready to take them into the kitchen for cleaning. But the state of the dining room seemed much less important to the woman now, as she dropped the plates back onto the table with a _thud_.

"No . . ." the woman — her _mother_ — whispered, looking horrified. Her mouth opened as if to yell something, though no sound came out. She turned around and set her legs into gear, but it seemed that she was having trouble moving, too.

The invisible bonds that'd been holding Bethany in place let go, and she found herself running along with her mother. But she was too slow. Miles seemed to stretch between her and the doorway of the living room. She willed her legs to move faster, but it was like running through a lake of honey. Every movement was too slow, and it didn't help that her brain still had that fogginess inside of it.

A billion years had passed by the time she reached the doorway, and it was still not fast enough. Even if she'd moved at the speed of light, it probably wouldn't have been fast enough. The sight of the empty living room was like a punch in the gut, and Bethany felt like all the wind had been knocked out of her. There were only presents laying on the floor, some opened and others still wrapped.

Everyone was gone.

"N-No," Bethany choked out, bracing herself against the wall. Her knees wobbled, and she would've fallen to the floor if it weren't for her hands securely clutching the side of the wall. Her ears rang, sounding so loud yet even louder were the words that came out of her mother's mouth.

"NO!" Bethany's mom wailed. Bethany could hardly breathe, could hardly even think. She felt numb as she stood there, watching as her mother ran to the book on the floor.

"Bethany . . . no, my little girl! Come back!" her mother shouted down at the book, a sob building up in her throat. She scraped at the pages desperately, as if trying to reach through and pull someone out. She screamed Bethany and her father's names over and over again, pleading for them to come back.

As her mother began to sob, Bethany turned away, unable to watch. She felt furious, furious that she still hadn't been able to do anything and furious that she was stuck here, stuck in her worst memory yet. Her heart felt as though it were being ripped in half. Miserable wouldn't even begin to describe the way that she felt in that moment.

No, it was _agony_. If it was possible for every muscle in her body to ache, it apparently was. She didn't want to watch this again. She'd already spent years watching her mother cry over her father, but somehow, this was even worse. The night she'd lost her father had taken a toll on both Bethany and her mother, and neither had woken up the next day as the person they were before.

"Please, take me out of here! I can't — I can't watch this happen _again_!" Bethany shouted up at the ceiling. When no one answered, she added, "Why are you _torturing_ me?! Haven't I lost my dad _enough_ times?!"

Again, there was no response. It was all so confusing and terrible, that she was back inside her memories, living out the worst night of her life. Forced to watch, unable to move or stop anything or save her father. Even eleven years later, Bethany would never forget that night. It felt like a nightmare back then, and it still was now.

And then, she heard a strange sort of choking sound. Her first thought was that her mother was still crying, but the small relieved laugh that came out of her throat was certainly far from depressed. Eyes filled with tears, Bethany turned around to see a tiny hand sticking out of the book. Her breath caught in her throat.

Bethany's mom quickly wrapped her larger hand around the smaller one, her tear-streaked face alight with hope. With all her might, she pulled the person out of the book. It was one of the children from the party, followed by another child that climbed out of the book next. More and more children emerged from the pages of the book, some crying and others seemingly happy.

After all of the children from the party had successfully been transported back into to the living room, the girl in the blue dress climbed out. There was a huge grin on her face, and her eyes danced with excitement. "Did you see, Mommy? Did you see what I did?"

  
A sob wracked Bethany's mother's chest as a small, shaky grin tugged at her lips, and she hugged the girl tightly. "Oh, thank god."

Watching them hug filled her with a weird kind of gladness, which was so unexpected that it was almost painful . . . not that she _wasn't_ feeling enough pain already. Bethany barely remembered this part from her memory, and it felt like the calm before the storm. A few seconds later — she knew, with growing dread — nothing would ever be the same.

Her mother pulled away just as quickly, grabbing the girl firmly by the shoulders. "Where is your father, Bethany? Where is he?!"

The girl knitted her eyebrows together, then reached her hand back in. She exclaimed something unintelligible, confusion and fear crossing her face. She stuck her head inside the book for a few seconds, only to take her head out and turn to her mother. The color had drained out of her face. "I can't find Daddy!"

"What?" Bethany's mother went pale. Frantically, she grabbed for the book and peered at it, as if she could see him through the pages. "What do you mean? Where is he? He has to be in there!"

"I'll — I'll look for him again. Don't worry, Mommy. We can find him."

"No. I don't want you doing that," Her mother said as the girl reached for the book, shutting the book tightly and placing it on the table, a few feet out of the girl's reach. She blinked several times, covering her mouth with her hand as she held back another sob. "T-The party is over. I'll call your friends' parents."

"Mommy?"

The girl's face fell, but she looked confused, as if she didn't quite understand what had happened yet. She stared wordlessly at her mother as she left the couch and started talking on the phone, her voice shaking. The girl's eyes drifted to the book on the table, and Bethany could practically feel the same heartbreak that the girl was experiencing.

"You promised you wouldn't go into the fictional world," Bethany heard her mother say only seconds after she'd hung up on the phone, and it suddenly occurred to Bethany that the birthday party had faded away, replaced by a normal-looking living room. She barely had time to feel confused at the sudden switch, as it had happened so quickly.

"But you lied!" her mother continued with a furious look on her face. "You _lied_! That was such a terrible thing for you to do! You've ruined everything! How could you do this to me?!"

"Mom," Bethany said, shaking her head in protest. "I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to yo—" But before she could finish her sentence, her mother cut her off.

"You will never be able to make it up to me." Her mother threw her hands in the air. "My own daughter is a liar! Knowing that you've lied and jumped into books behind my back is a worse betrayal than anything I've ever felt. I will _never_ tolerate this again."

"Mom?"

Glaring at her, Bethany's mother replied, "You wanted so badly to be away from me?"

"No, that's not—"

"Don't make excuses!" she snapped, and Bethany flinched. "I _know_ you did! I get why you jumped into books."

"W-What? What do you mean?"

"What don't you understand?" Her mother shook her head, looking disgusted. "It's so hurtful that you'd do it so selfishly, all without telling me. If you'd told me earlier, I might've forgiven you." She sighed. "But I'll never be able to trust you with anything ever again. It's too late for forgiveness. Many years too late."

"N-No . . ."

"You've hurt my feelings and betrayed my trust. Even worse, you got your father lost! What kind of daughter does that?"

"I'm sorry," Bethany told her, her eyes on the ground. Shame and guilt filled her, two emotions that she was used to experiencing. "I was trying to look for Dad. It was the only thing I could do."

"No, it _wasn't_ the only thing. You could've chosen to listen to me. You could've stayed in the nonfictional world, where you'd have been safe. I set up all of these rules for you, and what did you do? You _broke_ them. I was trying to keep you safe! I realize now that nothing I ever do will matter, because you only care about your own needs."

"That's not true!" Bethany protested, shouting now. "I care about you _and_ Dad! I care about my friends—"

"If you really cared about them, you wouldn't have put them into danger," her mom simply replied, her voice ice cold. "You wouldn't have gotten your father lost, and you wouldn't have betrayed me." She took a step back. "I'm sorry, Beth, but you've lost me for good. I can never forgive you."

Before Bethany could do or say anything, her mother faded away, disappearing completely. Just like that, she was gone. Her own _mother_. The woman that Bethany admired, who remained so strong through all the years that her husband had been missing. The woman who gave her long hugs and worked long hours and sometimes braided her hair when Bethany felt like it. _Gone_.

Bethany gasped, and she threw herself towards the spot where her mother had been, only for her hands to pass through thin air. Her legs began to shake. She was so afraid and confused. "Mom! _Mom_! Where are you? _What can I do_?!"

She turned around, and she was given an answer as she stared at her open front door at the other end of the hallway. Instead of her street and neighborhood on the other side of the door, there was a meadow. The same one from the children's book that she'd jumped her father and an entire group of kids into during her fourth birthday party.

Swallowing hard, Bethany straightened her shoulders and stepped through the door. In the distance of the meadow that she was in, there was a tree. It caught her attention immediately, as it was the only tree within a mile radius. She was drawn towards it by some unseen force — like a moth to a flame — and before she knew it, her feet were propelling her forward.

Without even knowing why, Bethany's pulse quickened. As she walked around the side of the tree, she realized that a person was sitting there, leaning their head against it. She sucked in a gasp. It was the man from earlier. Only this time, Bethany knew exactly who he was. And she wouldn't let him go now.

As she came closer, she saw that the man's eyes were closed, as if he were asleep. The sound of grass crunching beneath her feet caused the man's hands to twitch, and his eyes fluttered open. His eyes landed on her. Recognition poured over his face, and he lifted a hand towards her. "Beth?"

Bethany swallowed hard, feeling an enormous lump in her throat. She squatted beside him and outstretched her hand, daring to believe he was existing. Was this real, or was it all a dream? Was he really here, only a foot away from her? He was actually alive?

"Dad?" Her voice came out small and choked. "Is that you?"

"Beth," her father repeated, looking immensely tired for some reason. A warm smile appeared on his face. "I always hoped you'd come."

"Of course I came," Bethany whispered, gently curling her hand around his. His hand, much larger than her own, was surprisingly soft. Since he looked generally weak, she refrained herself from hugging him, even though she really wanted to. "Don't worry. I'm here, now." She sighed. "It's been . . . awful without you."

Her father stared blankly at her. "Why?"

Bethany blinked, feeling slightly confused. "Why do you think? You've been missing."

"I'm not missing." Her father smiled again. "You found me."

"Yeah. I did!" She briefly smiled back, but for some reason, something didn't feel quite right. "I missed you _so much_ , Dad. I looked for you at every chance I got, every day— _every_ day for years. I always knew you were out there. I never believed for a second that you weren't. I _always_ knew that I'd find you someday, and . . . I could bring you home."

"Home?" Her father gave her a quizzical look. "I'm not going home."

Her lip quivered, but she fought to keep her emotions together. "But you've been missing! You _need_ to come home. Now that I'm my normal self again, I remember everything. If I had remembered earlier when I was fully fictional, I would've taken you with me straight away. You know that." She tugged on his hand, attempting to pull him to his feet. "Come on, Dad."

He shook his head, pulling his hand out of her grasp and back to his side. "No, Bethany. Stop. You understand the reason I left? I prefer to be here. This _is_ my home."

Bethany glanced around, knowing that he wasn't referring to the meadow around them. "Jupiter City is my home, too," she said quietly. "But I live in the nonfictional world, and so does Mom. We've missed you more than you could even imagine. You don't understand how _awful_ life has been without you. A piece of me always felt like it was missing, and now it's — it's _not,_ because I've finally found you."

He didn't respond, and so she added, "I can't live without you. Don't you get that? Please, just come with me."

" _No_." Her father gave her a stern look, and Bethany felt her heart twist in pain. He ripped his hand out of her grasp. "I'm never going back, Beth. I don't want to."

"You don't . . . want to?" His words were like a punch in the gut, except so much more painful than that. Bethany's ears rang as she stared at her father in utter disbelief, a million thoughts floating through her brain.

_He doesn't love me. He doesn't want to come home. He never wanted to come home. He doesn't love me or my mom. He hates us. After all this time, he never cared about us. He wanted to leave. He's not coming home, he's not coming home, he's not coming home, he's not —_

He sighed. "You know what? It's better to just forget about me. You shouldn't worry about me anymore. I'm never going home. I hate it there, and I especially don't want to see you or your mother ever again."

"D-Dad?"

"Go home without me, Bethany."

"No," Bethany whispered, her bottom lip quivering against her will. "Dad, please. I'll do anything, _anything_ to convince you to come with me! Please just tell me. What do you want me to say? What should I do?!"

"There's nothing you can do," her father said, and the coldness in his voice made her want to cry. "You know that, don't you?"

She took a shaky breath, barely able to compose herself. "There _has_ to be something."

"There isn't. You've already lost me, so _go home_."

Her father's image started to disappear before her eyes. His body turned into a wisp of smoke, floating away into the air and fading into nothing. Bethany could only stare, shock and fear coursing through her veins. _He was gone_. A small, choked noise came from the back of her throat.

She dove forward, clawing with her hands at the spot he'd just been sitting. Her hands only passed through thin air. She desperately looked around, feeling around everywhere for him. He was nowhere to be seen. Now, there was only an empty meadow surrounding her.

Her eyes filled with hot tears, and she screamed, " _NO!_ "

She couldn't lose her father! Not again! He meant everything to her. A flood of water poured from her eyes, streaming down her face in an endless current. She forcefully wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as her vision blurred, then yelled his name several times at the top of her lungs.

Her heart felt so heavy and fragile, like it'd shatter into a million pieces at any moment. She couldn't loose him. Not again. Not _now._ She was shaking violently, unable to stop. She ran aimlessly around the meadow in search of him, her mind a hazy cloud. All of the fight drained out of her.

Everywhere she walked, there was no one to be seen. She wandered around the meadow for what felt like hours, her arms spread wide as she blindly looked for him. It felt like her life had become a nightmare. Her worst fears had come true, and there was no way to make her father come back. It was no use. He had disappeared for the second time. He was never coming home.

" _COME BACK!_ " Bethany screamed, her throat hoarse. She sank to her knees, her back hunching over and her hands dropping to her sides. The tears wouldn't stop running down her face, and she sobbed hard, her shoulders heaving.

This went on for hours . . . or at least, it _felt_ like it did. Her sobs eventually subsided after a long time, but the heartbreak didn't. At the loss of her father, her chest was filled with excruciating pain. She didn't know what to do. For years, she'd searched for him in the hopes that she'd be able to bring him home. That'd been her sole motivation. What could she do now?

A gentle breeze blew against her, suddenly much colder than it had been a second ago. Had she just imagined it, or had the temperature gotten much colder? Not that it really mattered to her; all she could think about was her father. But then, snowflakes peppered the ground around her, and she lifted her head in surprise.

Feeling confused, she pushed herself to her feet and wiped her wet eyes with the back of her hand. Instead of the meadow that she'd been in, she was suddenly standing on a sidewalk without a clue of how she'd gotten there. She was surrounded by buildings, and cars zipped down the road, blowing strands of hair in her face. The air was freezing, and a light snowfall fell from the cloudy sky.

What surprised her most, however, was that the person standing in front of her was not her father. It was a boy, a few inches taller than her with black hair and equally dark clothes. Snowflakes peppered his hair, standing out and looking like white dots. His face was flushed from the cold as he stood directly in front of her, staring at her through lilac irises.

Kiel.

The scene felt all too familiar, but Bethany only half-made sense of it. After watching her father get taken away from her, she was so relieved to see him. It was like seeing a ray of sunlight after a long, dark winter. That relief was short-lived, however, as she — too late — recognized the place she was in. There was another mistake that'd been made here, another person in her life who she'd temporarily lost.

She opened her mouth to form a sentence, but the words that poured out of her mouth were far from what she'd been about to say. "I hate you."

She gasped, trying to clamp a hand over her mouth but her arms refused to move. Her eyes widened in shock, as did Kiel's. What? How could she say that? She felt the exact opposite about Kiel! She opened her mouth again to apologize, but the words wouldn't come out this time. It was as if she was being controlled, unable to have power over her own words.

Kiel's smile faded, hurt flitting across his features. "What? You . . . hate me? Listen, I'm not going to take what you're saying to heart, because I know you would never mean —"

"I _do_ mean it," Bethany blurted out, much to her horror. She felt tears build up in her eyes again, and she tried again to cover her mouth with her hand. It was to no avail, because no part of her body would willingly move. Her lips began to quiver, and a tear slipped out of her eye. Not that Kiel seemed to notice.

"Why?" Kiel asked, his voice cracking.

This time around, Bethany noticed everything. She saw the deep frown on his face as he searched her eyes, the crease in his forehead and the undeniable look on pain that he wore. He looked so devastated, and Bethany wanted nothing more than to take his sorrow away. But she didn't know how.

Bethany willed her lips to seal shut, but no amount of willpower could make that happen. Even as she pressed her lips together as tightly as she could, the words slipped out, sounding so bitter and twisted that it made her feel sick. She begged, _pleaded_ with herself to stop talking, to avoid losing him again. But she couldn't. The words kept gushing out, and the guilt and sorrow only grew from there.

"For one thing, what makes you think you can make up stories about my life?" Bethany said, her voice sounding so harsh that it made her cry even more. "About me having powers and you — you're pretending you're a fictional character named Kiel Gnomenfoot."

She shut her mouth tightly again, but she only lasted a few seconds before more words came out. "This is just ridiculous. You've lost your mind! Think about it! You just talked about yourself as if you were fictional —"

"But I am!" Kiel interrupted, his voice slightly hoarse. "You need to calm down and listen to what I'm saying. Before you got separated, me, you, and Owen jumped into books. For _months_ we jumped into books to search for your father. Your fictional self is with him now! She didn't really believe me either, but she definitely wasn't overreacting like you are now. The only way you'll believe me is if I show you. Come on, we need to go to your dad's world and —"

He grabbed her hand and started to pull her away, but even as she tried her best to hold onto his hand, her out-of-control body ripped her hand out of his grasp. If it was possible, Kiel looked even sadder than he had before. She saw everything. The buildup of tears in his eyes and the look of shock on his face. It was ten times worse now, because she couldn't do anything to prevent it from happening.

Tears were running down her own face in a steady stream, yet even as she cried she was still not able to hold her words in. "Kiel, _stop,_ " she heard herself say. _"_ First of all, my dad isn't alive! How would you know otherwise? I was there, and I _saw_ him die! And I'm not going to follow you anywhere, if that's what you think."

"That's not true," Kiel said, shaking his head. "Your father is in the fictional world. I know exactly where he is. Your fictional self is with him, too."

_He's right! Agree with him!_ Bethany screamed at herself, and even though she already knew it she was still unable to stop the waterfall of unforgiving words that flew out of her mouth. Her entire body shook with each breath. She wanted to run away, or duck-tape her mouth, or turn into a chair that was unable to talk — or at the very least, take everything she said back, but none of those were an option.

"Can you — are you _serious_?" Bethany shot back, her voice somehow perfectly clear in spite of the sob that wracked through her body. "You actually believe that? This is the real world! Please just get that into your head! There are no fictional characters or worlds here! That's extremely low, to try and convince me I'm a half-fictional girl who needs to save the fictional world from some evil No-One —"

"Nobody."

She sniffled, making another weak effort to seal her lips shut but again, it refused to work. "And since I've told you, you know that the only thing I've ever wanted to do is go to a fictional world! You said all of that just to get my hopes up. At first I thought: 'maybe he genuinely wants to be my friend!' But now I know. I knew all along that you were apart of some prank, but I didn't think you'd act so serious about it."

"It isn't a prank. Deep down, you have to know it isn't. I swear on my life that everything I told you is the truth. You don't remember anything, which is why you don't believe me." He looked down at his feet.

"I thought we were friends. Prank or not, it hurts that you'd try to convince me of something that could never happen."

"But it did happen, and it's happening right now!" Kiel said, his eyes clouding. "Just believe me! _Please_ , Bethany.”

”No,” Bethany whispered. “No—”

Kiel shortened the distance between them, and she stared up at him, blinking through her tears. “Come on, just _believe_ me—”

”I-I can’t!”

”Sometimes, you need to blindly put your faith in something. I need you to believe me. At least come with me, and you'll see —"

_Ignore what I'm saying! I'll come with you!_ Bethany shouted in her head, trying her best to get the message across to Kiel. She was getting hysterical and there had to be a way to stop herself from saying these horrible things. Unfortunately, there wasn't. Her mouth continued to move as if it had a mind of its own, pouring out the harsh words that she regretted more than anything.

"No, none of this is happening," she said. "I'm done with you making up lies, first about being German, then about this! I need you to stop meddling in my life. You're nothing but an annoying boy who makes up lies to try to get me to be your friend, when you could be friends with anyone else! You've embarrassed me _twice_ in class! You're the reason I overthink all the time and the reason my mind is always a mess!"

"You don't mean it," Kiel whispered in a choked voice, which made Bethany cry harder. "You don't _really_ hate me. You're just angry."

_Please, don't say it_ , Bethany thought desperately, so upset that it was hard to think. _You're going to lose him. Please, please—_

"I'm not just angry. I meant exactly what I said. And we're not even friends. So I don't know why you're making fun of my love for books this way. It's rude, especially coming from you. You have no right to get my hopes up. I'm sorry Kiel, but it's the truth. Please, just . . . leave me alone."

The silence that followed was deafening, and Bethany squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds, her heart twisting more painfully than she ever could've imagined. She felt like she'd been punched over and over again. Tears coated her cheeks, but she made no effort to wipe them away. Everything was ruined. Again.

When she opened her eyes, she looked directly at Kiel, who wore an expression that she'd never forget. He looked raw and lost and just as broken as she felt. He was crying, too. And it shattered every piece of her heart. Up until that moment, she'd never seen him cry before. She wished it'd stayed that way. Seeing him upset was like the worst kind of pain.

"Are you going to say anything?" she asked, and the shakiness in her voice finally seemed related to how she was truly feeling. She didn't understand how, despite everything, he was still able to give her a smile, even if it was a forced one.

"I understand," Kiel said weakly, making an effort to wipe his eyes. "I figured that maybe I annoyed you a little, but I never thought you would . . . _hate_ me. I'll stop talking to you from now on. Sorry for telling you what was real. I'll leave you alone."

"Don't go," Bethany tried to whisper, desperation building inside of her. But the words that she wanted to say wouldn't come, and she was only able to watch as he turned his back on her and crossed the street. She blinked a few times, her mouth hanging open as more tears fell down her face.

No, she _couldn't_ lose him like this again. Fueled by determination, Bethany set her legs into motion. It was the first time that she was able to run after him; even in her dreams she hadn't been able to. She sprinted across the street, just barely avoiding the moving cars.

"Ki— Kiel! WAIT!" Bethany yelled, her voice hoarse. A car beeped loudly at her, and she turned too late to see it coming towards her at a fast pace. Not knowing what else to do, Bethany dove for the sidewalk, landing hard on the ground. She grunted in pain but quickly picked herself up again, scrambling to follow the boy.

"Kiel!" Bethany shouted again, only a few feet away from him now. Her foot landed in a huge pile of snow, and she had to yank it back out with some effort. Since she didn't have a coat, she was freezing but didn't dare let that stop her. Kiel was definitely more important to her than a coat.

She finally came to a stop right behind him, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him towards her. She was breathless, and the tears had frozen on her cheeks. She wiped them away, her teeth chattering. "K-Kiel."

At her touch, Kiel turned his head and looked at her. Fully looked at her. But the expression on his face quickly changed to one that she'd never seen on him before. He was staring at her with disgust. It made her stomach twist into knots.

"Kiel . . . wait . . . I'm so sorry, I—"

"You're a horrible friend," he said abruptly, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I didn't mean it," Bethany whispered, tentatively walking closer to him. She reached a hand out to touch the side of his face, but he smacked her hand away. She flinched.

"You know what? I hate _you_ , Bethany Sanderson," he spat. "I understand now that I don't want you in my life. I could care less about you. Do you know why? Because you're horrible and boring and selfish—"

"What?" She was practically stumbling over her own feet as she backed away from him. She sniffled. "Please don't say that."

Kiel glared at her. "I want nothing to do with you. You push _everyone_ away. You pushed _me_ away!"

"I had to! I was forced to say that! I didn't _mean_ it!"

He raised his eyebrows. "It sounded exactly like you meant it."

"But I _didn't_."

"No." He shook his head. "No, you did, Bethany. And that's fine. Just don't come near me again, okay?"

She took a shuddering breath, trying to hold back more tears. "No, no, I can't—"

"Do you have anything to say for yourself, anything that _won't_ make me want to get away from you?" Kiel interrupted, narrowing his eyes.

Bethany stared at him, at a loss for words. Her throat was so tight, and she grappled for something to say. The time unfortunately didn't come, because he turned around and walked away from her. Knowing better, she held herself back from running after him again, even though she wanted to.

He got farther and farther away until he disappeared behind a house, gone forever. She hugged herself tightly, her eyes drifting to the ground in defeat. A strange thought occurred to her as she begrudgingly walked away from Kiel, allowing the tears to fall out.

He hadn't called her “Beth”.

Sighing, Bethany rubbed her eyes and set off in the direction of home. She wasn't even sure if she was actually going the right way, but in that moment it didn't matter. All she could think about was how she'd lost Kiel _again_ , just like she'd lost her father. She kept making all of these mistakes, and it made her exhausted. When would it end?

"Bethany!" a familiar voice called with a hint of anguish, and Bethany felt goosebumps prickle her skin. No, not someone else! This was too much to deal with, and she felt so overwhelmed that she had trouble sucking in air. What was going on now?

The person called her name again, so Bethany started to run, trying to follow the voice. She didn't think she'd ever run so fast as she did in that moment. The desperation to ensure that her friend was safe propelled her legs forward. The frigid wind was in her face, blowing her long hair behind her.

Each step felt like lifting a ton of bricks, and Bethany wasn't sure if it was only from the emotional exhaustion she was feeling. But she didn't slow down, not once. How could she? Her mind flashed with images of all the bad things that could be happening to her distressed friend. If only she could be faster . . .

"I'm — I'm coming!" Bethany shouted. " _I'm coming_!"

She sprinted down the sidewalk, her sneakers soundly pounding against the hard surface. The snow seemed to grow heavier from there, and it almost blinded her from seeing what was in front of her. Several times she had to shield her eyes with her hand or wipe the snowflakes from her eyelashes. The air felt colder than ever, chilling her entire body.

As the person's calls grew more frantic, she did too. She tried the best she could to locate the voice, but with the snowfall it was hard to tell if she was going the right way. And she _had_ to be going the right way, or else it'd be too late. Her heart was beating erratically in her chest, but seemed to stop completely when she finally saw the person — the girl — standing before her.

"Gwen?" Bethany said, her voice barely a whisper.

She came to a stop, her chest heaving from all of the running. She had to wipe her eyes again, which had become watery. She wasn't sure if it was from the sting of the cold wind in her face this time or the leftover tears from seeing Kiel just minutes before. It was hard to tell.

Without saying a word, Gwen smiled. She was dressed in her usual EarthGirl outfit, which for some reason seemed strange to Bethany but she shook off the weird feeling. Just like when she saw Kiel, comfort washed over Bethany at the sight of Gwen. Her smile never failed to make Bethany feel better, despite the rollercoaster of emotions she'd just gone through.

"Are you okay?" Bethany asked in a shaky voice, looking her over. Gwen didn't seem harmed or scared in any way, which made her wonder why the girl's shouts had been so insistent. Why had it seemed like Gwen was in danger?

"Of course I am!" Gwen told her. "There's actually something that I want to talk to you about." She sat down on a bench that was positioned next to the sidewalk and motioned for Bethany to do the same.

It struck Bethany as odd that Gwen, along with Kiel, hadn't even noticed that she'd been upset. Even though she'd wiped her tears away the best she could, Gwen still would've been able to notice. Normally, they would've comforted her right away if that was the case. It bothered and confused her that they hadn't, but she was too emotional to focus on how strange this entire situation was.

"What is it?" Bethany asked tentatively, sitting down beside the other girl.

Gwen stared at her for a few seconds, chewing on the inside of her cheek. Then, she shrugged. "I guess I'll just come right out and say it. I'm sorry, but . . . I don't think having you as a friend has been a good influence on me. I appreciate everything you've done for me in the past, but I just don't want to be friends anymore."

Bethany's mouth dropped open. Her heart spiraled to the floor. She hadn't been expecting her to say that at all. It felt like her day had just gotten much worse, if it was possible. "W-What?"

"I don't want to be friends anymore," Gwen repeated, looking a bit guilty. She looked down. "I'm really sorry, Bethany. I just can't be around you anymore."

Why was she saying that? Bethany stared at her with huge eyes, her breathing unsteady. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Gwen, one of her greatest and most supportive friends, who was always positive and welcoming, had said that she didn't want to be friends with Bethany anymore? Had Bethany heard that right?

"I-I don't understand," Bethany whispered, trying to keep her voice even. "Did I do something wrong? You — why would you _say_ that?"

"I think that I need friends who are more like me, from my world and planet. I would rather be having fun, and well . . . going on all of these quests is bumming me out."

Bethany couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her heart was sinking lower and lower. "But I thought you loved the quests we go on."

"I _did_ , yes. But now I need more positivity in my life. I have to face so many fights and violence every time I'm with you, and I would rather be somewhere that I feel safe. I'm sorry, you just haven't been the best influence on me. And that way, I won't need to be thrown into violence all of the time!" She smiled. "You get it, don't you?"

Bethany didn't get it. Not one part of her did. How could this be happening? This _couldn't_ be happening! She could never lose Gwen, but to know that Gwen didn't want to be around her? It was like a punch in the stomach.

"You don't feel _safe_ around me?"

Gwen wordlessly shook her head, giving her a slightly pitying look even as she smiled. She reached over to pat Bethany on the hand, then rose from the bench. "Bye, Bethany. Again, sorry for all of that. But wow, it definitely feels like a relief to say it out loud!"

Before Bethany could stop her, Gwen took off into the air, flying straight up until she disappeared into the clouds. Bethany stared at the sky, wishing with all of her might that Gwen would come back. But she never did. Bethany let out a long sigh. She'd lost another friend, another person that was so important to her that life seemed less complete than before.

"Bye, Gwen," Bethany whispered.

Suddenly, the smell of smoke to wafted into her nose. At first, Bethany thought she must've just been imagining it. But the smell was undeniably strong, and she could practically feel the heat radiating onto her back, causing her skin to feel a slight degree warmer. As bad as things were, it seemed that life had yet another challenge to throw at her.

Despite really not wanting to, Bethany forced herself to turn around, only for her eyes to widen in horror. She slapped a hand over her mouth. Someone had set Owen's mother's library on fire! The place that was her safe haven for so many years. The library she'd gone to for as long as she could remember, where she'd taken books to jump into millions of times.

It was where she'd gone to every day after school with Owen and Kiel, and when Kiel had gone back to the fictional world, Owen had remained by her side each time they went to the library together. There were so many unforgettable memories in that place, so seeing it ablaze was horrifying. Who could've done this?

Filled with dread, Bethany broke out into a run. It was likely that her best friend, Owen, was in that library, working for his afternoon shift. What if he was in danger? If she was thinking logically, then the library had both a front and back door, which meant that he could've gotten out just fine.

But Bethany was far from thinking logically. She couldn't help but think of every worst possible scenario, and all of the bad things that could be happening to her best friend. Of the bad things, there were plenty of options to choose from. The good scenarios were nonexistent. The assumption that Owen would be okay could be very wrong, Bethany knew.

The wooden shelves and the thousands of books would only fuel the fire, making it grow. If Owen was in there, then there was a chance that the fire was too huge to simply escape from. And if entrances to the library were blocked, then there was definitely no way he'd have gotten out of there. Panic filled her. He'd be trapped!

She reached the library within seconds, feeling the temperature growing hotter and hotter as she got closer. The building was almost entirely engulfed in flames. The entrance to the library was closed, so she frantically pushed on the door, trying to open it. It didn't budge. She pounded her fists against it, using all of her strength to try getting the door to open.

"Owen!" Bethany yelled desperately. " _Owen_! Where are you?!"

Seeing as the door was officially stuck, she backed away quickly, only to transform into an oversized bowling ball and smash through the door. She rolled inside and transformed back to her normal self before she got too far into the building. There was dark smoke everywhere and she could barely make out thousands of books that were encased in the flames.

For a moment, Bethany just stood there, coughing and gasping as she stared at her favorite library. She was _horrified_ , but she could only imagine that her horror was nothing compared to Owen's. This was his favorite place, too. No, this was his life. He'd worked at the checkout area every day after school, and soon there'd be nothing left of it.

All of the sudden, the ceiling shook. Bethany has just enough time to leap back before a chunk of it fell right where she'd been standing. She felt a small surge of relief that she hadn't been hit by it, but reminded herself not to waste any more time. She turned on her heel and stumbled further into the library, coughing violently as she called Owen's name.

She pulled the front of her shirt over her mouth, but it did little to make her breathing easier. There was almost no oxygen at all. She could feel the flames dancing closer and closer to her skin. Her body felt weaker with each step but she forced herself to keep going.

She had to find Owen before it was too late. If she could do that, he'd be okay.

"Owen," Bethany croaked, another fit of coughs consuming her. Hot tears stung her eyes. She felt so weak that she didn't have the strength to shout anymore. It was hard enough to breathe, since her lungs felt like they were burning.

She nearly collapsed in her efforts to get to the back of the library, which was the only place left to look. The walls creaked and groaned ominously, looking like they'd fall apart at any moment. She felt more panicked by the second as she looked everywhere she could for Owen. With the smoke filling the room, it was becoming very hard to see.

As she finally neared the children's section, where the flames had lessened, Bethany spotted something lying on the ground. With renewed determination, she weakly pushed herself forward, even as her legs nearly gave out. And once she saw what that something was, her legs _did_ give out.

She collapsed to the ground, choking on air. Still holding her shirt over her mouth, Bethany slowly crawled towards Owen. Her lungs felt worse than ever, to the point where she was sure that she'd faint. As soon as she reached him, she latched onto his wrist like a port in a storm.

"Owen," Bethany whispered, her voice incredibly strained. She coughed several times again and held his wrist tighter. To her horror, his eyes were closed. She doubted he was even breathing. She weakly slapped a hand on his arm, trying to rouse him.

"Wake . . . up!" she said, coughing harder. Her brain felt so foggy that it was just as hard to think. Hot tears stung her eyes as she desperately tried searching for a pulse, pressing her fingers against every part of his wrist. It made her feel even more panicked when she was given the worst news: there _was_ no pulse.

No.

_No!_

"Wake up . . ." Bethany rasped, slapping a hand against his chest with what little strength she had left. As she collapsed at his side, too exhausted to stay conscious any longer, she felt numb. She didn't feel the motivation or the strength to push herself to her feet. There was nothing left for her to fight for.

It was so exhausting, Bethany realized, to lose everyone she cared about. She was tired of fighting, trying to hold onto those she loved when all they did was slip out of her grasp. She felt numb and her lungs ached and she'd already become accustomed to the bitter tears in the back of her throat. She didn't know what there was left to keep fighting for.

The people she loved were gone.

* * *

" _The end of the day, I'm helpless. Can you keep me close? Can you love me most?"_


	36. The World Is Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara wonders how she’ll fix things as the end of her world approaches.

_**Unsteady (by the X** _ _**Ambassadors)**_

_"_ _Hold on, hold on to me. 'Cause I'm a little unsteady . . ."_

* * *

_ii. autophobia; the fear of oneself_

"Can you tell me again why we're not inside yet?"

They were standing outside Waffle House, waiting in a line that seemed to be impossibly long. They'd been waiting for a solid fifteen minutes already, shifting from foot to foot with rumbling stomachs. After discovering this sacred place for eating breakfast, Kara had been the one to suggest that they go to eat there.

"I _could_ jump forward in time, but it's kind of satisfying to wait," Kara said to Owen, who was standing next to her with growing impatience. There was a strange, foggy feeling in her head that she couldn't shake away, but she didn't take much notice of it, as she was too focused on getting inside the restaurant.

"But we've been waiting for ages!" Owen complained. "Could you jump forward in time? At least _five_ minutes in time would be fine. We'd get in quicker, and then we'd be able to eat right away!"

She shoved her shoulder against his. "You must not see the benefits of the plan."

"Not really, no."

Kara laughed a little. "The restaurant has an all-you-can-eat breakfast special today," she said, nodding towards the sign at the front door. "That means that the hungrier we get, the more we can eat."

Owen stared at her. "That doesn't make any sense. Are you trying to make me starve?"

She gave him a small grin. "Only because I care about you," she said, which made him blush in the most adorable way possible. Her heart fluttered. "It'll be fine. We only have, what, ten people ahead of us? That's a lot less than it was earlier."

He sighed, glancing at the line ahead of them. "I'm pretty sure the line for _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source Of Magic_ was just like this."

Kara cringed a bit. "Is this one of your nonfictional things?"

"Oh, yeah," Owen said, and it was his turn to smile at her. "But that time, I was working and I wasn't actually _in_ line. This takes more time than I could've even imagined, and it's not even for a book!"

"Yeah, perspective _does_ change things," she agreed. "Trust me, it'll be worth it once we're ordering dozens of waffles. You'll love it."

Owen grinned.

Twenty minutes later, they'd finally made it inside the restaurant. They were sitting at a booth, alternating between talking about what they'd get and looking at their menus. Soft pop music played in the background, filling Kara's ears with a pleasant noise.

It felt peaceful to Kara, who had come to appreciate the good, safe moments. Currently, there was no ominous threat, no dinosaurs and certainly no time agents seeking to destroy her. Instead, she was sitting in a Waffle House with her best and only friend, about to dive into the most important meal of the day.

Too bad the universe had other things in store for them.

At first, Kara didn't notice the sound. It was too quiet and hardly noticeable unless one was purposely trying to listen for it. But then, it got louder, loud enough to make her lift her head from her menu. That was when she saw something that made her mouth go dry. The forks and knives on their table had begun to rattle.

Looking around, she saw that it wasn't only the utensils. Everything in the entire restaurant was rattling, from chairs to plates to drinks that threatened to spill over. Kara barely had time to acknowledge what was going on, but the tightening sensation in her stomach told her that something very bad was about to happen.

Owen looked up from his menu only seconds after she had, his doe-eyes wide. He looked from her to the moving objects around them. "What's going on?!"

Kara opened her mouth to say something, but never got the opportunity, as all of the windows in the restaurant shattered. Just outside, she heard the wind and thunder roaring in the distance. She and Owen immediately ducked their heads to avoid getting injured, covering their eyes as the glass from their window flew right into their booth.

Surprised screams sounded from all around her, but it was no louder than the storm that was growing just outside. The wind was becoming stronger and stronger, and just about everything looked ready to fly away. Her heart racing, Kara tugged on Owen's arm and quickly pulled him out of the booth.

"Come on, we need to get somewhere safe!" she shouted over the noise.

"Where?"

Kara didn't reply; she didn't really know. The safest place would be inside, or somewhere very, very far away. But with how strong and huge the storm was, she had a feeling that staying inside wouldn't be a smart move. Even if they teleported a good distance away they might still have to face the storm. The only way to get out of this was to travel backwards in time, but that still wouldn't stop this from happening.

It dawned on her that this wasn't any ordinary storm. It was one that had the strength to destroy the entire world. She'd seen a few instances like it before. Even though the world wasn't supposed to end until a decade from now, for some reason it was no longer happening that far in the future. It was happening now.

It didn't make sense. Why was it happening _right_ now, when Kara thought she'd have more time? Time never worked in her favor, but it was the one thing that had distanced her from the destruction of the world. Time had given her some opportunities to take every risk she could, anything that would stop the future from getting ruined. Nothing she did would prevent it, though.

The worst part was, she knew who the cause of it was. It was her. It was _always_ her, and that terrified her to no end, because nothing she ever did could stop things in the future. She'd been cursed to unleash evil and end all of reality, but despite doing everything she could to prevent that, Kara always managed to cause destruction. She was afraid of what she was capable of.

Back when she was twelve, Kara had met her future self, who'd given her a time bracelet and had warned her about the events she'd cause in the future. Not yet understanding, Kara used time travel for enjoyment, naively believing that she'd be able to easily change what was to come in the future.

But she was wrong. _So_ wrong. She soon understood that she was immune to paradoxes, which meant that her future was set in stone. There was absolutely no way to change it. The circumstances were the only things that changed, but the end result was always the same. Because of her, the world was destroyed and her best friend ended up dying.

"Watch out!" Owen shouted, jolting Kara from her darkening thoughts. She had barely enough time to look up and see what he meant. The wall nearest them, which had been creaking from the increasingly strong wind, had started to _move_. Okay, _that_ wasn't a good sign.

Before she knew it, the wall was bending towards her, the entire restaurant collapsing in on itself. People fled for the doors and windows, hurrying to escape, but Kara didn't have time to see if they all made it out. Both Kara and Owen began to scream as the wall came closer, only seconds away from crashing into them.

"Hold tight, I'm going to move us geographically!" Kara told Owen as she quickly laced her fingers through his, a gesture that was as natural and effortless as breathing. Hurriedly, she jammed her finger on one of the symbols on her time bracelet and prayed that she'd pressed the right one.

The restaurant faded away, and Kara's body felt as though it were being pulled in different directions, which was a sensation she'd gotten used to. A second later, the two of them landed outside, a short distance away from the restaurant. Kara let go of Owen, breathing heavily as she tried thinking of a way to solve this.

A sudden loud smack of thunder made her jump, and Kara instantly turned her head towards the sky. What she saw made her mouth drop open. It was so much worse than a normal thunderstorm, or even a tornado. Above her, there was a gigantic vortex. It swirled around and around as lighting stretched across the sky, turning the wind stronger by the second.

Shaking all over, Kara slowly turned around in a circle, her eyes on the world around them. It was worse than anything she could've imagined it to be. Everywhere she looked, chunks of buildings were breaking off, flying up into the sky and getting absorbed by the vortex. People fled left and right, trying to get to safety, but there was nowhere to run or hide. The storm was too intense.

They, too, were unable to withstand the strength of the wind. It was so strong that it began pulling them off their feet, and even while some of them held onto objects, many were sucked into the vortex. More objects went flying up, from benches to trees to soon even entire cars. Not even the heaviest objects had a chance against the vortex, which was as powerful as a magnet.

This was the same future that always showed the world ending, which was always because of her. No matter what she did or tried not to do, this future was something she couldn't prevent. It was just a reminder that every step she took would always lead to here. No matter how hard she tried, some things — such as the future — weren't easily changed by a different timeline.

And all of it, every single part, was her fault. This storm was happening because of her, because she'd been the one to spark the world into utter destruction. People were getting hurt because of her, and it made her loathe herself. She felt so lost; she had no idea how to fix anything. The only thing she had was a time bracelet, but that couldn't prevent _this_.

What did she do to deserve this? Was she a good person at all? Or was she always destined to be bad, no matter what she did? It seemed that way a lot of times. In many people's eyes, Kara was an evil time criminal who would wipe out all of existence in the future.

They weren't wrong. Even though she didn't have a choice in the matter, she knew that a person would definitely be evil if they destroyed the world. Villains always did that sort of thing. Kara never used to think of herself as a villain, because she always tried her best to be honest and do the right thing, but sometimes it really _did_ feel like she was evil.

For the hundredth time, she wished she was a different person. It would solve all of her problems, and the world would thank her for it. If she was someone else, she wouldn't be pushed to cause destruction. She wouldn't be desperately scrambling to stop her own mistakes, only to dig herself further into a hole.

If she was someone else, she wouldn't be immune to paradoxes, so she'd at least be able to change her future. It frustrated and scared her that she never could. If she could just change the future, then the world would finally be safe from her. Most importantly, _Owen_ would be safe from her.

"Kara?" Owen asked, seemingly hundreds of miles away from her now. That's what it felt like, as she could hardly process what was going on. No, she understood perfectly well what was going on. She told herself that she was smart enough to figure out how to handle this, since she was a time-traveling expert. But the truth was, she had no idea how to handle this. No idea at all.

All she could do was blame herself over and over again, feeling ashamed and horrified that she could ever do something so horrible. Owen had once called her a heroine, but what kind of heroine would do that? Not the kind he always read about. She didn't know why he'd ever thought that. All she did was good, but the things she received were bad.

All noises came out muffled as Kara tried to hide her growing panic, not wanting to scare Owen. Her heartbeat was loud and prominent. The world was getting torn apart right before her eyes and she didn't even remember causing a storm. The vortex was growing bigger by the second, and would've surely lifted her off her feet if she hadn't dug her heels into the dirt.

"Kara? Are you okay?"

Owen's words managed to drawl her back to reality, and she looked over at him. He was staring at her with a mix of concern and fear, and she wondered for a brief moment if he was afraid of _her_. "Kara? What's going _on_? Are you okay?"

Kara took a deep breath. "I'm okay," she said, her own words tasting bad in her mouth. "But bad news: the world is ending right now, so I _need_ to get you out of here. You need to go far back in time where you won't get hurt."

It looked like Owen hadn't fully registered her words. He glanced fearfully at the gigantic vortex before looking back at her. " _Me_? What about you?"

She shook her head, forcing a smile. "Don't worry about it. I don't even know how to stop this, but I need to face it. I'll be fine."

"No, you can't stay here either! You need to be safe, too—!"

"I'll be _fine!"_ Kara insisted, her eyes locked on his. In a softer voice, she added, "I need you to trust me."

"O-Okay," Owen said, his voice faltering slightly. "Okay, I trust you."

She gave him a small, sad smile, this one slightly less forced than the first one. "Come on, it's more important for _you_ to be somewhere safe." She grabbed his hand, prepared to move them backwards in time, but what he said next made her pause.

"Wait . . . this is your fault, isn't it?" Owen whispered, his expression changing to one that she didn't recognize. From his tone, Kara could tell that it wasn't a question. "This is your whole prophecy thing. You're the one that's destroying the world. It's not just a storm."

She nodded, not letting go of his hand even when she saw the look on his face. She pushed away the hatred and fear swirling inside of her and focused on Owen. In that moment, it the only thing she could focus on that would make her feel better.

If her world was a rushing river, Owen was her life support raft. Even though she had knowledge about things like paradoxes and wormholes and cosmic strings and the theory of relativity, he was the only one who was kind to her after her whole mess with time travel had started. He gave her life more joy, especially in a time where she hadn't felt so joyful.

Owen pulled his hand out of her's. It was like a sting in the heart. She tried not to feel hurt, but it was hard not to. "W-Why would you do that?"

"It was never my choice," Kara said as the wind whipped violently through their hair. "I guess the universe just keeps pushing me to destroy it." She scrunched her eyebrows together, trying to hold back the tears that flooded her eyes. "It just doesn't make sense." She looked back at the vortex, feeling more afraid by the second. "This wasn't supposed to happen so soon! That way at least I'd have more time to stop it."

"I thought you said you _couldn't_ stop it."

Kara nodded glumly, glancing back at him. "Exactly. I've tried so many times, and I _can't_." She took a shuddering breath, not even feeling embarrassed when a few tears fell from her eyes. "That's why I need to get you out of here. It's _way_ too dangerous."

_And so am I_ , she thought to herself.

"No." Owen slowly took a step away from her, swallowing nervously. Kara had expected his words of comfort or even his optimistic attitude, because that was normally how he responded in this type of situation, especially when Kara was close to losing hope. But the last thing she expected was for him to walk _away_ from her.

"What?" Kara muttered, her eyes widening. "Owen, what are—"

"I can't go with you."

"Why not?"

"Because you're scaring me, Kara!" Owen said quickly, stumbling back even more. He was looking at her in the same way he might look at Nobody or a dinosaur — with fear. "The danger isn't the storm. It's _you_."

"What?" Kara stared at him in shock, her heart raced harder. She'd never, ever expected him to say something like that. He never had, and he'd never blamed her for destroying the world in the future before.

She took a small step towards him, and he jumped away from her like she was on fire. "P-Please, get away from me."

"Owen?"

He stumbled back. "G-Get away from me! You're hurting everyone. You're going to hurt me, too!"

Guilt wracked Kara's nerves. She was so angry at herself, for the mistakes she'd made and the ones that she seemed to keep making. He was right to believe that she was going to hurt him, because one way or another, it always ending up happening in the future. He always got ripped away from her.

Kara's heart twisted painfully when the realization sunk in — that something had changed within Owen and he was no longer the book-loving boy who was just as gullible as he was kind. He no longer seemed to trust her. Instead, he was afraid of what she was capable of, just as much as she was. He was afraid of _her_.

It felt like a slap in the face, and Kara didn't know how to respond. "I just want you to be safe," she said finally, her words coming out slightly choked. "You might be right, but I never — I _never_ wanted to hurt you."

Owen was still staring at her like she was some kind of monster, and that hurt more than anything. Unlike all the times he'd looked at her with a smile, he was looking at her in the same way many people had. He was shaking like a leaf, looking about ready to be whisked away in the intense wind. He took another step back, then another, then another until he bumped up against a lamppost.

"Owen?"

They both turned.

A girl that definitely hadn't been there before was standing a few feet away from them, quickly walking towards them with an angry look on her face. She had her hair in a tight ponytail, and the side of her face, leg, and arm were covered in robotic parts. Something about her features looked familiar, but Kara didn't fully recognize her as anyone she'd met before.

"Charm!" Owen squeaked, and let out a huge sigh of relief as he went to the girl's side. "Thank god you're here. I was hoping that Bethany or Kiel would show up to protect me, since they're a lot better at that type of thing."

Kara felt another pang of sadness as she eyed the girl, feeling hurt and confused. Now that she knew who the girl was, she could confirm that she _did_ know her from somewhere. The only thing that was confusing was that Kara could barely interpret why Charm would be here in Kara's world. It was stranger than paradoxes sometimes were.

Charm stared at Owen, her gaze hard and stony. In spite of her expression, her words were more sympathetic than Kara would've expected. "Are you alright? Did that girl hurt you?"

"Almost," Owen breathed, looking visibly afraid as he glanced back at Kara. "But we need to get away before she destroys everything! She's already destroying the world. Who _knows_ what she might destroy next!"

Something about the situation made it even stranger. A voice in the back of Kara's head told her that this interaction between Charm and Owen wasn't one that would normally happen, but the stubborn side of her disagreed. How couldn't it be real, when it was happening right in front of her? Even with this assuring thought, she couldn't shake off the weird feeling.

"Exactly," Charm said, nodding a few times. "I hate her already. I never understood why you liked her so much."

"I'm so sorry. I take all the blame and responsibility for it. It was _all_ my fault," Kara said quietly. "But I promise that I would never intentionally hurt Owen. He's my best friend."

Charm stared disgustedly at her for a moment — like she was someone's gum underneath their shoe — before looking at Owen. "We need to get to my spaceship. You'll be safe from her there."

"Good idea," Owen said with a grimace. "The farther I get away from her, the better. I'll be in danger if I stay anywhere near her."

Kara's lips trembled, but she straightened up and forced herself to remain strong. "Owen, I need to try saving the world as much as I can. Even if there's a ninety-nine percent chance that it won't work," she told him softly. "Just promise me you'll stay safe, okay? I'd feel awful if you got hurt because of the storm — well, because of me."

Owen didn't say anything, which was strange in itself. It was unusual for him to be quiet; usually he'd ramble when he was nervous, a habit that Kara had noticed over the time they'd known each other. His eyes were locked on her's and normally they'd be filled with some hope. But now? All she saw was his fear. It was painted all over his face.

The ground suddenly shook beneath them, the sidewalk beginning to split into two. It was so sudden that it nearly knocked Kara off her feet, and it seemed to be happening all over the street. A few unlucky people tripped and fell, getting swallowed up by the ground if they weren't already getting pulled up into the swirling vortex.

As the ground split forcefully open, Owen yelped in surprise, swinging his arms as he tried keeping his balance. But it was too late. He was already teetering over the edge, and within seconds he'd fall into the ground. From the looks of it, the fall went so deep that anyone who fell in likely wouldn't be able to survive.

"Owen, watch out!" Kara yelled. Her heart jumped in her throat. Running only on autopilot, she raced forward and leapt into the air, her feet leaving the ground. Her arms outstretched, she threw them around Owen, having just enough momentum to send both of them flying backwards, where they'd be a safe distance away from the chasm.

They both hit the ground hard, and Kara winced as pain erupted throughout her body. Not that she really cared. All that really mattered was that Owen was okay. She coughed a few times, then rolled off of Owen and stumbled shakily to her feet. It was even harder to keep her balance now, both with the strong wind and the intensely shaking ground.

"W-What d-did you do?" Owen whimpered, and she turned to see him still on the ground, scooting away from her. His eyes were huge and frightened, his movements just as shaky as her's.

"I saved you," Kara mumbled, feeling that same sharp pain in her heart again. She was tempted to nudge her shoulder against his — an action that she normally did with him — but she held herself back. When Owen would stop being afraid of her, she didn't know. Not that she blamed him. Everyone had the right to be afraid of her when she was capable of something like _this._

Charm ran over to them, grabbing Owen by the arm and hoisting him up easily with the use of her robotic arm. "Let's go, Owen," she said, shooting a death glare back at Kara. Kara shivered. If looks could kill, she would be obliterated on the spot.

"O-Okay," Owen whispered, not meeting Kara's eyes a second time. That hurt more than anything Kara had ever experienced. Even getting taken away into solitary confinement had been easier than this. He was so afraid of her that he couldn't look her in the eyes. _Everyone_ was afraid of her.

Kara watched as Owen and Charm walked away, somehow keeping themselves balanced against the earthquake and the strong winds that the vortex caused. She had only a second to watch them go, however, as another crack of thunder radiated across the sky. It was so loud that it nearly shook the earth, and she felt that the wind whipping through her hair and clothes was stronger than ever.

She turned her tear-filled eyes to the sky above her, where the whole world seemed to be splitting itself apart. And it was. Objects of all sizes were flying up into the vortex, as well as people. The only person who was rooted to the ground was Kara, at the center of it all. She was directly underneath the vortex now, standing in the eye of the storm as everything else fell apart around her.

She remembered it so clearly, the first day she'd seen her future self. That was the day that had started it all. A twenty-five year old Kara had given her the time bracelet, showing her how to make it work. She'd told her what was going to happen in the future, promising that only Kara could fix it. But her future self was wrong.

If only she'd known better.

* * *

**Three Years Ago**

_Kara was sitting cross-legged on her bed, scribbling down the answers (or what she hoped were the answers) for her history homework. History was probably one of the only subjects she was good at, besides science. It'd always been easy for her to understand._

_For her, seventh grade wasn't an any better experience than the average twelve-year-old girl's. She'd always felt different from her classmates. There was a physical difference obviously, since she just recently had made the decision to dye her hair pink. None of the other girls had pink hair, but she didn't mind the difference. She embraced it, so she might as well dye her hair to embrace it even more._

_She sighed, setting her pencil down on her bed and running a hand through her short hair. She glanced at the window and was slightly surprised to see that it was dark already, and a crescent moon was peaking from out of the trees. She'd been so lost in her homework that she must've forgotten to take a break!_

_Suddenly, there was a strange crackling noise coming from her bedroom door. It sounded almost like mini fireworks, like the ones that went off in her neighborhood on the Fourth of July. Kara turned in confusion, expecting to see one of her parents opening the door, but it was in the same position that she'd left it when she came into her room._

_Huh. That was weird._

_Kara stared for a moment longer at her motionless door before shrugging and turning back to her history homework, ready to delve back into the American revolution of the 18th century. She reread the question she'd been on and picked up her pencil, trying to think of the correct answer. That was when she heard the noise again, only it was much louder this time._

_She jumped, and this time when she looked over at her door, she saw something that she had never,_ ever _expected to see. She must've been dreaming, or else there really_ were _little electric fireworks exploding right in front of her door. The air was beginning to spark out of nowhere, and it was the most magical, jaw-dropping thing that Kara had ever seen._

_What happened next was even more jaw-dropping, as a literal person_ appeared out of thin air. _Too shell-shocked to scream, she watched as the person — a woman with noticeably short pink hair — stumbled a few times before collapsing right on the spot. The woman looked utterly exhausted, with huge bags under her eyes and her entirely body weakened._

_"_ _Oh — oh my god! What the heck just_ happened _?" Kara whispered to herself, feeling strangely faint._

_She was so surprised that she could only sit there, completely paralyzed. She couldn't believe what had just happened! A person had just appeared out of nowhere (out of nowhere!) and had collapsed to the ground. That same person was laying on the ground, barely looking like they were alive._

_Then, her brain caught up with the rest of her, and Kara quickly slid off of the bed. She fell to her knees, crawling the rest of the way towards the woman and cautiously tapped her in the arm. "Um, excuse me? Hello?"_

_The woman stirred, then slowly cracked her eyes open and fixed Kara with a dazed look. Kara, having never seen someone faint before, had absolutely no idea how to handle the strange situation. Who was this woman? What should she do? Call her parents for help? Every instinct told her to, since this was a complete stranger, but something told her she should keep this to herself._

_Kara touched the woman's forearm, feeling a shiver go through her as she did so. There was something about the woman that seemed so undoubtedly familiar, and with her pink hair and blue eyes, she almost looked like, well,_ Kara _. But that couldn't be possible! Kara didn't have any siblings that she knew of._

_Then again, she'd never thought it was possible for someone to just appear out of nowhere . . . and in the middle of her bedroom, of all places! If it was possible for_ that _to happen — which was still so shocking, by the way — then it was definitely possible for her to have an older sister that she'd never heard about. That was a lot more believable than someone magically appearing in thin air._

_"_ _Are you okay?" Kara asked, setting aside her other thousands of questions for now. "How did you —_ how _did you—"_

_"_ _Appear out of nowhere?" the woman rasped, her voice barely a whisper. Despite her exhausted state, she managed to chuckle a bit. She slowly started to push herself to her elbows, almost looking like she might faint again._

_"_ _. . . Do you need anything?" Kara asked, nervously glancing around the room. "Um, I can get you some water. Or food?"_

_The woman only nodded weakly, and Kara stumbled to her feet, her mind a confused blur as she crashed out of her bedroom and raced to the kitchen. Her hands were shaking with nerves and excitement as she grabbed for a cup and started filling it with water. All the while, millions of questions raced in her head, which couldn't be answered until the woman was in a better state._

_As soon as she was finished, Kara raced back to her bedroom, her socks almost skidding against the wooden floor in her attempts to get there faster. She flung open the door and quickly closed it behind her, then locked it for good measure. The woman was right where Kara had left her, sitting in a heap on the floor._

_"_ _Sorry if I took too long," Kara told her, handing her the water. She watched as the woman shakily lifted it to her mouth and drank it, barely having enough strength to even do that. The woman handed the cup back to Kara, and Kara set it on her bedside table before sitting down beside the woman._

_"_ _It's fine, Kara," the woman whispered, and Kara's heart jumped. "I'm just glad I made it back here alive."_

_"_ _You know my name?"_

_The woman smiled a bit, nodding. "I'm sure this is all very shocking for you, and it might be a lot to process, but you have to understand that I'm your—"_

_"_ _Sister?" Kara finished._

_The woman stopped talking entirely and turned to stare at her. After a few seconds of looking shocked, she burst out laughing. "No! No, of course not! I'm not your sister! I'm you, from the future."_

_"_ _You're . . . me?" Kara said slowly. She felt so lost. How on earth was that possible? "Me, like_ actually _me? You're me from the future? You're_ me _?"_

_The woman — well, Kara's future self — didn't respond to her remarks. Instead, she slid what looked like a watch off of her wrist, then placed it firmly in the palm of Kara's hand. "I came here to give you this. It's_ very _important. This is a time bracelet."_

_"_ _A time bracelet?" Kara asked, staring in wonder and puzzlement at the bracelet in her hand. It looked so futuristic, with many symbols and buttons on it. She'd never seen anything like it before. "What's that?"_

_"_ _You can use it to travel backward or forewords through time," the woman told her, as if it made perfect sense in the world. "There's a lot more, too, but I'll have to actually teach it to you."_

_"_ What _?" Kara couldn't have been more shocked if a kangaroo had jumped into her bedroom. "Wait, you have to be kidding! That's possible? I can_ do _that? Time travel is real?" She gently ran her finger along one of the symbols. "But why — why are you giving me this?"_

_The woman sighed tiredly. "There are four things that are going to happen in your future, and I believe there's still a way for you to prevent them . . ."_

* * *

"You did this to us!"

Kara was brought back to reality as she quickly turned to see a woman, who was latching onto a lamppost nearest her. She had both of her hands around it, trying desperately not to be blown away. Her fingers were already slipping, however, and it would only be a matter of time before she was sucked into the vortex, along with the tons of other objects and civilians.

"No, I never wanted this! I—" Kara began, but the woman cut her off.

"You are a _monster_ , Kara Dox. You've destroyed the world! It's all your fault!"

Kara blinked several times, her throat feeling tight. She was used to being called a monster, mostly by the other prisoners back in the time prison, the time agents, and the Countess. Almost everyone had called her that, all because of the prophecy that she'd destroy the world. And they were completely right. She _was_ a monster. Because of her, the world was dying. The people had every right to hate her. She hated _herself_.

She forced herself to run over to the lamppost, stretching out her hand towards the woman. She had to do something, _anything_ to help. She was so afraid of what she'd done, afraid that she'd been capable of destroying an entire world . . . all on her own. No matter how many jail cells she locked herself into, there was sadly nothing that could ever stop herself from destroying the world.

Almost all of the woman's fingers was slowly slipping, meaning that she wouldn't have enough time before her hands slipped all the way. Glancing around, Kara saw that the amount of people had lessened, and a lot of the people who _were_ here were quickly getting sent into the vortex.

"Here, take my hand!" Kara shouted, standing on her tiptoes as she held her hand out. She quickly found that she wouldn't be able to reach the woman unless the woman put some effort into it, too. Kara's fingers were a few inches from grazing the woman's hand, but if the woman moved closer, she could definitely grab her and pull her down to the ground.

The woman eyed her distrustfully, clearly very afraid of her. She was breathing heavily, and Kara couldn't tell which she was more afraid of; her or the vortex. Kara sighed, then stretched out her arm even more, trying but failing to grab the woman.

“Come on, just give me your hand!"

"No way," the woman said, shaking her head over and over. "Get away from—"

"I'm so sorry about this," Kara said sincerely. "I never meant for this to happen. I'll do everything I can to help you. I _promise_." She placed her feet on the bottom of the pole, and finally managed to graze the top of the woman's hand, but the illogically woman ripped her hand away, leaving herself to hang on with only one hand.

"Don't you _dare_ touch me!" the woman shouted, and Kara flinched, pulling her arm back at her side. "No one here wants anything to do with you! You're nothing but a monster! If anyone should disappear, it's _you_!" At that moment, her fingers slipped the rest of the way, causing the woman to fly up into the air.

The woman continued to glare hatefully at her, up until when she disappeared into the vortex. As soon as that happened, the winds suddenly died down, as did the earthquake. Kara watched in stunned, horrified amazement as the vortex grew smaller and smaller, until finally, it closed in on itself. The storm was gone.

Kara gasped out loud, rubbing her eyes with her hands as tears rolled down her cheeks. When she opened her eyes, she saw that everything, everywhere was gone. The people were gone, and so were the cars and the street lights and the bicycles. Everything had gotten sucked into the vortex. The only parts of the world that still remained was some broken pieces of the buildings that had once been there.

The world was _gone_. Her heart sinking in despair, Kara made her way around the destroyed world, her eyes huge as she took in everything. Her legs were trembling, barely keeping her upright. There was no one left! It was too late, but maybe . . . maybe there was still one last person left. The last person who could make any of this worth fighting for.

"Owen?" Kara muttered, pulling her legs into a run. She avoided the gaping holes in the ground, not wanting to fall into one of those. She raised her voice to a shout, which sounded hoarse and strained. " _Owen_! Owen, where are you?!"

She ran for what felt like miles, whipping her head around as she called out her friend's name. She wasn't sure if she'd find anything or more specifically, _anyone_ , but it was the only thing she had left to hold on to. Just being here escalated her fear, and horrible thoughts went through her head, telling her that all of this was her fault.

Her breaths grew more unsteady, and Kara could tell that she was growing hysterical. An unquantifiable emotion swelled in her chest and she felt tempted to just stop running, to give up and let herself sulk. But Kara wasn't a quitter, so she held onto one last shred of hope, no matter how stupid or nonsensical it was. She had to hold onto something, or else she'd break apart.

Then, miraculously, she spotted a person laying on the ground in the distance. Kara skidded to a stop, her blood going cold as the worst of her fears escalated. Even from far away, she could recognize the boy. It was _Owen_. She stopped breathing. Was he . . .? No, he _couldn't_ be. But there he was, laying on the ground in the same way that she'd seen thousands of times. In the past, this had always happened because he sacrificed himself for her.

"No, no, no, no, no," Kara whispered, racing over to Owen. Her legs were shaking horribly, and by the time she reached him, she collapsed to the ground. " _Owen_! No, no, no. Not again. Not _again_!"

She knelt beside him, desperately grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. Tears built up in her eyes, and she swallowed down the lump in her throat. She watched as Owen cracked open his eyes, coughing weakly. His honey-brown eyes landed on her, but he looked unfocused and dazed, almost like he wasn't really seeing her.

"Owen," Kara whispered, all of her self-loathing swallowed by the unspoken emotion that poured from every fiber of her being. She forced a shaky smile and took both of his hands, holding them firmly in her's. "Don't worry, I'm here."

"Kara . . ." Owen choked out, attempting to lift his head. He immediately winced and lowered it to the ground again. "I . . ."

"Shh, don't speak," she said gently. "You'll only feel worse if you do that."

He nodded weakly. Kara sniffled. "Oh god, I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen." She searched his eyes. "Just . . . just hold on a little longer, okay? We'll be out of here soon. I'll get you home. I'll take you back to the nonfictional world, a-and . . ." She took a deep breath. "And you can finally show me that _Star Fights_ movie you love so much. You're going to be okay." She could feel herself getting choked up, so she stopped herself from saying more, certain that she'd burst into tears.

Even as she said it in her most convincing tone, she already knew the truth: that Owen wouldn't survive this. That she was desperately holding onto this last shred of hope that he would, but no amount of hope could save him from this. Over thousands of timelines, Owen had died sacrificing himself for her. She would be shocked and immensely grateful if that wasn't the case this time.

"I was . . . wrong," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Hey, don't—"

"I was wrong about you." Owen met her eyes, and she was surprised to see an almost angry, spiteful look that she'd never seen before on his face. "I said . . . that the world . . . ending wasn't . . . your fault, but . . . I was wrong. It . . . _was_. You . . . did this . . . to me."

Kara felt her heart sink. She felt a sob crawling up the back of her throat, threatening to escape at any moment. " _What_? Owen, I would never do that! I understand that you're a-afraid of me, but would _never_ hurt you."

His eyes fluttered closed. "You . . . already . . . have."

He took one last breath, and Kara watched with horror as his hands — along with the rest of his body — went slack. She gasped, dropping his hands in horror. Balling her hands together, Kara brought them down on Owen's chest over and over, trying to revive him. She yelled for him to wake up for what must've been hundreds of times, but she lost count.

It was to no avail, because he didn't move. She hit Owen's chest one more time, then slowly pulled back her shaking hands. Tears streamed down her face as she began to sob, and she collapsed to his side. She dug her hands into the dirt, her head buried into her elbows. Her body wracked with sobs. She could hardly get a breath in.

"Please," she choked out. "Owen, no. _No_! Don't die! You can't do this. Not again!" She fumbled with her time bracelet, her shaking hands making it harder. She typed in a random date in the past, sniffling several times. "I'll stop this. I'll save you."

Kara pressed the button that would send her back in time. It was the only way to fix this. Except nothing happened. There wasn't even a flicker of electricity that showed it was working. Her eyes widened, and she hit the bracelet again and again, her panic rising as she attempted to jump back in time. Instead of going to the past, however, she stayed right where she was.

"Come _on_!" Kara shouted, desperately punching the bracelet several times more. Out of frustration and heartbreak and terror and desperation, she yelled, hoping it would relieve some of the pain that coursed through her. All it did was make her throat feel dry.

This couldn't be happening. How was her time bracelet broken? She glanced at Owen again, giving up and dropping her hands at her sides. It was too late. With her time bracelet broken and the world destroyed, there was nothing she could do. After everything, the world was still destroyed because of her. Her best friend was dead because of her. She had failed to save him. She had failed to save the world.

Kara gently lifted Owen's head, cradling it with her hands. The tears were still falling down her face, blurring her vision. She bent over until they were only inches apart, willing for him to open his eyes and end this horrible nightmare. "Come on, Owen. Please, _please_ don't be dead. You can't die on me again. I'm begging you, j-just open your eyes!"

Her shoulders shook from all the sobbing, and she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before placing her hand back underneath his head. She released a shuddering breath, unable to stop her tears from falling. She watched as teardrops fell onto his unresponsive, emotionless face.

Kara didn't know how to handle it, both the world being destroyed _and_ her best friend dying. The prophecy that she'd tried so hard to stop was fulfilled, whether she wanted it to happen or not. Across various timelines, this had always happened. And ever since her twenty-five year old self had come to warn her, the only thing she'd done was try to stop it from happening. But it had. It was destiny.

All she could think about was how wrong Owen had been, telling her this wasn't her fault. It was. It would _always_ be her fault. And nothing could change her future, because she was immune to paradoxes. Her timeline was set in stone, and the world would always be destroyed because of her. Owen would die because of her. And now, both things had happened. It was impossible to change anything.

Kara felt dizzy from all the crying, but she refused to let go of Owen. She _couldn't_. He was her closest friend. He'd always been there for her, ever since she met him back when they were twelve. And now, the light was gone from her life. It felt like a black hole had sucked everything Kara had ever loved right into it. And _Kara_ was that black hole, unwillingly watching as she destroyed everything and everyone in her path.

All she could do was sit there, feeling as though all the happiness had been drained out of her. Her heart felt like it'd been ripped out of her chest, like no other pain that she'd felt before. Shuddering, Kara bent her head down, touching her forehead to Owen's. A shiver ran up her spine from the contact. Even in her hysterical state, she was dimly aware of how close she was to him.

Not that it mattered anyway. He was never coming back.

Kara's hands still clutched the back of his head as she continued to weep, her heart shattering into millions of pieces. Her world, both her literal and hypothetical one, had collapsed. And there was nothing left to do except sit there, crying until there were no tears left. She begged for Owen to wake up, to open his eyes and tell her that everything would be okay like he usually did, but he didn't. He was gone.

She wasn't sure if it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but she heard footsteps, which grew louder which each passing second. After a moment, Kara realized that it wasn't just her imagination. She didn't want to look up. She didn't want to look away from Owen, but somehow, she managed to.

Sniffling, she wearily lifted her head to see the last person she would've wanted to see. The sight of her future self was walking towards her was enough to make Kara feel even worse than before, especially given the pitying look on her older self's face.

That did it. A hot, seething anger spread throughout Kara's veins, years of heartbreak and hatred and sadness that'd been building up finally coming loose. It unlike anything she'd ever experienced before, and she exploded like a firework releasing into the sky.

"Why would you tell me?!" Kara screamed, filled with fury and sadness. She took a shuddering breath, barely able to breathe at this point. "Why would you tell me all those — a-all those things that would happen in the future if I couldn't _do_ anything about it?! Wouldn't it have been better if you'd never told me, i-if you'd just given me a time bracelet without saying anything? Why wouldn't you?!"

Her future self held up her hands in surrender, taking a few more steps towards her. "Look, I'm—"

"NO!" Kara shouted, pointing a finger at her. She glared furiously at her future self. "I — I _hate_ you! Y-Y-You got Owen _killed_! It would've been easier for everyone if you hadn't told me anything! So WHY DID YOU? WHY DID YOU?!"

All she received was a sad smile. "You just had to know, Kara. I'm so, _so_ sorry. I believed that you'd be able to stop it . . ."

"You were wrong!" Kara shouted.

"I know."

"You _know_?" she asked, her voice faltering. Another sob erupted from her chest. "Is that all you can say?"

"All I can say it that I'm sorry," her future self said, averting her eyes towards the ground. "I thought you'd be able to change things. You had more time than I did, and you had more hope. You had Owen. I guess it was always just too late for both of us."

* * *

_"_ _Hold on, hold on, hold on to me. 'Cause I'm a little unsteady, a little unsteady . . ."_


	37. Left Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bethany and Orion fight back against the criminals of Jupiter City. Orion starts to doubt if he fits in with the Sanderson family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is yet another fear-sequence chapter and don’t worry bc after the next one you’ll understand exactly what’s going on! 
> 
> I wanted to yet again give a huge thank you to everyone who has given me any comments or kudos on this fic! I know I just posted this on ao3 about a week ago but it’s also on wattpad and fanfiction.net, and every comment I get literally lights up my entire day!!
> 
> this is Orion’s chapter and I took his a little differently than Kara’s and Bethany’s, so I hope you like it! sorry I haven’t been as active as I used to be with posting, I’ve just been pretty busy and haven’t always had time to sit down and write stuff. 
> 
> my current goal is to get this fic done before summer ends, and I HOPE I’ll achieve that since I should only have a couple more chapters left (but I’m not totally sure how long it’ll be either way. We’ll see!)

_**The Enemy (by Andrew Belle)** _

_“Don't try to follow me. I would hold you down if I could. Make you the enemy . . .”_

* * *

_iii. autophobia; the fear of abandonment_

Moonlight shone down on the street below as Orion waited from the shadows of the alleyway, keeping a watchful eye on the large building across the street, which had a thick cloud of fog around it. Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance; luckily it wasn’t raining. He and Bethany had flattened themselves against the wall, her dressed as Twilight Girl and him as Kid Twilight.

According to his watch, it was only a few minutes away from midnight, which wasn’t much of a problem but last time he checked they’d been waiting since 11:00, when they arrived here. He felt like his senses were getting duller the longer he sat there, his patience wearing thin. His body felt stiff from sitting in the same position. Noises sounded far away, all except for the occasional car that would zoom past. 

Doc Twilight had gone ahead to sneak past the supervillians on his own, and was supposed to send Bethany and Orion a signal once it was clear for them to follow. Orion respected Doc’s plan greatly — he really _did_ — but he hated that he and Bethany had to wait for so long . . . and not just because he was concerned about Doc Twilight. 

Orion’s current concern was how _long_ he’d have to be alone with Bethany. She could be admirably brave sometimes, but usually she was just _annoying_. She never listened to Orion. Bethany was lucky that it was dark out, because her red hair would instantly make her stand out to anyone that noticed them — and that would get them _both_ caught. Yes, Doc’s hair might’ve been red also, but he was more experienced at sneaking around.

Orion had to hide his growing impatience but he could tell that neither of them could wait for too much longer. Not that they had a choice. They would have to wait for as long as it took for Doc to send them a signal, which was already taking long enough. Being the superhero’s sidekick sometimes meant having to wait around for long periods of time. 

But they’d been waiting for so long that he was getting worried. Why was Doc taking so long? He considered leaving Bethany behind and going ahead to find Doc himself. It would definitely move things along quicker, but Orion knew that he couldn’t do that. His job was to wait for Doc’s signal, so that’s what he would do.

He glanced over at Bethany, who kept casting nervous glances over at the large building that her father had entered. She was shifting from foot to foot, clearly anxious about her father. She probably looked more ready than Orion to jump in after Doc Twilight, which was another reason that he’d have to stay here for now. 

If she ran in there without even having a plan, like she usually did when her father was in trouble, she would only throw them into danger. Orion had to watch her, to keep her from doing something reckless. The only thing worse than Doc getting into danger was Bethany _also_ getting into danger, and Orion would rather not have to save both of them if this whole thing turned out to be a mess. 

All of the sudden, a small flash of light caught Orion’s eye, and he quickly jabbed Bethany’s side as a small sense of relief swelled in his chest. “There’s the signal.”

“Where?” Bethany whispered. Orion pointed it out to her, and as soon as her eyes landed on it, her whole face lit up. “Great, let’s go.”

As she started running down the alleyway, Orion noticed for the first time that there was a weird foggy feeling in his head. Almost like he hadn’t fully woken up yet. He tried shaking it off. The worst possible thing for a superhero to do was get distracted or unfocused, and Orion wasn’t about to let himself do that. He always gave one-hundred percent to every fight, so he couldn’t afford to slack off now. 

Ignoring the fogginess, Orion quickly caught up with Bethany, and the two of them exited the alleyway, coming around to approach a window at the front of the building. From what he could tell, it was dark inside. It was better that way, so sneaking around would be easier. So far, it looked deserted inside but Orion knew from experience that there were definitely going to be a few supervillians lurking around in there.

Orion shoved the window up as far as it could go, not feeling very surprised that it’d been unlocked. That was usually how it went. Many places that Orion had snuck into had a bad habit of keeping their windows unlocked, which either meant that the supervillians were careless or had simply forgotten to lock their windows. Or both.

He climbed through the window first, having hardly any difficulty at all due to his years of training. Climbing through windows had been something that Doc had taught him, of course, given how the Twilights liked taking the stealthy approach to fight villains — only Twilight who wasn’t so good at that was Bethany. 

He touched his feet to the floor as quietly as he could, hastily stepping away from the window. He glanced around to see that he was in a dark building, with stairs a few feet ahead of him that led to a second floor. Paintings and frames photographs covered the walls, and an abandoned dining room was to the left of him. Cobwebs had formed on a ceiling light, which hung above Orion’s head.

From what he could tell, a family had clearly lived here many years ago, but must’ve moved away at one point. That didn’t explain why the family’s pictures were still there, though. Maybe the family were all supervillians, or maybe supervillians had taken over their house. Either way, there was definitely a supervillian lair here.

Not long after, Bethany climbed through, taking longer than Orion had. She almost tripped on the way in, but straightened herself out before she could fall. He was about to give a snide remark about her poor ability to climb through windows when he heard a noise from down the hallway that made him freeze.

Orion glanced at Bethany, putting a finger to his lips. She nodded, and the two of them slowly began walking down the hallway. As they went further down, the noise got louder, and Orion noticed that it sounded like a humming sound . . . the type that a car would make, or even a machine.

“Where’s that noise coming from?” Bethany whispered from behind him.

Orion didn’t answer. He kept silent until they came across a closed door, where a light was shining from the crack in the door. It was the brightest thing Orion could see, as the rest of the house was dark and seemed deserted. That was another part that didn’t make sense. Clearly the supervillians weren’t too concerned with security, or else they’d be swarming the halls. 

There it was. He could definitely tell that the humming noise was coming from behind the door. Just to be sure, he walked a few feet past it, but the noise only got softer. “I think it’s here,” Orion said quietly, walking back to the door. He pressed his ear against the door, and the humming grew louder.

“Are you sure?” Bethany asked, biting her lip. When he only nodded, she pressed her own ear against the door, listening for the sound. A moment later, she stepped back, flashing a grin at him. “Let’s kick some supervillian butt.” 

Glancing left and right to make sure there weren’t any supervillians around, Orion placed his hand on the doorknob and jiggled the knob once, twice, then three times. Unsurprisingly, the door was locked. Not that that would stop them from getting inside. It would just make it a bit harder, because there was no quiet way to barge open a door. 

“Door’s locked,” Orion muttered, taking a step back. “Stand back. I’ll try to kick it—“ 

“Shut up, I’ve got this,” Bethany whispered, and a second later he saw her turn into a cloud of gas. He felt a surge of pride for his sister at the smart idea she’d come up with — not that he’d tell her that — and watched as Bethany slipped easily through the bottom of the door. 

He felt more annoyed, though, that her idea had been better than anything he could come up with in that moment. But that was the purpose of working in a team. Sometimes you had to let the other person do something that you couldn’t . . . even if that person was reckless and annoying. It was something Orion had no choice but to learn, back when he’d become Doc’s sidekick. 

A few seconds later, the door was slowly cracked open, and Orion found himself staring at Bethany again. And a set of stairs that led down into a basement. Instantly, the humming noise got louder. Even though the room was fairly bright, Orion kept his guard up, starting down the stairs as quietly as he could. 

It would be hard to hide from any supervillians, given how bright it was in the basement. But it wasn’t like they could just turn off the lights. That would make sneaking around easier, but it would get them caught for sure. The most he could do was step as lightly as he could on each stair, to try making as little noise as possible.

As they got to the bottom, Orion was expecting a hoard of supervillians in the room. He expected to hear shouts and get weapons thrown at him, but all he got was more humming. No voices. Oh, and a basement filled with machines, computer monitors, and futuristic-looking weapons. 

Orion wasn’t surprised at all to see this; he’d been expecting it. It wasn’t uncommon to see supervillians having rooms filled with world-destroying weapons like these. It was a little weird that it was in the basement of a house, but it was much weirder that there weren’t any supervillians in the room to begin with. 

“That was easy,” Bethany said, sounding surprised at their own success. Turning away from him, she slowly walked up to a huge ray gun, touching it lightly with her fingers. “Wow, I’ve never seen so many weapons in one place before.”

Orion followed her, but more warily. He narrowed his eyes. The room was strangely empty, the now that they were inside he could hear the same humming noise louder than ever. It must’ve been coming from all of the machines. He glanced around the room, feeling more confused by the second — an emotion he didn’t like having. If there were this many weapons, why wasn’t there anyone guarding them? There’d have to be some guards around here, but somehow, there weren’t. 

“I’m sure you haven’t,” Orion replied, throwing a dark look over his shoulder, where the door was closed shut behind him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Instead of answering her question, he asked, “Why isn’t there anyone guarding this room?”

“I don’t know.” Bethany frowned. “Maybe Dad led them all away?”

“Maybe.”

“Unless there was never anyone guarding it,” she said, her eyes widening. “If Dad _did_ lead everyone away then he wouldn’t have been able to send us the signal. He would’ve been too busy fighting.”

“So?”

“ _So,_ maybe there was no one guarding it in the first place. Maybe that’s why we haven’t seen any supervillians, because they aren’t here.”

Orion’s mouth twisted into a scowl. “That’s ridiculous,” he said, as Bethany rolled her eyes. “The whole point of Doc Twilight sneaking in first was so he could lead the supervillians away. So that _we_ could destroy the weapons they’re making.”

“But doesn’t it make sense?” Bethany asked, raising her eyebrows. “My father couldn’t have led _all_ the supervillians away, unless there just weren’t that many here to begin with. It doesn’t make sense that all of them would’ve followed him. There’s always someone guarding weapons like this. I bet there aren’t any supervillians here at all.” 

Orion hated to admit that she was right, and he didn’t have to do it very often. But he wasn’t about to do it today, or ever.

He crossed his arms. “If you think no one was here in the first place, then how do you explain him taking so long to send us a signal?”

That seemed to confuse her. “I don’t know. I guess he was busy looking for the supervillians or something.” 

“Right. Because they aren’t here, apparently.”

“My theory actually makes sense!” 

“Whatever,” he said, turning back to the ray gun. “Your theory doesn’t make any sense. And it doesn’t matter, either.”

“It doesn’t _matter_?” 

“No,” Orion shot back. “We should destroy the weapons before anyone figures out we’re here. Or before anyone comes back to this room.” He took out his Twilight staff. “The faster we do this, the faster we can meet back up with Doc and take those villains to jail.”

“I still think that there aren’t any supervillians here,” Bethany said.

“There’d have to be supervillians here. We saw them earlier.” 

“Then why aren’t they guarding their very dangerous-looking room of weapons? And why does the house look completely empty? And most importantly, where’s Dad?” 

“I don’t _know_ , okay?” Orion sighed in annoyance, tossing his cape behind him. “Can you stop talking already?” 

She glared at him, and he heard her mutter “Jerk” under her breath. He pretended not to hear. Simultaneously, they huddled around the first table of weapons, analyzing the best way to destroy them. Huge ray guns covered the table, some of them looking like they weren’t even finished being built while others were fully intact. They seemed to radiate electricity and power, even while being turned off.

Orion had to admit that despite his disgust for supervillians, the weapons _were_ well-made. He’d never seen anything like them before. He almost considered taking the weapons back to the Lawful Legion instead of destroying them, but there’d be no point in that. And it wouldn’t be logical when it was _supervillians_ who’d built them, people who enjoyed crime and doing evil. 

Taking his Twilight staff in both hands, Orion took some of his pent-up anger (plus, his years of strength training from Doc Twilight) and swung it at one of the smaller ray guns. The impact should’ve shattered the gun, or at least broken parts of it, but all it did was skid across the table and clatter to the ground. Orion went over to it, expecting at least _something_ to be damaged. Unfortunately, it didn’t even leave a dent.

“It’s not working?” Bethany asked, looking over at him. Orion wordlessly shook his head, hitting it again a few times for good measure. Nothing happened. He felt his anger rising. It’d take a lot more than a Twilight staff to break it.

It was time to try something else. Orion ditched his Twilight staff, strapping it back over his shoulder and taking out his second best weapon: a Twilight throwing star. Taking a few steps back, Orion swung his arm back and sent the throwing star hurtling towards the ray gun. The throwing star landed directly on the ray gun, but flew backward into the wall, ricocheting off of it.

“What?” Orion hissed, just as Bethany transformed into a gigantic boulder and rolled herself over the same ray gun he’d been trying to break. If anything could’ve destroyed it, it was that. But as soon as Bethany turned back into her normal human self, Orion was shocked to see that there was no damage. It was unbreakable!

“Okay, this is insane!” Bethany huffed. She was starting to look as irritated as he was. “I don’t get it! Why can’t we _destroy_ them?”

“Nothing you do will destroy them,” said a deep voice that definitely was not Doc Twilight’s. 

Instinctively, Orion held up his staff, already prepared to defend himself. He didn’t enjoy it, but he was used to getting attacked from behind. That was always the hardest tactic to defend yourself from, but luckily Orion was trained by the best superhero he knew, and he _never_ lost a fight. 

The two teenagers both quickly turned to see a man dressed as a peach standing in the basement doorway. Orion’s heart leapt to his throat. Standing on the stair in front of the man were two more supervillians, one dressed as a bird and the other as an apple. Both of them were holding huge ray guns that were similar to the ones in the room, and they were pointing it at Orion and Bethany. 

_Supervillians_. 

Orion felt the smallest sense of satisfaction that Bethany had been wrong and he’d been _right_ , but he pushed that thought away for the moment. He tried not to give away any shock on his part, and firmly held his Twilight staff in both hands, going through the strategies he’d take to knock out the supervillian the quickest way possible. Between him and Bethany, it’d be easy to take a few supervillians down together.

“Oh yeah?” Bethany said. “We’ll see about that when you’re in jail and all of your weapons are gone!”

The Peach stared at her, then chuckled manically. “Is that so?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “It is!”

“How did you get these weapons?” Orion questioned. “I’ve never seen anything like them in Jupiter City.”

The man just laughed. “You’re not getting anything out of me, Kid Twilight. That’s classified information.”

Orion sighed. Classified information? Really? He had definitely used that excuse a few times to hide things from Bethany. Still, these supervillians obviously knew what they were doing if they were making weapons that couldn’t be destroyed. He’d never heard of a weapon that couldn’t be destroyed in some way.

The man glanced at his accomplices, snapping his fingers. “If the sidekicks are here, Doc Twilight is, too. Get rid of the kids. I’ll find _him_.”

Slight panic filled Orion at the thought of his father figure getting hurt. It was a good thing that the supervillians hadn’t found him yet. They hadn’t even known he was here until now, which just showed how low their security must be. He wasn’t sure if there were more than three supervillians, but if there were, then Doc might not be able to take them all by himself. 

He needed to either help Doc or destroy these weapons, and between the two, the second one would be the faster option since they were already _in_ the basement. But to his frustration, the weapons were indestructible. Not that Orion _wouldn’t_ get those weapons destroyed somehow; he would make sure of it before he left here. 

If he even had the chance to. 

The two supervillians pointed their ray guns at Bethany and Orion, pulling the trigger on their weapons. Out of the corner of his eye, Orion saw the Peach walk back out the door for a split second. He dove to the right, and Bethany transformed into a small rubber ball, bouncing at an angle to the left. Two laser beams hit the side of the wall, in the same spot where they’d just been standing.

Orion didn’t stop to see if Bethany had transformed back. Not that he cared too much about her, unless she _did_ get hurt and he’d have to actually express sympathy for once, which he wasn’t good at doing. He had to assume that she hadn’t gotten hit, as the only thing he heard was gunfire. It filled his ears, drowning out even the buzzing noise from the machines. 

He gritted his teeth so tightly that he could feel himself getting a headache. It also could be from his irritableness, but he blamed it on his teeth. He always seemed to have a headache these days, between all the crime-stopping and fights he did almost every day. Not to mention, when Bethany was saying something completely idiotic. That was when he _really_ got a headache. 

He hurriedly picked himself off the floor, then ducked behind a table just inches away from a laser that would’ve gotten to him. He knew he wasn’t worried about the lasers — since he was an expert at dodging any obstacle that came his way — but he felt his muscles tensing up anyway.

That was probably from the irritation, too. 

Seriously? Why couldn’t the supervillians have come _after_ Orion and Bethany destroyed their weapons? It would be a lot more convenient if they had. Too bad convenience wasn’t a thing right now, or else they wouldn’t be hiding as they got shot at with lasers. And they probably would’ve had the weapons destroyed by now.

Shifting to the other side of the table, Orion carefully poked his head out of hiding. He cursed under his breath. The Peach was nowhere to be seen, while the other supervillians were on opposite sides of the room, one trying to fire at Bethany and the other at Orion. 

If he squinted his eyes, Orion was almost positive he could see the many tables where Bethany must’ve been hiding behind. It was difficult to tell where she was, with the lasers flying through the air. He knew that he needed to get over there. He had to get past the laser beams, get to Bethany, and fight the supervillians, but how? 

Orion glanced at the supervillian nearest him, the one dressed as a bird. Almost as soon as Orion looked at him, the supervillian grinned, releasing a flurry of lasers from his ray gun. Grunting, Orion ducked back underneath the table. He was considering somehow attacking the supervillian from behind, but as he watched the lasers fly through the room, the thought slipped from his head. 

He could tell that the supervillian must’ve not been aiming very well, because the lasers had stopped going so far above Orion’s head and were now aimed lower — at the tables. One or maybe two of the lasers managed to hit a ray gun laying on the table, and that was when something surprising happened. 

Instead of the laser bouncing right off of the gun, the whole thing exploded into little pieces, chunks of what used to be the ray gun falling all around Orion. Orion fell backward in surprise, hitting the table. The weapons that he and Bethany hadn’t been able to destroy were apparently destroyed . . . by their own lasers? 

“What did you do that for?” he heard the other supervillian shout angrily.

“It was an accident!”

“Well, you should’ve been aiming at the kid!”

“I _was_!”

As the argument grew heated, Orion noticed the lack of lasers in the air and took the opportunity. He poked his head out, checked to make sure the supervillians were still busy, and scanned the room for Bethany. He spotted her on the opposite end of the room, both of her hands on a table as she slowly pushed herself up into standing. 

Her eyes locked on Orion’s, and she nodded her head in the direction of the arguing supervillians. Orion nodded back. He understood. Working in a team with her was surprisingly easy, as they were always on the same page, even when they sort of hated each other half the time. Well, most of the time for Orion.

Orion held up three fingers, gradually moving them down. Bethany also held up three fingers, mirroring him. 

_One . . ._

He clenched his hand tighter around his Twilight staff, his eyes darting back at the supervillians. Ironically, they were still arguing and hadn’t even noticed Bethany and Orion standing up. It wouldn’t be long before they noticed, though. 

_Two . . ._

Orion looked back at Bethany. She was holding a Twilight throwing star, and even from here, he was pretty sure he could see her hand shaking. He would’ve reprimanded her on the best way to throw a throwing star (which was with a steady grip), but he was too far away. That, and his throat was tight because he kept worrying about Doc Twilight. 

_Three!_

Both of them sprang from their hiding places. Orion’s feet seemed to fly across the basement floor as he charged towards the dressed-like-a-bird supervillian, who’s name he didn’t remember. Holding his Twilight staff with both hands, Orion swung it hard at the supervillian’s feet, who whirled around a second too late and was sent stumbling to his knees.

“Hey!” the supervillian roared. “You can’t do that!”

“Oh really?” Orion said, unable to keep the smirk from drifting onto his face. He swung his staff again, and the man rolled to the side, surprising Orion by grabbing his staff. He pulled, and Orion fell to the ground with him, losing his grip on his staff. He felt his temperature rising. Anger flooded through his body, swirling up into his chest.

That supervillian would _pay_ for taking his staff. 

Now holding Orion’s staff in one hand and a ray gun in the other, the supervillian gave Orion a wide grin. He wouldn’t have it for long, though. Running on anger, Orion swung his fist back, punching the supervillian hard enough that he fell backwards onto the floor. _Serves you right_. 

He lunged forward, grabbing his Twilight staff and the ray gun at the same time. Still groaning from where Orion had punched him, the supervillian held on tightly, apparently refusing to let go. Orion grunted, then kicked the man in the shin, causing him to loosen his grip. He used all the strength he could muster until finally, _finally_ , his Twilight staff came free from the man’s hands.

Then, he saw the point of the ray gun swiveling around the face him — a stupid move on the supervillian’s part, if you asked Orion — and before the man’s hand could pull on the trigger, Orion kicked his foot out again, hitting the man hard in the elbow. The man yelped, loosening his grip on the ray gun.

Using his Twilight staff like a baseball bat, Orion swung it directly at the ray gun, causing it to topple out of the man’s hands and skid across the floor. He stood up, hitting his staff against the man’s stomach before yanking the man’s mask off. 

“I hope you’ll learn your lessons in jail,” Orion growled lowly, giving the supervillian an intimidating glare.

“I’m not going to jail!” the man protested. “You can’t make me!”

Rolling his eyes, Orion made sure to knock him out this time so he wouldn’t try getting out of it. He looked back at Bethany, who’d finished fighting around the same time as him. She ran a hand over the top of her hair, breathing heavily as her eyes landed on the ray guns at their feet, and a knowing smile slowly formed on her face. 

She looked at him with a glint in her eye, and there wasn’t a single part of him that felt good about whatever she was about to say. “Hey, wait, I have an idea.” 

“A good one?” Orion asked sarcastically as she bent down to pick up a ray gun. It must’ve been heavier than it looked, because she nearly dropped it before steadying it with both hands.

“Yep.” 

At that moment, he realized what her idea was, and as beneficial as it was for destroying the weapons, it was also dangerous and reckless, like all of her ideas. Well, most of her ideas. Some of her ideas actually made sense to him. This one unfortunately did, but that didn’t mean he thought it was a good idea. 

“I never said I agreed to doing this,” Orion told Bethany as she carefully began aiming it at a table filled with weapons. 

“Nope. You didn’t.”

“You're going to get us killed, you know that?”

Bethany stopped in her tracks, lowering her weapon slightly as she turned to him. “Look, I don’t know how this’ll go, and I hope it’ll work, but will you just go along with it anyway? For once in your life? For me, Orion? Your adopted sister who knows what she’s doing?” 

When he remained silent, she bent down to pick up something, adding, “And no, I won’t get us killed.” She shoved the second ray gun into his hands, giving him a mocking smile. “Well, not on purpose. See, I have a _plan_.”

* * *

Everything was over before Orion even realized it.

Destroying all of the weapons caused enough explosions to last Orion a lifetime, but no, they didn’t get killed, and surprisingly no part of the house caught on fire. The only thing remaining was a bunch of broken ray guns scattered across the floor, most of them reduced to tiny, metal pieces.

They’d just finished tying up the unconscious supervillians when the basement door flew open. Orion was relieved to see who was on the other side. It was Doc Twilight. He didn’t seem to be injured; only tired. He was breathing heavily, his cape wrinkled and appearing somewhat disheveled. 

Doc grinned at them. “Nice work!”

“Dad!” Bethany said, grinning too. She hugged him then, and Orion felt sick for some reason. Watching them made him realize he’d never be that affectionate — or close — with Doc Twilight. 

Despite everything, despite all the years they’d trained together and despite how Doc had saved him from the grief he’d felt when his parents had passed away, there would always be a gap between them. Bethany was his daughter. Orion was the sidekick that lived with them, who had kind of become Doc’s son but would never _really_ be his son. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay. You did great with destroying these weapons,” Doc Twilight said, pulling away with his hands still on Bethany’s shoulders. He glanced at Orion and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay too, kid.”

“Don’t get too sentimental,” Orion replied tartly, although he knew he wouldn’t have wanted a hug anyway. It would’ve been a bit embarrassing and he wasn’t one to get embarrassed. Still, he couldn’t help but compare the way Doc acted with Bethany compared to him. There were knots in his stomach. He realized what the feeling was. 

Jealously. 

Doc laughed a bit, then grew more serious. “Turns out there were a few more supervillians that ran from the house. I had to track them down, but they all should be headed to jail right now.” 

Orion nodded. “Okay. Good.” He points at the supervillians. “They’ll need to go, too.”

“I already called the police. They’ll be here in a few minutes to take them.” 

As they went up the stairs, leaving the knocked-out supervillians behind, Doc Twilight stopped for a second, turning and clamping a hand on Orion’s shoulder. “You alright after that fight?”

“Of course I am,” Orion snapped, noticing how his voice sounded more irritable than normal.

“Are you sure, Orion?” 

He grunted.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Being used to Orion’s grunts by now, Mr. Sanderson didn’t seem to have difficulty understanding what he’d meant. “All right, son,” he said with a smile. He bounded the rest of the way up the stairs, tapping his hand against the door. “I’m gonna check up on Bethany.” 

Doc Twilight left, but Orion stood there silently, his muscles tensing. He stared at the spot where his father figure had just been. _Son_. Even though he must’ve called Orion that a few times in the past it never failed to make him shiver. He thought of Doc like a father, and to know that Doc thought of him as his very own son was almost . . . heartwarming. Orion rarely got that feeling.

After standing there for a few seconds, Orion inwardly scolded himself to keep moving and made up for it by taking the stairs three at a time. He started walking down the hallway, the floorboards creaking with every stopped, but something made him stop. Not something physical. It was more like an invisible force. 

Orion slowly turned to his left, where he saw a portrait hanging on the wall. It shouldn’t have been anything special or eye-catching; it only showed a family of three. Two parents and three children: all girls. They all had huge smiles, which looked too real to be plastered on. For some reason, it stopped him in his tracks. 

As he stared at it, he wondered if the Sanderson’s had a picture like that in their house. They probably did. When Bethany had come into his life, Orion had discovered that Doc Twilight had a daughter and a wife, that he’d lived with them in the nonfictional world until suddenly . . . he hadn’t. There wasn’t a portrait like that in Orion’s house. And if there was, Orion guessed he wouldn’t be in it. 

“Orion!” he heard Bethany call, and he glanced over to see her and Doc standing outside. “Are you coming?”

Orion didn’t bother answering. Throwing another look at the family portrait, he ran out of the dark house, keeping his expression blank to avoid any confrontation. He closed the door behind him, joining Doc and Bethany on the city street. He had to remind himself to stop thinking this way over a stupid portrait, but the seed had already been planted. He tried to forget what he’d seen.

“Police are here,” Bethany breathed, and Orion followed her gaze. Sure enough, police cars were turning into their street, sirens loud and their bright lights dancing all across the night sky. It made him feel good to know that justice was being served, but not by much. 

Doc Twilight went to talk to the police for a few minutes, probably discussing the details about the crime seen. The three of them stayed there for the next half hour until all the supervillians were taken into custody, handcuffs placed around their wrists. That was always the most satisfying part of stopping crime. Even though many of them tended to break out of jail, Orion liked putting them _into_ it. 

The walk home was filled with conversation and laughter, mostly on Doc and Bethany’s part. Cars honked on the road, and neon letters were more visible than ever from the tops of buildings. Even though every store was closed, they managed to find a candy store that was still open; apparently it was open 24 hours. Orion thought that was suspicious. Bethany told him he was being paranoid.

They left the store holding two bags of candy. Orion could hardly remember the last time he’d had any, or any time that he’d _wanted_ to have any, ever. But Bethany had forced him to get something, so he did, holding up a bag of sour gummies that he couldn’t even _pretend_ to like. How anyone could eat this, he didn’t know. It was as sour as the package said it to be.

“Oh, I forgot to remind you,” Orion said to Bethany as he crumpled up his bag of sour gummies, which was still filled because he’d only eaten about two. “When you throw a throwing star, try not to make your hand shake. Your aim is terrible.”

“ _What_?” Bethany turned on him, furrowing her brows. “Are you kidding me? I’m great at it, and my hand does _not_ shake!” 

“It does when you get nervous.”

“I wasn’t nervous.”

“You were.” 

“Does everything have to be a competition between you two?” Doc Twilight asked with amusement. He was walking in between Bethany and Orion, eating the most candy out of all of them. Orion thought it wasn’t a good idea for a superhero to eat so much candy in one night, but he didn’t protest, because they rarely did this and it actually felt kind of refreshing.

“Yes,” Bethany said hotly as she slid an M&M into her mouth. 

“Of course,” Orion said, then made the mistake of popping another sour gummy in his mouth. He scowled, spitting it out immediately. “Disgusting.” 

“I see you’re really enjoying that,” Doc Twilight said, a grin on his face. Orion responded by sending him a look, tossing the bag of gummies in the nearest trash can. He hated even the sight of it, and he could still taste the sour on his tongue. Yeah, he was never getting that again. This was precisely the reason why he rarely had candy; he’d mostly just had it when he was young.

Bethany burst out laughing, her annoyance worn out. Doc joined in, and for possibly the first time, Orion wanted to laugh, too. But smiling was highly uncommon for him, so any way he did it felt kind of forced, no matter how much he was enjoying himself. The night air was cool and crisp against his skin; it felt nice. It reminded him that he could still feel things; he was real. 

Despite a hole being carved into his heart when his parents passed, despite sometimes not feeling any emotion but anger, despite all the pain, he was real and he had a true purpose in life. Being with his family was the only thing that could remind him of that. He caught Bethany’s eye, and he smiled for real. For a moment, life was happy. As happy as things could get for him, which was saying something. 

But then, everything fell apart.

It was sometime around two in the morning when they got home, all of them exhausted by now. Numb and detached, Orion mumbled goodnight to Doc and Bethany before dragging himself up the stairs, into his bedroom. He dropped his Twilight staff onto his bed with an unceremonious thud, pulling off his mask and setting it on his bedside table. 

He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and was hardly surprised to see that the circles under his eyes were dark and prominent, and his black hair was practically hanging in his eyes. There was a shadow across his face, making his features look darker than normal. His face also looked paler than usual, and his eyebrows were scrunched together. 

_You look like a zombie_ , a voice in the back of his head said.

_Shut up_ , he told himself.

He was about to change into pajamas when he heard footsteps from down the hall, coming closer and closer. He felt confused, and if anything, a bit grouchy. If Bethany was coming over to talk to him, he was not in the mood. He straightened up as the door swung open, making a loud creaking noise. 

But the person standing in the doorway wasn’t Bethany. It was Mr. Sanderson, now out of his superhero costume as he wore a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. There was an expression on his face that Orion didn’t recognize; he’d never seen Doc look at him that way before, and for some strange reason, it sent a cold, unwelcoming chill down his spine.

“Uh, is something . . . wrong?” Orion asked warily, shifting his weight. 

“Sorry I have to do this, kid. But you were holding me back from what I really wanted,” Doc Twilight said, revealing a blow dart gun that he’d been hiding behind his back. “You were always holding me back.” 

Grimacing, he pointed it directly at Orion and fired. The noise wasn’t even that loud, but to Orion it sounded like a bomb had gone off. Horror, an emotion that he didn’t like expressing, filled him. Time seemed to slow down as the blow dart came towards him, and all Orion could think about was that Doc was replacing him with Bethany, his actual, biological daughter.

But then, strangely, unusually, surprisingly, Orion could not move. He was stuck to the floor like glue. His incredible instincts and reflex skills were long-gone as he felt a sharp pain prick his leg, and he looked down to see a tranquilizer dart there. His vision blurred; he saw spots before his eyes. Almost instantly, everything went black and he collapsed to the floor.

* * *

Bright lights danced before Orion’s eyes as soon as he opened them, and he had to shut them immediately. He groaned, rolled to his side, and forced his eyes open again. The ceiling was spinning. _Stupid grogginess_ , he thought with some frustration. He blinked several times, struggling to understand why things were so blurry and why his body felt like lead. 

The first thing he noticed when his vision fully returned to him was that he was laying on the floor of his bedroom — not his bed — and there was a dull pain in his leg. Weirdly enough, he was still in his Kid Twilight outfit, wearing everything except his purple mask, which remained sitting on his bedside table. 

He also had a headache, but the majority of his pain was in his leg, almost as if he’d been pricked in one particular spot. A somber silence hung in the air, which was odd because he could see sunlight coming through his window, and he didn’t even hear Doc or Bethany’s voices that usually drifted from downstairs. That was another thing that told him that something was definitely off.

Orion sat up, groaning a bit. His eyes flickered to his clock, which read 10:45 am. He immediately pushed himself to his feet, his heart pounding a little faster. Everything from the night before came crashing back to him like a wave. The fight with the supervillians, the walk back home, and then . . . 

Doc Twilight taking out a blow dart and shooting Orion in the leg with it. Orion was almost sure he’d been dreaming that part. Why would his father figure ever do that? He wasn’t the Dark anymore. He had no intention of hurting Orion. But even as Orion told himself this, there was a sinking feeling in his gut and he ran out of his room, anticipating the worst.

“Doc? You there?” Orion yelled, running to Doc Twilight’s room and forcing the door open. His whole body went cold. The room was empty. The bed had been made, and various things like clothes and shoes and pictures were all missing. There wasn’t even an indication of where he’d gone.

But he didn’t stop there. No, _no way_ could he stop there. He refused to stop looking for them until there was more evidence. He couldn’t assume anything until he knew the truth, but he felt very uneasy anyway. He backed out of the room and went to Bethany’s next, calling out for her. There was no response, and the state of her room looked similar to Doc’s: things had been taken, assumedly packed away and taken with them.

For once, Orion felt fear. Fear unlike anything he’d ever known, because it looked like they’d purposely done this. They’d left willingly, knowing that Orion was still there. They hadn’t been kidnapped, because their stuff would’ve still been here. The thought crossed his mind that they could be going on a mission, but why would they do that without telling him? He _always_ went with them, no matter what.

He spent the next few minutes searching the entire length of the house, even looking outside. His impatience was growing, as was his fear. It was like they’d just packed up and left, but where? Where _were_ they? They really hadn’t left permanently, had they? No, Doc would _never_ do that. Even Bethany wouldn’t do that.

Everything was silent. _Far_ too silent. The silence was so suddenly loud, and all Orion wanted was drown it out. He wanted to hear the voices of his adoptive family again. He wanted for them to come back, because as much as he liked being alone, as much as he hated to admit he wanted any kind of affection or love, as much as he kept to himself, he _needed_ them. It felt less like home without them there. 

Orion’s ears rang as he used his handheld radio to call Mr. Sanderson. He must’ve called a dozen times, growing more antsy by the second. No call was picked up. Not a single one. It was like Doc was purposely ignoring him. Or maybe he’d accidentally left his radio behind. Every second that passed felt like a punch in the stomach, one after the other. 

No answer ever came, and Orion felt the exact same way he’d felt when his parents had passed. Back then, back before Doc had taken him in and raised him, he’d never felt so alone or scared. He’d felt guilty over his parents’ deaths, but later that guilt just transformed into anger, directed only at himself for not saving his parents from the alien invasion they’d died in. 

After they died, he felt like he was in a deep, dark cave. Life changed very quickly and things took a turn for the worst, making Orion feel more alone and helpless than ever, because his parents were gone, and he had no one to live with. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d truly felt like that. 

And boy, how he _hated_ feeling that way again. Just like he hated Doc and Bethany for abandoning him, because that’s what they did. They left him like his parents left him, and the betrayal cut deep. It brought pain to his chest, and Orion hated it, because emotions were the _worst_ and he hated everything right about now. No, he was furious. Absolutely furious. 

He didn’t even know where they’d gone or more importantly, _why_ they’d gone. He blamed them over and over for putting him in this position, but the one he blamed most was himself. He should’ve known it wouldn’t last forever. He should’ve known the moment he laid eyes on Bethany that Doc would no longer want Orion. _He should’ve known_. 

As Orion finally gave up on the calls, throwing his radio down on the kitchen table in a huff, something in the corner of the table caught his eye. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. It was a single sheet of paper with handwritten words all over it. He didn’t remember seeing it last night, or any day, ever.

Cautiously, Orion came closer and took the paper in both hands. It was a letter. His eyes instantly went to the first line, which said, “Dear Orion”, and he was sure that he stopped breathing. It was written to him. And it was written in Doc’s handwriting, there was no denying it. It definitely had been written early this morning or last night, whenever they’d decided to leave. 

He nearly ripped the letter into shreds. 

He would’ve torn the entire thing apart right then and there, feeling another burst of anger and betrayal that went far beyond his fear at the moment, but something stopped him. He couldn’t thrown it away, because he was still missing information. He had to know why. He had to know why they’d left and where they’d actually gone, or else it’d kill him even more than it was killing him already. 

_Dear Orion,_

_Something just came up, and I hope you understand why we left. You see, during all those years I was the Dark I had no memories of my family. When I was restored back to my normal self, I remembered who I was. That I had a wife and a daughter, who I hadn’t seen in years._

_Raising you felt like I was getting a second chance at having a family, but I only did it because I felt bad for you. You’d just lost your parents, and you needed somewhere to live. But I know I made the right decision by leaving. You’re old enough to take care of yourself, Orion. You don’t need me to raise you anymore. Why should I? I’m not even your father._

_I feel like I’ve been trapped in Jupiter City, and you were exactly what was holding me back. I didn’t realize it until much later, until Bethany came to live with us. Having her there_ _, I started to realize that you were what was holding me back from living with my family. My real family. I want to live with my wife and Bethany again, like how life used to be for me._

_I was happier then, and I would’ve lived there forever if I hadn’t been changed into the Dark. You have to understand that those are the people I feel most at home with. I guess I’ve been feeling distant from you, because you aren’t my son. You were never supposed to be my son. We’ve have fun times, yes, but at the end of the day the only people I want to be with is my real family._

_So there it is. Sorry for the tranquilizer dart, kid, but there was no easy way to keep you from following us. I know you’ll be angry. And I knew you’d follow us, so I figured writing this letter would keep you from doing that. We’re heading to the nonfictional world now. My radio isn’t going to work while I’m there, so don’t expect to hear from me ever again._

_\- Christian Sanderson_

Orion lowered the letter, crumbling it in his hands. He felt like the wind had been knocked out of his lungs. He had very little experience feeling empathy, and didn’t even know how to react in a situation like this. Despite knowing that being angry wouldn’t do anything to fix things, Orion growled and tore the letter in half.

“Idiot,” he grumbled, tearing pieces of the letter away again and again, until little bits of paper fell all around him. “Idiot, idiot, _idiot_!” 

Before he knew it, there was nothing left of the letter. Tiny pieces of paper were scattered across his feet, a significant reminder of what had happened. Orion sank to the ground, burying his head on his knees. He closed his eyes tightly, wondering if it was possible for him to be as broken as the bits of paper at his feet. 

The tears were hot and thick in his throat, but he refused to allow his eyes to water. He would never let that happen, not even when he was alone. He hadn’t cried since he was young, and would rather show minimal emotion. It made him feel like he had some control over his life, but he realized that he never did. There wasn’t anything worth crying or smiling for now, not when he didn’t have a single shred of hope left. 

Being emotionless suddenly felt a lot easier. 

* * *

_“Out of the fire again, but I'm an ember. I hold a banner for you, but it's upside down . . .”_


	38. Don’t You (Forget About Me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiel’s life turns upside-down when he gets a visit from an old Magisterian teacher.

_**Someone To You (by Banners)** _

_  
"_ _Dive and disappear without a trace. I just wanna be someone . . ._

* * *

_iv._ _athazagoraphobia; the fear of being forgotten_

"Which one?"

Trying his best to be serious (because according to Owen this was very important) Kiel analyzed the comic books in Owen's hands. The book in his left hand showed a dark-haired woman with some type of golden tiara across her head, with the words "Wonder Woman" plastered on top of it. The other book showed a man in a green costume, with the words "Green Lantern" on the top.

He was supposed to be deciding which one was the better superhero, but Kiel only half-recalled Owen's thorough lessons on superheroes, only because he'd learned about maybe twenty in the same day. He recalled Wonder Woman better, but had forgotten most of her abilities. He'd also learned about famous supervillians on that same day, and he easily got confused on who was who.

"I don't know! They both look awesome," Kiel said after a few seconds, as he juggled his wand-knives in his hands. "Not as awesome as me, though."

"They're still really cool and powerful," Owen reasoned. "They have these incredible powers."

"So do you," Kiel said. "With your time powers!"

"Having time powers doesn't make me a superhero," Owen said almost too quickly, like he was ashamed of his powers even though that already made him a superhero in Kiel's opinion.

"Sure it does! I don't see why not."

He looked down. "Because I'm not actually a superhero. I don't get to fight villains with it and I don't winfights without . . . help."

Kiel sighed. As much as Owen loved superheroes and wanted to be one, it seemed he wanted to bring himself down even more. And knowing his friend's lack of self-esteem, boosting his confidence always proved difficult.

"That's not true," Kiel insisted. "You have your time powers! Who says you can't be a superhero when you already are?"

"I . . . don't have a cape, though. Or a costume. Can't really be a superhero without those things. And I'm not even good at fighting. That's what superheroes do. That's what they're meant to be good at, so they can fight the bad guys. I can't actually punch people, and—"

"Have you _tried_ punching anyone?"

"Not _really_."

"Hey, _I_ have a cape, and I'm not a superhero at all. I'm a magician." Kiel winked as he smiled. "And you're still a superhero even if you can't punch. Even if you wear, well, _that_." He gestured to Owen's pajamas, and the boy grinned. "Yeah, you have your time powers, but you don't need even _those_ to be a superhero."

"Thanks," Owen said, shaking the comic books for emphasis. "Now, c'mon, choose one!"

Strangely enough, something felt off to him. Kiel couldn't exactly understand why, but his head felt kind of foggy, like he was half-asleep or something. But he was fully awake and not very tired, so being half-asleep wouldn't make much sense! He found himself staring at Owen's hands, both of which were holding the comic books. Why that was weird to him? He didn't know. He quickly shook off the feeling and smiled.

"What does Bethany think?"

Owen glanced down at the comics. "Probably that Wonder Woman is better. I mean, she's really cool and everything, and she's from this place called Paradise island where there are only women, and they're all Amazon warriors."

Kiel winked. "I guess I choose Wonder Woman, then."

"Good choice," said a voice from the other side of the room, and while Kiel was surprised, he was pretty sure he saw Owen jump five feet in the air.

They both watched as she pulled herself out of a book that sat on the already-teetering pile of books on Owen's desk. Kiel had actually forgotten she'd jumped in there, as it'd been almost two hours since he last saw her. Bethany carefully climbed out, sliding off of the desk and tossing Owen something that'd been balled up in her hand. He instinctively flinched.

"What is this?" Owen asked, dropping his comic books onto his bed and leaning over eagerly to see what Bethany had thrown at him. Apparently holding comic books at the same time else wasn't the best method for trying to catch something else.

"Just the rarest piece of gum in all of _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ ," Bethany said, sitting next to Kiel on the _Star Wars_ themed bed. "And it never loses flavor, so I hope you're happy, Owen."

Owen met her eyes, giving her a wide smile. "Trust me, I am!" Then he popped the gum into his mouth, and his eyes seemed to light up, an excited look on his face that Kiel knew all too well.

Kiel had heard some things about the gum that apparently changed flavor in _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ , but he didn't know much about that book, or much about the gum either. He'd been there a few times with Bethany and Owen, mostly to grab candy when the workers weren't around. He had once even attempted (with Owen) to jump into the chocolate river.

Bethany had to pull them away, although much to Kiel's displeasure, his shoes and socks were soaked through with chocolate. He wished he'd thought of that possibility _before_ he'd already started wading into the river. But at the time, he really didn't regret it, because he almost swam in a lake of chocolate and things couldn't get more dangerous than that!

"And that was only because you did my English homework for me, okay?" Bethany told Owen, giving him an expectant look.

"Okay," he said, but his voice came out a bit muffled from the chewing.

"I'm never doing that again. Seriously, I'm _never_ doing that again." She shuddered.

"Did you have fun looking for it?" Kiel asked in a joking tone, already knowing the answer. Knowing Bethany? It was probably hard for her to have fun on a quest by herself, which was why she needed Kiel to show her how to do it. And Owen.

Bethany stared at him, then smacked him on the arm. "What is wrong with you?"

"What are you so annoyed about?" he countered, then got another smack on the arm. "Hey!" He laughed, trying to dodge. "Okay, sorry! It was just a question!"

"I almost got caught by Oompa Loompas, so yeah, it wasn't too fun," Bethany replied, then caught sight of the smile on his face and seemed to relax more. She dug into her pockets, revealing another pile of wrapped candy in her hands, and poured it onto the bed in front of them.

Owen's eyes widened as he stared at the candy. "You got _more_?"

"Yep. There was a lot of candy being unsupervised," she said, taking out yet another piece of candy — a Willy Wonka chocolate bar — and starting to unwrap it. "Thought they wouldn't notice if I took some more."

" _And_ you got a Wonka bar?"

Looking a little guilty, she said, "It was just sitting there, Owen! No one was around when I took it."

"So the candy wasn't only for _me_. It was also for _you_! And you didn't even get me a Wonka bar, either!"

"Or me," Kiel chimed in, grinning.

"Because I got you the gum!" Bethany said. "Just be happy with what you have, okay? You never know, this might be the last time I'll ever get you candy from there."

"Wh — wh — Bethany!" Owen stammered, obviously taking what she'd said to heart. "No!" He shook his head several times. "No, I love the candy from there! You can't do this! You know how much I love it! Okay, I get that you always get annoyed every time we jump into that book because I should probably stop trying to jump into the chocolate river but I _need_ my Willy Wonka candy!"

The look on his face was priceless, and all it took for Kiel was a shared glance with Bethany before both of them burst out laughing. Owen stared at them, his mouth hanging open. "Why're you laughing?"

"Because . . . you just . . ." Kiel tried to get his words out, but it was hard to when he kept laughing after every few words. "Said a speech about . . ." Another laugh. "How much you . . . need candy!"

He glared at them, his face turning as red as a strawberry. "You guys are mean. What's wrong with that? Weren't you being serious?"

Bethany grinned, and when she spoke, her voice was a higher pitch than normal from all the laughing. "I was _joking_! But please, go on with your speech about why you deserve candy. I want to hear your brilliant case."

Kiel clapped his hands, laughing again. "Come on, Owen! Let's hear it."

Owen shook his head, still chewing on his gum. "Not if you're gonna make fun of me for it!"

"We are definitely making fun of you for it."

"Yeah, don't try getting out of this," Bethany said.

Owen blushed. "Hey, I'm—"

Suddenly, the door to Owen's bedroom flew open, and all three of them jumped. They lifted their heads to see Ms. Conners, Owen's mom, standing in the doorway. She was wearing a pair of reading glasses and holding a book, which gave a sign that she must've been reading, an activity that Kiel normally saw her do when he went over Owen's house.

"Owen, it's almost nine!" Ms. Conners said, pointing to the clock at Owen's bedside. Sure enough, it read 8:54 pm. "Your friends need to head home."

Owen straightened up, a frown on his face. "But I thought you said—"

"No but's!" She held up a hand. "Sorry, honey, but they can't sleep over. It's a _school_ night."

Owen looked like he wanted to protest, but Bethany just slid off of the bed, taking her Wonka bar with her. "No, I get it. My mom wants me home on a school night, too. She'd freak out if I wasn't home." She looked back at Owen. "Thanks for having us over."

Owen smiled, but still looked a bit disappointed. "Yeah, of course!"

"See you later," Kiel said, ruffling Owen's hair as he followed Bethany. Seeing as they were getting ready to leave, Ms. Conners backed out of the room, leaving the three of them alone.

Bethany picked up the seventh Kiel Gnomenfoot book from the pile on Owen's desk and started flipping to the very back, a process that seemed automatic whenever they took Kiel back to his world. She kicked aside a large pile of shirts that Owen had failed to hang up (it was a rare occurrence to see the floor sometimes when it came to Owen's room), and gently placed the book on the floor.

"You really need to hang up your clothes," Bethany muttered, wrinkling her nose.

"Why?" Owen asked. "My room's fine!"

He gesticulated at the entire room, but looking around, Kiel didn't see a single area that was spotless. There were books (both with broken spines and without) everywhere, whether it was on the ground or on shelves. His clothes usually never made it past the floor, and somehow, the boy was entirely unable to make his bed.

It was like a tornado had ripped through the place. Not that Kiel really cared. His own room was never very clean, but it hadn't exceeded the level that Owen's room had. He'd gotten used to it after his first visit to Owen's room, and the messiness of it didn't prevent him and Bethany from having sleepovers there. Still, Kiel tended to prefer Bethany's house when it came to sleepovers. Her room was always much neater.

Bethany scoffed at Owen's remark, then glanced sideways at Kiel. "Are you ready to go home?"

"Yeah," Kiel said, moving to her side. He slid his hand into her's, said one last goodbye to Owen, and was jumped (more like _pulled_ ) into the book.

The scenery of Owen's dimly-lit bedroom around him vanished, morphing into the familiar sight of Magisteria. The air was crisp, and leaves blew around them in the breeze. He heard voices and the noises of animals somewhere in the distance. They landed in an area of the woods that Kiel recognized, right next to a large village where he recalled spending time on the streets before the Magister had taken him in.

Being here always made him feel relaxed, but Kiel knew he wouldn't want to spend his whole life here, in Magisteria. If he was able to (which he was, because he was Kiel Gnomenfoot) he'd want to travel to different worlds when he got a little bit older, including the various countries in the nonfictional world that he'd never been to before.

Kiel liked that he could have the freedom to do those things, because he never wanted to just be one thing or have one life. He'd learned that a few years ago, when he'd been forced to live without magic. There were other options for him besides being a magician, and he wanted to explore them all. Of course, he still loved magic more than maybe anything. His love for it would never die.

Almost as soon as they jumped into the book, Bethany pulled her hand out of Kiel's and turned to stare at him. "Want some company while you head home? It's kinda dark out."

"What company, you?" he asked, and she tried hitting him.

"Shut up!"

He laughed. "Rude.”

"I'm just saying, something bad could happen since you left your spell book at your house." She shivered as a stiff breeze blew into them. "You never know. I just _know_ you, and I know you'd somehow manage to put yourself in the most dangerous situations imaginable. Like for example, fighting a freaking _dragon_ with your bare hands."

"Hey, that was one time!"

She gave him a look.

"Fine. Six times! And I think I'll be fine," he said, smiling at her. "I've got my wand-knives with me. What could possibly happen? I'm _Kiel Gnomenfoot_. I laugh in the face of danger!"

"Oh, I know you do." Bethany chuckled, shaking her head. "And you're _crazy_ , you know that?"

"Thanks."

"Wasn't a compliment."

Kiel's smile grew. He wished he could stare at Bethany for the rest of the night, or even jump off some cliffs with her, but she had school tomorrow and he was tired and unfortunately that just wasn't possible. "I know, but I take everything you say to me as one."

She laughed. "That actually explains a _lot_!"

He winked, a warm feeling blooming in his chest that really only occurred when he was around Bethany. "Doesn't it?"

There was a moment where neither of them said anything, simply smiling at each other, but Bethany was the one who looked away, breaking the silence first. "Okay . . . um, I guess I'll get going. It's late. My mom'll be home from work soon, so . . ."

"Of course, I get it," Kiel said. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," she said. She looked like she wanted to say more, as she spent a few seconds of contemplating something. With a hint of nervousness, she unexpectedly stepped forwards and threw her arms around him. Surprised, he weaved his arms around her, hugging her close for a few long seconds before they pulled away from each other.

"Miss me already?" Kiel asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Never, weirdo," Bethany said with an eye-roll, though he could tell she was smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow, then? Meet us at the library?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Great."

Waving goodbye to him, she leapt into the air, disappearing from the book. As Kiel started across the long, darkening forest path and finally made it back home, a thought later occurred to him that he should've let Bethany walk with him. It would've changed everything that was about to happen.

* * *

The inside of the tower was dark and quiet when Kiel pushed open the door. He shuffled inside, climbing the stairs that'd lead him to his room. He felt around the wall for a light switch, only to realize that Magisteria didn't _have_ light switches like the nonfictional world did and he'd have to use a candle. Definitely something he should request for Charm to get him now that she was the president of Quanterium and all.

As he shrugged his cape off and draped it over his chair, he sung a nonfictional tune until his breath, which Owen had showed to him. It was an upbeat song, apparently made three decades ago but to Kiel it didn't seem old at all. He was almost positive that it was called "Come and Get Your Love", or something along those lines.

Suddenly, just as Kiel had repeated the same line for the fourth time (as he'd forgotten the following lyrics), a bright light emerged from a mirror that hung on Kiel's wall, so bright that it filled the entire room. Surprised, he turned his head to the light. Within seconds, it was so bright that he had to look away and shield his eyes from it.

Even with his eyes closed, Kiel was still unable to fully push away the intense brightness of the room. What on Magisteria was going on? It had to be magic, obviously, but he hadn't casted any spells lately so it wasn't coming from _him_. Keeping his eyes shut, he lowered his hands from his eyes and felt around for his wand-knives.

His hands came in contact with them, and he curled his hands around his wand-knives, hoping this would mean he could get into a fight. Despite his confusion, he felt his optimism growing at the thought. Whatever was going on, it meant something dangerous was likely to happen, and Kiel wouldn't mind it at all. Like everything in life, he'd _embrace_ it.

Unless it ended up being Charm yelling at him for something. Then he'd probably just be annoyed.

Then, a voice rang out from right in front of him, and any hopes of getting into danger flew from his head. "Kiel," a man's voice murmured, and he recognized it instantly. It was the voice of an old man who he used to trust with all his heart, who he lived with and thought of as his own father. _The Magister_.

Kiel managed to open his eyes, still squinting, and saw that the light was starting to die away. Stepping through the mirror was unmistakably the Magister, looking just as Kiel remembered him, with a long white beard and flowing robes. A flood of emotions went through Kiel, and surprisingly, none of them were anger. Mostly sadness at the relationship he'd lost, and relief that the Magister was okay, and some guilt for leaving him.

" _Magi_? Is that really you?" he whispered, blinking several times against the light.

He released his grip on his wand-knives, forgetting for a moment about everything that had happened back when the Magister had tried to take over the nonfictional world. For some reason, that memory seemed like a complete blur. Just like the strange fogginess in his head.

The light fully faded away, and there was the Magister, standing face-to-face with Kiel. He wore a faint smile. "Hello, Kiel. It's good to see you."

"It's — it's good to see you, too," Kiel said, taking a small step back. "No offense, but why are you here?

"I'm here because I want you to be my apprentice again," the man said. "You see, Kiel, I've missed you very much.”

Kiel began shaking his head, trying not to give in, trying not to admit that a part of him missed his former father figure, too. "I don't _need_ a master, Magi." He winked. "I'm old enough now that I don't need one. I'm incredible all on my own, and I really don't think it'd be such a good idea if _you_ were my master again—"

"Yes, I know," the Magister interrupted impatiently. "But I've raised you ever since you were a young child, and that gives us a special bond. Not even your friends can break that bond, can they?" His voice went down to a whisper. "I know they've tried to."

"They haven't done anything."

"So that girl you care about so much hasn't changed your mind about me? What's her name again? Bethany, isn't it?"

"Please leave her out of this," Kiel said, sighing. "I'm the only one who's changed my mind, and I don't want to be your apprentice again. I'm sorry. Not after everything you did."

The Magister fixed Kiel with an intense stare, which Kiel knew all too well as a sign that the man was getting angry. But his gaze swept around the small tower, and the irritation seemed to fade as quickly as it'd come. "I see you've been living alone, just like you used to all those years ago."

"So?" Kiel shrugged. "I still have Alphonse to live with, and I see my friends pretty much every day. Plus, I have somewhere to live, so I'm not living on the streets anymore. I'm not complaining."

At the mention of his name, Alphonse lifted his head from the other side of the room and stared at Kiel. Then he sat up and extended his wings, taking off into the air. He glided around the room for a few seconds before landing gracefully on Kiel's windowsill, folding his wings back at his sides. It didn't look like the cat would be much help in this situation. Definitely not for getting rid of the Magister.

"That's . . . good to hear," the Magister said, not fully sounding like he believed his own words. "But Kiel, I would like you to live with me again. To be my apprentice. I admit that in the past I was . . . not the most reasonable. But I am a better person now."

"Better how?" Kiel asked, eyeing him.

"I know I cannot take back what I did to you and your . . . _friend_ , but I would like to apologize for my actions," the Magister said, looking a bit uncomfortable as he spoke. "What I did back in the other world . . . those actions do not represent my true self. I cannot claim to fully know what pushed me to such a place, but I'm sorry you had to see me that way."

Kiel nodded. He didn't move from where he was standing. "So am I."

"And it truly warms my heart to see you, Kiel. It would make me even happier if you were to be my apprentice again. I could teach you things that the nonfictional world could never supply—"

"Oh, I'm still not up on that offer," the boy magician said. "It does seem like you've changed, and that's _great_. I'm glad to see you apologized for your actions, but I would really prefer it if you apologized to Beth. You almost killed her multiple times, so you know, she'd need to hear it the most." He waved the Magister off. "Anyway, thanks for stopping by!"

"No, you will _not_ get rid of me this way," the Magister hissed, his voice rising with a hint of anger. "Spending time with your friends has made you lose sight of what's really important. Neither of them came from our world. They don't understand you, not really. They don't care about your problems. They don't know what's best for you. They never will."

"Of course they do!" Kiel shot back, a little surprised that the Magister would even say such a thing. "You might not be a fan of them, but Owen and Bethany are my best friends and they've _always_ cared about me. Heck, Owen probably knows me better than anyone! He _lived_ as me. Why does it matter that I have friends? I think it's grea—"

The Magister suddenly lunged forward, almost towering over him as he gripped Kiel by the shoulders. "Because _they turned you away from me_. We were going to do great things together, Kiel." Kiel's eyes widened. "I was going to make you the most powerful magician in the _world_." He shook him hard, making Kiel's head spin. "And that all changed as _soon_ as you met Bethany and Owen. If it weren't for them, you would still be my apprentice."

"I'm _glad_ they turned me away from you! You used to be a good person, but now you're evil!" Kiel tried moving away, but the Magister dug his fingernails deep into his shoulders, and he gasped. He thrashed around, trying to get away. "What's wrong with you? Let go of me!"

" _No_. You will _listen_ to me, Kiel. You aren't yourself anymore."

"What?"

"You've changed! You're _blind_. You can't see reality anymore, so you've decided to waste time focusing less on your magic and more on others. This is all Bethany's fault. She forced you to fight me all those years ago, just so she would still have her powers—"

"She didn't make me do anything, Magi!" Kiel said, finally ripping free of the Magister's grasp. He slowly clenched and unclenched his fists. How could the Magister say those horrible things about his friends? He felt anger coursing through his veins, but told himself to not start a fight, since that'd only make things worse. The last time he had a fight with the Magister had ended pretty badly.

"It was my choice not to side with you," he continued. "Because I didn't believe in what you were trying to do! You only cared about destroying the lives of innocent people, and I don't agree with that!"

"Innocent?" The magical energy surrounding the Magister intensified for a moment. "How are the nonfictionals _innocent_?"

Kiel scratched his head. "Well, I've only had the pleasure of meeting a few of them, but none of them have tried to control me. They're pretty blameless, actually."

"Blameless?" the Magister shouted angrily, and Kiel flinched. "Wake up, my boy! I spent _decades_ suffering, and for what? To know that a nonfictional author by the name of Jonathan Porterhouse was controlling my life? That's what your so called friends are trying to do! You think they're blameless? They're nonfictional! They'll always try to control you. It's in their nature."

"Maybe some of them are like that, but not my friends," Kiel defended. "They've never tried to hurt or control me. The only person who's ever done that was _you_! And it doesn't look like you've changed at all, because you still hate the nonfictionals! _This_ is the exact reason why everything changed between us! I don't get how you don't see that! Why do you think I stopped being your apprentice in the first place?"

The Magister said nothing, only stared at him with that same angry expression, if not with some remorse in his eyes.

Kiel took a deep breath, holding his palms up as a gesture for peace. "We can discuss this calmly, okay? I don't want to fight you, but I don't want you in my life anymore, either. Violence isn't the answer right now. You're right about one thing. I _have_ changed. I've changed into a more confident person without you around. I'm happier now."

For a few seconds there was complete silence. The Magister gave him a pitying look. "Is that really what you believe?"

"Yes!" he insisted. "And I'm never going to want to be your apprentice again! Whatever you say won't make me change my mind."

"Is that so?" Kiel nodded, and the Magister's frown deepened. "Fine. Then I suppose that I no longer have a choice. I'm sorry it must come to this, but this has to be done for your own good. Because I still know what's best for you, whether you believe it or not."

"What are you talking about?"

The Magister snapped his fingers, and the inside of Kiel's tower was replaced by a very familiar-looking, very different tower. It was the same upside down tower where Kiel used to spend almost all his time at, studying and learning all forms of magic with the Magister . . . up until Bethany and Owen came into his life. Seeing it now brought a flood of memories to Kiel, mostly good ones from when he was younger.

Kiel's jaw dropped open in surprise. He felt his heart thumping harder in his chest, and he glanced around the room before looking at the Magister. "Magi, _why_ are we here?"

The Magister said nothing, only strode over to the gigantic spell book at the center of the room. His long robes flowed behind him as he crossed the room and went in front of the book, closing his eyes. The pages of the book began to flip past, at a speed faster than Kiel could keep up with. Kiel quickly followed the Magister, and this time, he kept his hands on his wand-knives, despite not wanting to fight the man.

He didn't have a very good feeling about this, and those gut feelings didn't come often. What was the Magister doing? Whatever it was, he was going to use magic and that wasn't a good sign when it came to the Magister. But still, there was a part of Kiel that wanted to trust the Magister, and still kind of did, in spite of everything.

That didn't excuse the fact that whatever the Magister was up to _didn't_ look good.

"What on Magisteria are you doing? What spell are you looking for?" Kiel asked, stepping closer to see the pages of the book. But before he could get close enough to see it, an invisible force — like a protection field — barreled into him, causing his body to fly backwards.

He crashed into one of the shelves with thousands of magical items on it. The impact sent everything within range of Kiel crashing onto the floor, some breaking into pieces if they were in glass cases. Some sort of magical pink powder floated down into his hair, making him cough heavily. He didn't even know what the powder was, or what it could do to him, but he was hardly concerned about that as much as he was about the Magister.

Kiel groaned loudly, leaning forward as he tried sitting up. His head throbbed with pain. There were several shards of glass on the ground, and he was pretty sure that something heavy had hit him on the head. "You put a . . . Big Bubble of Safety spell? Around the _spell_ book?"

"Protectorate of Physically, actually," the Magister murmured, slowly turning to face Kiel with the same pitying expression. His hands were glowing, a sign that he'd just learned whatever spell that the page had showed him. "It seemed that I needed it. I cannot have you interfere with what I am about to do."

"Magi, this isn't a good idea," Kiel said in his most convincing tone, straightening his back to seem confident. However, it was hard to seem confident when he was sitting against a shelf with pain coursing through his body. "And that's coming from _me_ , which says something! You have to listen to me before you hurt someone!"

As the Magister walked towards him, he went to pull out his wand-knives, only to realize that they weren't there. What? He inhaled sharply. Where had they gone? He quickly glanced around the room, trying to see where they were. There wasn't an explanation for it. He'd literally had them a minute ago, and they couldn't have fallen out because they were usually in their sheaths!

"If you're looking for your wand-knives, you won't find them," the Magister said. "I'm sorry, my dear boy, but I had to take them from you."

"That's not fair!" Kiel shouted. "You aren't even giving me the option to fight back!"

"You did say that violence isn't the answer." The old man walked closer to him, his steps echoing across the wooden floor. "And that may be the case for you, but for me, I _must_ use magic so that you can see the truth."

Kiel couldn't believe what was happening. After everything, after the Magister had said he'd changed when it really didn't seem like he had, here they were again, fighting one another. And Kiel was now magic-less. He knew he shouldn't be surprised it'd turned out this way, but he still was. Why couldn't the Magister just accept that Kiel had a new life and friends now?

"You can't do this!”

"You don't even know what I'm about to do," the Magister said, giving him the flicker of a smile. "I am very sorry Kiel, but this has to be done. I don't have another choice."

"No!" Kiel said, struggling to rise to his feet. He had to avoid stepping on the shards of glass, which would certainly be painful if he took one misstep. "Of course you have another choice! Please, if you care about me, don't do this. The old Magister wouldn't have done anything like this. Don't do something you're going to regret."

"That's where you're wrong, my boy," The Magister said ominously, holding up two wands and pointing the tips at Kiel. "This isn't something I'm going to regret."

* * *

It was a bright sun and a stunningly cloudless sky that Kiel opened his eyes to when he finally regained consciousness. It occurred to him that he had absolutely no idea where he was, because . . . the last thing he remembered was the Magister pointing his wands at Kiel and casting a spell.

_Casting a spell._

That was enough to make Kiel sit up abruptly, and he looked all around for a sign of the Magister. But he was nowhere to be seen. And strangely enough, Kiel wasn't in the Magister's tower anymore, either. He wasn't in Magisteria _at all_. Confusion and maybe even fear filled him. Luckily, the place he was in was somewhere he recognized instantly.

He found that for some odd reason, he was laying on the concrete across from the door of Owen's mother's library. Either he'd been laying here for a while, or no one had bothered to wake him, because there was no one around. A few cars were sitting in the parking lot, but it looked like the library wasn't very busy today.

Even weirder, he was wearing something that was so foreign to his regular black outfit. A very nonfictional-looking shirt — like that ones Owen often wore — and a pair of jeans replaced his usual Magisterian clothes. No wand-knives, no magical belt, no cape, nothing that he was used to whatsoever. It was as if everything that made him _him_ on the outside had been stripped away.

Kiel climbed to his feet, not liking the confusion he was feeling. Had it been a dream, or had he really gone to Magisteria and seen the Magister last night? It wasn't a weird occurrence for him to wake up somewhere he didn't fall asleep in. He'd fallen asleep and woken up in a different place entirely before, but he'd never woken up in a different _world_ before.

The only way to get to the nonfictional world was if Bethany took him there, and since she wasn't with him, it didn't seem likely that she had. There was no sign at all that she'd taken him out of his book. And if she had, why would she leave him on the sidewalk?

Even for Bethany, that was a little rude.

Well, more than a little.

Not to mention, he didn't understand what the Magister's spell had done. Kiel didn't even _know_ what spell he'd used, much less what it had done to him. Maybe it'd just been a teleportation spell, or something along those lines. Or maybe it hadn't done anything at all!

It still didn't explain how he'd gotten to the nonfictional world, but Kiel was tired of overthinking this. It wasn't in his nature. No point in worrying about it when there wasn't any proof of something to worry about! And if there _was_ something to worry about, Kiel would make sure to fix it right away. Obviously.

Pushing open the double doors of the library, Kiel felt more optimistic as he walked inside. Assuming Owen was working his shift, he threw a glance towards the checkout counter. There were only a couple of adults getting their books checked out. Owen's mother was there, so he waved jubilantly to her.

"Hey, Ms. Conners!"

Owen's mother smiled politely, but it didn't reach her eyes like it usually did. "Can I help you?"

"No, just looking for Owen. Is he here?"

"He's organizing books in the children's section," Ms. Conners said slowly, looking confused. Then, her expression changed. "Oh, you must be from Owen's school. Did he not do his math homework again? If you're in a school project together, I'm really sorry. He's always daydreaming and forgetting to finish his homework."

"What?" Kiel said blankly. The statement came out of nowhere, so much that he almost had trouble comprehending that Ms. Connors had actually said that. "Um, no, I'm not from Owen's school. I'm Kiel. Kiel Gnomenfoot, remember?"

Ms. Conners didn't seem phased at all. She only shook her head, giving him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, never met you before. I don't remember Owen ever mentioning you."

Owen never _mentioning_ him? What was this? Kiel was well aware of Owen's love for his book series, and he was also well aware that Ms. Conners knew about it. He'd been over Owen's house hundreds of times! Why wouldn't she remember meeting him before? It didn't make any sense, and yet, it filled Kiel with a little bit of fear as he tried to fill in the gaps.

The only explanation Kiel could think of was that Bethany and Owen must've been playing a prank on him. That had to be it! It was weird that they'd gotten Ms. Conners in on the prank, too, but they'd probably done that to make the prank seem more realistic. That was all it was — a prank!

Now feeling a bit better about things, Kiel backed away, starting in the direction of the children's section. He laughed, brushing off the strangeness of it all. "You're so funny, Ms. Conners! But you don't have me fooled! I know what you guys are doing!"

She stared at him, her brows knitted together. "I don't understand . . ."

"I don't either!" He grinned. "Wow, great job. I never thought Owen and Bethany would include you in it, too. You're doing this prank thing really well." He then turned his back to her, not noticing the look of complete bewilderment that crossed her face.

_I bet Owen won't be able to go through with it_ , Kiel thought with amusement as he wandered over to the children's section. _He's a terrible liar, and even his facial expressions would give him away!  
  
_

On his way there, he spotted two kids arguing. They were only two or three years younger than him, and their discussion seemed a bit heated. Out of curiosity, he stopped to listen.

"The movie adaptions for Harry Potter were good!" said the first one, a boy.

"No, they weren't," said the girl next to him, who looked more annoyed at the conversation. "They totally sucked worse than the Percy Jackson movies!"

"That's impossible."

"Why?"

"The Percy Jackson movies are the terrible ones!"

"No they're not!"

Unable to help himself, Kiel asked, "How did you two like the Kiel Gnomenfoot movies?"

They stopped talking, exchanging looks with each other before staring at Kiel in confusion.

"The what?" they both asked.

"The Kiel Gnomenfoot movies," Kiel repeated, thinking they hadn't heard him correctly. He walked closer to them. "Well, there's actually only one movie so far instead of seven for the seven books in the series, but I thought it was good. Lots of action and danger and magic. Except the guy who played Kiel looked ten times less handsome than the real version."

"I've never heard of that," the boy said slowly.

"Me neither," the girl said, crossing her arms. Apparently they could agree on _one_ thing. While Kiel was pretty sure only Owen and his mother had been the ones in on the prank, they must've asked around for all the other people in the library to participate. Wow, they were _really_ taking this thing seriously.

Kiel nodded knowingly. "Yeah, you _wouldn't_ have heard of that! Becuase of the prank. Right, I get it." He winked.

"What prank?"

"There's a prank?" the boy asked, pouting. "Aww! Why didn't anyone tell me? I love being in pranks!"

Kiel grinned. "Well you must be having fun right now."

"Why?"

"Because you're in one! You're pranking me by pretending not to know who 'Kiel Gnomenfoot' is." He winked again. "Don't worry, it wasn't that hard to figure out. And you're all doing a great job at it. I wouldn't have been able to act so realistic if _I_ was doing a prank like this."

"But we _don't_ know who Kiel Gnomenfoot is . . ." the girl said, sounding lost. "This isn't a prank. We _really_ don't know."

That made Kiel frown. So this wasn't a prank. At least, these kids weren't participating in it. They must've never actually heard of his books! But what kid had never heard of the Kiel Gnomenfoot books? What _person_ had never heard of them? Kiel was famous, and everyone knew and loved him. The kids must not read a ton of books, or else they would _have_ to know Kiel's series.

"The Kiel Gnomenfoot series?" Kiel asked, tilting his head. "You haven't read it? Seriously?"

Both kids shook their head.

"Well _that's_ offensive," he said under his breath. He smiled at the kids. "Follow me. I'll show you the best book series you'll ever read, with the awesomest, best-looking main character named Kiel Gnomenfoot. It's my best friend's favorite book series. And my other best friend, but she won't admit it. She also won't admit how cool I — uh, _Kiel_ — is."

He started walking proudly to the fantasy section, the two kids at his heels. Except when he got to the spot where his entire series was usually displayed, there were other books in its place. _That_ had never happened before. Why had Ms. Conners decided to move them? Kiel didn't know how libraries worked, but he knew that everything was supposed to be organized in a very particular way.

"Huh," Kiel muttered. "It's around here somewhere. I know it is. It was here a few days ago." He scanned the fantasy section once, twice, then three times. It was the only part of the library that he knew almost by heart, since it had his book series there. He glanced over to see that the other kids were searching for it too, but none of them could find it _anywhere_.

Eventually, the kids gave up, wishing Kiel good luck on his search. But no amount of luck helped Kiel find his books. His stomach was starting to feel sour, and he kept pushing away the bad feeling that entered his gut. Later, he even asked Ms. Conners about it, because he assumed she was hiding them for the sake of the prank. But she acted just as clueless as before. It was like the books had never been there in the first place. Like they'd never _existed_.

After checking with Ms. Conners about the whereabouts of his series, Kiel was starting to think something was wrong. He drifted around the library, asking anyone he saw if they'd heard about his book series. None of them said yes. Each one, _every single one_ , said no. He even stood by the door and asked everyone who walked inside about it, but they all seemed surprised and confused by the question.

How could they all have known about the prank? There was no way every single person that walked inside the library was participating in it. There was just no way, unless there something going on that he didn't know about. Why wouldn't they know what the Kiel Gnomenfoot series was? It was shocking to Kiel, who was used to everyone knowing about it. Unless . . . unless for some reason, none of them actually knew.

Although Kiel kept telling himself over and over that it was just a prank, it was hard to push away the ounce of worry that filled him. He started to wondered if maybe it wasn't a prank at all. Could that be possible? It could be, but Kiel didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to worry over it when he didn't know what was true. So he set out to find his friends.

And to see how far this prank could really go.

It didn't take long to find Owen. He was in the children's section as his mother had said, a pile of books surrounding him as he sat on the floor. He took each one from the pile, sliding them into their correct place. Kiel didn't see Bethany, but if she wasn't here now she should be showing up soon. She'd told Kiel to meet them at the library, after all.

"Hey, Owen" Kiel said, tapping his friend's shoulder. "Weirdest thing just happened. Literally no one in this entire library remembers my book series, and the books themselves are gone—"

As if he was in a deep trance, Owen jumped, dropping the book he'd been holding with a yelp. He whipped his head around, looking at Kiel as if he'd never seen him before. He inched away from Kiel, clearly uncomfortable and even looked a bit embarrassed. "Oh! Um, sorry, what? I think you've mistaken me for someone else."

Kiel blinked. The look in Owen's eyes went so far from recognition that even to him it seemed insanely realistic. Even more realistic was the way Owen had said the words. It hadn't sounded like he was lying at all, like the words were completely genuine. That had never happened before. During the rare times he did try lying, Owen tended to blush or avoid eye contact. It'd be obvious when he did lie.

This time though, Owen was straight-faced. Like he was talking to a stranger, a person he'd never seen or met before. It baffled Kiel more than he already had been. Even worse, he found himself getting scared. No held-in laughter came from Owen. Surely, since it was a prank than Owen would've broken it by now, barely able to spend another second without laughing and breaking his serious facade.

A thought occurred to Kiel. A bad one that sent a unwelcoming chill down his spine. He pushed the thought away immediately, forcing himself to keep believing this was a prank. It _was_ only a prank! That was it. Just a prank that Owen and his mom and maybe Bethany — including everyone else Kiel had talked to today — were in on, and all of them had suddenly become extraordinary liars. That had to be all it was.

"No one is remembering my books," Kiel repeated, trying to appear unfazed. "The Kiel Gnomenfoot books. Can you believe that? Isn't that so weird?"

Owen stared at him, his mouth hanging open slightly. "What? What Kiel Gnomenfoot books? I have no idea what you're talking about, or . . . who you are. Sorry."

Kiel forced a laugh. "This definitely seems like a great prank. You're pulling it off nicely, but seriously, everyone's acting like I don't exist. Kind of rude of them, if you ask me."

"No, this isn't a prank," Owen said, that same blank look on his face. "I _don't know_ who you are."

Kiel wasn't sure if he was breathing. He scanned Owen's face for any sign he was lying, but it was crystal clear that he wasn't. The fear was building inside him, but he forced a wide grin. It was a prank. _Had to be_ a prank. That was all it had to be. "Okay, I get it! You're just kidding around."

"Huh?"

"Let me know when you're done doing the prank," Kiel said, then paused. "Oh, I guess you want to wait until Bethany gets here. Makes sense. Then I'll have to tell you _both_ about what happened."

"Bethany?" Owen frowned. "Bethany who?"

"Bethany Sanderson," Kiel said bluntly. "What other Bethany would I be taking about?"

The other boy's eyes actually widened. "Oh, um, she's coming _here_?”

"Yeah. Why?"

"No, it's because I haven't talked to her since . . ." Owen's face reddened and he shook his head. "Never-mind. She just doesn't like me very much."

Kiel gave him a strange look. "What?"

Bethany, not liking Owen very much? What was this? Kiel figured Bethany was annoyed by the two of them sometimes, but now it seemed like Owen was almost _afraid_ of her. And that was very different from being friends.

"When was the last time you talked to her?" Kiel asked. 

"Maybe . . ." Owen looked thoughtful. "I guess it was three years ago. Something like that? She was in my seventh grade math class, with Mr. Barberry." He stared at Kiel. "Are you guys friends? Was she going to meet you here?"

"Yeah," Kiel said, his voice quieter and sounding less confident than he intended it. He was really starting to get worried, and he didn't like that feeling at all. "We're friends. Was the last time you talked to her when you saw her coming out of a book?"

Owen's eyes grew wide, and he coughed. "I — I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Of course you do."

He giggled in a way that sounded extremely fake to Kiel. "What? That's — that's crazy! _You're_ crazy! That's impossible! Someone _crawling_ out of a book? In the middle of my mom's librar . . ." Kiel raised his eyebrows, and Owen sighed, his face reddening. "Yeah, it was . . . but, but how do you know about that?!" He started talking faster and faster. "I didn't tell anyone! I promised Bethany I wouldn't! I don't remember telling you at all!"

"What?" a voice whispered from just behind them, and they both turned to see Bethany standing there, her backpack sliding off her shoulders. Then, her expression changed from shock to horror to anger quicker than Kiel thought possible. She stormed forward and grabbed for Owen's shirt, but he quickly dodged.

"You told him about me?!" she said, her voice rising in volume. "You told this boy about my powers?! How _could_ you? You promised to keep it a secret, Owen!"

"I'm sorry!" Owen cried, backing away from Bethany. "I don't know how he knew!"

"Whoa!" Kiel said, extending his arms out wide and stepping in front of Owen, blocking Bethany's path before she tried hitting him or something. "He didn't tell me," he assured her. "I found out."

That made both of them go silent, and Bethany stared at Kiel, slowly breathing in and out.

"How?" she asked, cautiously stepping closer to him.

Seeing her look at him like that made Kiel's insides twist, and not in a good way. "Because you told me. When the Magister came into our world."

"I've never even seen you before," Bethany said. "The only person I've ever told was Owen."

"That's not true. You also told _me_ , Beth."

"Beth?" she repeated, looking just as confused as Kiel felt now. "Only my mom calls me that. And how do you know my name, anyway? Who are you?"

"Who's the Magister?" Owen asked.

"You guys seriously don't remember me? I'm Kiel, your best friend!" Kiel swallowed hard. "I guess this really _isn't_ a prank." He glanced at Owen. "Come on, of all people to forget me you definitely wouldn't be one of them. Don't you remember me? I'm your favorite fictional character. I'm Kiel Gnomenfoot! I've been eaten by dragons forty-three times, I can do magic . . .? Ringing any bells?"

Owen shook his head, glancing at Bethany in confusion. "I'm sorry, I have no idea who you are. I've never heard of the Kiel Gnomenfoot books." He looked at Bethany. "Have you?"

"No," Bethany muttered, her eyes fixed on Kiel. He felt his heart breaking as he stared at her. "I . . . I haven't. Should I have?"

Not knowing what to say, Kiel forced a wink. "No . . . no . . . maybe not." He sucked in a breath, turning away from his friends. They were acting like he was a complete stranger and that was more hurtful than anything he'd ever experienced. They weren't joking around. They really _didn't_ remember him.

There was one last thing he had to check.

He ran to the computers and quickly logged onto the Internet. With slightly sweaty hands, he typed "Kiel Gnomenfoot" into the blank space. He clenched and unclenched his fists more times than necessary as he waited for the screen to load, as it seemed to be taking forever. When it finally showed the results, Kiel felt tears build up in his eyes.

_No search results found_.

There was no sign of the Kiel Gnomenfoot books existing, ever. From spending time with Charm, Kiel knew that computers had more knowledge than humans ever could. That was why he waited for the computer to give the information, since it couldn't forget anything. But it had. It had forgotten everything related to Kiel, just like everyone else had. This was just a confirmation that it was real.

"Are you okay?"

Kiel felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Bethany standing there with her hand on his shoulder. Owen was a few feet behind her. He felt his heart swell with an array of emotions at the sight of his friends, at the knowledge that they no longer knew who he was. They might've followed him to the computer, but only out of genuine concern. Not because they were his friends.

"Yeah," he lied, not knowing what else he could really reply with.

The tears were slowly falling down his face now, and he was fairly sure he'd never felt so humiliated. It made it worse that neither Bethany or Owen had their memories, or else they'd probably try to hug him and Kiel would laugh it off, telling them he had everything under control and they didn't have to worry.

Bethany continued awkwardly squeezing his shoulder, despite looking completely uncomfortable and confused, while Owen stared at his shoes in silence. Neither of them said anything. Maybe it was better that way. For the first time, Kiel didn't want to crack a joke or try making light of a situation. This was the worst thing that could ever have happened to him.

Kiel's eyes darted from Bethany to Owen, who looked unsure of each other. It was as if they'd barely talked before, except for that one time when Owen discovered that Bethany could jump into books. But if he'd discovered that, why hadn't they become close friends afterwards? It didn't make much sense.

The realization sunk into Kiel's head all at once. If it weren't for him, Bethany and Owen never would have _become_ friends. The whole reason Owen had promised to keep Bethany's secret was if she jumped him into the seventh and final book in Kiel's series. In turn, that caused the whole thing with the Magister to happen, which helped Kiel meet Bethany. All the while, Owen had been posing as Kiel until they saved him.

But now never of that would've happened, because there _was_ no Kiel Gnomenfoot series! So likely, Owen had never asked Bethany to take him into _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source Of Magic_. After Owen had seen Bethany crawl out of a book, they'd never become friends. They'd never met Kiel, they'd never had a reason to save the world, and most likely, Bethany hadn't even found her father.

That meant that Owen and Bethany were very different people now. It hurt Kiel's heart to think about it. He hadn't realized just how different both of them were now, how Owen was more-lacking in confidence and how Bethany was still holding onto her dozens of rules. It was like the first time Kiel had met them, but it obviously wasn't, because this time around they'd never heard of Kiel Gnomenfoot in their entire lives.

It never occurred to Kiel just how much he'd changed their lives, apparently for the better. He definitely had seen a growth in Bethany even when he'd first met her, with her struggling to accept her powers and eventually embracing them. If it weren't for Kiel, she _never_ would've tried being more fictional.

The same could be said for Owen, who started off as someone who was naive and innocent, only to slowly grow stronger and braver. Kiel had always done anything he could to boost Owen's confidence, since he knew his friend needed it sometimes. Now, it seemed like Owen had changed a lot. There was less of a glimmer in his eyes.

The Kiel Gnomenfoot series used to be Owen's favorite one; everyone knew that. There was so much that Owen had loved about Kiel's series, from the magicians to the dragons to the half-robotic girls. That was the entire reason he knew so much about Kiel's life, and how he was able to pretend to be Kiel. Just like all the other fans, it had given him hope and had fueled his imagination.

It made sense that Owen had changed now that the Kiel Gnomenfoot series was forgotten. Kiel didn't know the depth of how much that series meant to him, but he could only imagine. That was all he could do now. Owen had once told Kiel that books could save your life. Was that how he'd felt about Kiel's series, back in seventh grade when he didn't even have a friend?

Kiel took a couple of deep breaths, inhaling through his nose and out his mouth. He didn't often feel any kind of stress, but when he did, he normally found it easy to calm himself down. This time though, it wasn't. Tears fell down his cheeks, the uncontrollable type that wouldn't stop even if you brushed them away.

He was more alone than he'd ever been, with absolutely no one who knew who he was. Not only did his fans not remember him, but worse, his friends didn't! _No one_ did! He wasn't able to get back to his world, his own _friends_ weren't friends with each other, and not a single person in the entire world knew who he was. No one looked up to him anymore or would think of him as their hero. It was as if he'd vanished off the face of the earth. Like he never existed in the first place.

Who was he if he wasn't Kiel Gnomenfoot?

* * *

_"_ _And if the sun's upset and the sky goes cold, then if the clouds get heavy and start to fall . . . "_


	39. The True Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the cave, Owen fears the worst. He discovers the whereabouts of his friends... and a frightening new enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all your amazing comments and for reading my story! in this chapter all of your questions will be answered about what’s been going on, so you’ll be a lot less confused by the end of it.
> 
> if you like the chapter lmk!

**_If I Lose Myself Tonight (by One Republic)  
  
_ **

_“If I lose myself tonight, it’ll be by your side . . .”_

* * *

If there was one thing to learn from this, it was that mummies were evil. _Very_ evil. 

Owen wasn’t sure how long he’d been trapped in here, calling out his friends names and getting no response. It was completely silent, and that worried him. The last time he had really heard anything was when he’d taken the magical stone and heard a mummy claiming that it was going to hurt his friends. Now, he’d broken out into a cold sweat, and he could only imagine what was happening to his friends right now. 

Were they alive? Were they still in the cave? Were they okay at all? There was no telling! Owen had messed up many times in the past, but this time? This time was _huge_. There was no going back from this. He _knew_ that the Indiana Jones movies were telling the truth! He should’ve listened and assumed that some kind of curse would always be released if he took _anything_ in front of a creepy mummy. 

Owen glanced up again at the caved-in area, which blocked him from getting out of the cavern. When he’d come in here maybe fifteen minutes ago with Charm, she’d had to knock the large rocks down with her super-strong robotic arm. But when Owen had taken the stone, the rocks had fallen back over the area, not letting him escape to save his friends. 

Oh yeah, and that was _another_ reason he’d messed up.

He had no way of finding his friends. All he had was the magical stone and his time powers, but he didn’t want to use the stone’s magic to get out of here. That’d waste their only opportunity of finding Nobody, and Owen didn’t want his friends to be even _more_ mad at him than they already would be when they found out what he’d caused to happen. He’d have to find another way out. 

And once Owen did that, there was also the whole mummy issue. He wasn’t sure what terrified him more: the mummy itself or the thought of his friends getting hurt because of what he’d done. For now, maybe the first option, since he was alone and the mummy might be coming for _him_ next. He had no idea what this mummy could do, or _what_ it was doing right now, specifically. 

He’d seen enough movies to know something bad was happening, given how ominous the mummy’s message had sounded when it’d last talked to Owen. Or whatever that thing was, if it even _was_ a real mummy. And of course, he was once again on the sidelines while all the important stuff happened! It seemed like that _always_ happened to him. 

That had happened to him when he first went to Kiel’s world, when the Magister had thrown him into his prison. It’d also happened in Jupiter City when he was stuck in that comic book world (which he now knew was Nobody’s prison). _And_ it’d happened to him when he was thrown into _Pick The Plot_ , just so Nobody could get Owen out of the way in order to separate Bethany. 

There were probably more times that he was separated from his friends, and this was definitely one of them. Except when he was in _Pick The Plot_ , he’d had Kara. Now he had no one, and he wasn’t seeing a way to escape. Saving his friends was the most important thing in the world to him right now, more than anything else. Why did it have to be so complicated?

Bethany had been right about one thing: Owen had to stop chasing after his lifelong dream: to be seen as a brave, strong hero. For his friends to be proud of him. For Owen to not mess up everything for once. For him to do something that no one else could. In this case, that was taking the stone. And he hated to admit that a small part of his motivation to find it _was_ so that his friends would look up to him more.

Now his friends had to pay for his actions. The details of _how_ they were paying for it was still a mystery, but he prayed they’d at least be alive. And yes, they needed the stone to help them find and defeat Nobody, but Owen regretted taking it. The seven of them should’ve stayed together instead of splitting up into groups. Maybe that way none of this mess would’ve happened, and his friends would be safe. 

There were so many other questions he had, too. How would he get out of here? What kind of children’s book _was_ this? Why was there a mummy in a book about Scouts, anyway? Shouldn’t the book _only_ be about Scouts and not some random mummy? Owen had read countless books to know how irrelevant it was, especially regarding the plot line of the actual book!

Not that he really knew was the book was about. Before Bethany had jumped them into it, Owen had read the summary on the back to get a better idea of it. The plot of the book was pretty straightforward: Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts go to summer camp and earn their badges by doing varying tasks in the forest. 

There was also something mentioned about the forest being magical, but Owen hadn’t really focused on that when he’d skimmed the first few chapters. He should’ve taken that as a hint before he’d gotten captured by a tree earlier today. If he’d read more about that, maybe he would’ve been able to prepare better. But obviously, there was a lot more magic going on than he thought.

Usually, Owen prided himself on knowing more about books than anyone he knew, aside from maybe his mother. It was the one thing he was good at, and it’d really helped during previous times when his friends needed help. But this time, he didn’t know much at all about the book. He’d heard of it, but he’d never actually _read_ it. 

So, when normally the only thing he was good at was reading books, he didn’t have much information about _Scouting_. If he did, he would’ve been a lot more prepared to help his friends! Here, he hadn’t seen the mummy-curse-thing coming _at all_. So much for thinking he was prepared. If any of his friends had been the ones to take the stone, he could bet that everyone would be saved by now!

Owen walked in circles around the cavern, running his hands through his hair at a fitful pace. He tried thinking of anything that’d get him out of here, but aside from using the stone (which was definitely a no) there was no escape route that he could see. He wished he had super-strength as a superpower instead of his time powers, especially in this situation. What use would they be here?

All of the sudden, a lightbulb went off in his head. 

“My time powers!” he quietly exclaimed. A small surge of hope went through him that he might escape from here, after all. 

If he used his powers the way he’d used them when he fought the Science Police, could he speed up time for the rocks that covered the cavern’s only exit? He remembered something from science class about rocks becoming weathered over time, but he’d never exactly been one to pay attention in school. For him, school just included a lot of daydreaming and not much learning. 

Still, it was worth a shot.

Owen took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves. It did little to make him feel better, but he did feel slightly more optimistic now about saving his friends, so that was a good thing. Hopefully he wouldn’t get _too_ exhausted this time from using them! He turned towards the large pile of rocks and stretched his palm out like he’d done before, kicking his time powers into gear. 

That same familiar, shaking sensation rippled through his body as he activated them. Owen pushed his powers outward, away from his body and into the cluster of rocks. He could physically feel his powers moving through his outstretched hand, and beneath his skin, he was electric. His heart raced quicker by the second, and his body began shaking more than it already was. 

However, Owen kept his focus on the rocks. He didn’t want to accidentally speed up time for the entire cave, as that might hurt him or his friends in the process. He imagined time racing by thousands of years for only the rocks, decaying and breaking them down. Every second that passed made his chest tighten more with pain, but luckily, it wasn’t long before his time powers did their job. 

At first, the large rocks only shook a little, not budging from their positions. As time sped up more and more for them, the rocks began breaking down. It went a lot faster than the attempt with the Science Police had. Chunks of the rocks kept falling off and disintegrating, destroying the rocks further. Before Owen knew it, the rocks blocking his exit had completely been demolished.

He wanted to smile or cheer at his success, but his body was filled with pain from using his time powers, an evil mummy was still out there doing who-knows-what, and his friends were in danger, so it just wasn’t the right time. As soon as he could tell his plan had worked, he released his hold on time, and the pain eased from his chest. 

He waited for his heart rate to return to more of a normal pace, but his current normal was still a pretty fast pace (which was as normal as he was going to get right now, given how scared he was). He felt almost lightheaded, but as long as he took some deep breaths and didn’t use his time powers for a little while, he knew he’d be okay. What worried him more in that moment was his friends’ safety, not his.

The last of the rocks fell apart, making a noise that echoed across the cave. Owen flinched, hoping that the mummy hadn’t heard that. He assumed it was still in the cave, anyway. He bent down, picked up his flashlight with a shaking hand, and cautiously walked through the cavern’s exit. It was just as dark as before, except he couldn’t hear his friends’ voices even when he strained his ears. That made him even more nervous about this entire thing. 

Owen tried gathering up any courage he had left. There was no telling what would happen now, but at least he’d found a way out. Now he’d have a chance to save his friends . . . and hopefully could avoid the mummy at the same time. If he could guess, even if his friends weren’t in the cave anymore, the mummy would be. And it scared him of what might happen if he came across it. Could he both hide from it _and_ rescue his friends?

He wished Bethany was with him. From years of hiding books from her mother and being undetected for the years when she was first jumping into the fictional world, she was an expert at it. If anyone could find a good hiding place, it was her. As for Owen, he’d never had much experience hiding. 

There were times when he did feel the need to be alone, because sometimes he found it hard to get time to himself. He was always surrounded by customers when he was at the library, and when he wasn’t, he was with Bethany or Kiel or someone else. Back before he’d met his friends, finding alone time was easier.   
  


He’d find a hiding spot in the the back of the library, reading his favorite books or doodled in his sketchpad . . . and avoiding getting yelled at by his mother for not doing something he was supposed to be doing. He’d done that for years, but it’d obviously been much easier to hide when he was younger. Needless to say, his mother always managed to find his hiding spots. 

That was as far as he’d gotten with hiding, and his skills weren’t that great to begin with. With his mother being more overprotective after he’d come home, he hadn’t been able to do it in a while. That’s why he would’ve preferred it if Bethany was here; it would’ve made this whole thing a lot less scary, since he was alone and had no idea where to go. 

But she wasn’t with him, and neither were the others. So Owen had to hide from this thing before it decided to hurt him, and _fast._

It didn’t take him long to realize that there wasn’t anywhere to hide, nor was there any actual reason he needed to. He looked left, then right, searching for any sign of the mummy or his friends. He didn’t see either. Not seeing the mummy could be a good thing, depending on what it might do if it saw him. But not seeing his friends anywhere, let alone not _hearing_ them? It made him scared.

The cave was dark, but even with a flashlight it was slightly difficult to see where he was going. Owen walked deeper into the cave, almost tripping on jagged rocks that layered the ground. A few times, he actually _did_ trip, and could already tell there’d be a bunch of scrapes all over his arms and legs by the time they got out of here. _If_ they got out. 

The ceiling of the cave seemed to get increasingly taller as he walked on. _Impossibly_ tall. Cracks in the ceiling offered more light than before, shining down on the cave and making it easier to see. He still used his flashlight, though, because he didn’t want to step into something gross accidentally. 

For a while, Owen only saw rocks. The ground below him was becoming more flat and less uneven and slippery, but nothing besides that changed about his surroundings. Worry built up inside of him, getting stronger as the minutes passed. The cave seemed to go on for miles, and the question that’d been plaguing him still wasn’t answered. Where were his friends?

Eventually, he came across what looked like a crevice in the wall; it looked just big enough for him to walk through without getting squished. Owen stared at it, contemplating his options. Aside from the crevice, everything near it was a rocky wall. Should he go inside? He knew that he probably should, despite being afraid to. It was the only area left to check for his friends. 

If there was nothing there, he’d have to head back and scan the rest of the cave for them. And he really hoped something was there. At least a clue of where they were. If he found nothing, he’d be devastated and even _more_ guilty than he felt already. Too bad he didn’t have Charm’s robotic abilities to pick up how many people were nearby. That way he’d know exactly where his friends were without having to walk miles through a dark cave. 

Hoping his friends were inside, Owen threw his flashlight into his backpack before walking through the crevice. It was the only thing left to do. He had a couple close calls with almost getting squished, but managed to get through without much of a problem. When he finally got to the other side, his mouth dropped open. 

What the crevice led to was a cavern, a _huge_ cavern. This cavern was even bigger than the one he’d found the stone in, nearly the size of a shopping mall — maybe a bit smaller. But that wasn’t what he was focused on. He slowly walked forwards, barely able to believe if he was seeing what he was _actually_ seeing.

“Oh no . . .” Owen whispered, almost stumbling over his own feet. He slowly turned around in a circle, his eyes growing wider and wider as he took in what surrounded him. He was hardly able to breathe. Fear flooded his body. All he heard in that moment was the intense drumming of his robotic heart. It took him a second to realize what he was looking at, and once he did, he gasped out loud. 

It was his friends. But even worse, they were unconscious. Each of them were pressed up against opposite ends of the rocky cave wall, and thick tree roots were wound around them, preventing them from escaping or even moving. His eyes darted from Kara, to Kiel, to Charm, to Orion, and finally to Bethany, who all looked unusually pale. 

Seeing them like that — not even in control of their own bodies — made him want to curl up into a ball. This was _so bad_. In the midst of his fear, he felt more confused than ever. What was happening to them? Why were they unconscious like that? Were they okay? He had to get them out of here! But how?

Owen made a beeline for Bethany, who was the closest to him out of all the others. “. . . Bethany?”

He stared up at his best friend. She was a few inches above him, and he could see just how tightly wrapped the tree roots were around her. Her face was expressionless, but she looked weak and pale, and to Owen, that was confirmation enough that he _needed_ to get her out of here right now. Whatever was happening to her and their other friends, it was _bad_.

The mummy wasn’t here in the cavern, but if Owen could guess, it’d be back soon. He’d have to hurry. If he could get his friends out of here before it came back, they’d have a chance. His hands shook violently as he tried grabbing at the tree roots, but they were stuck fast in place. Up this close, he could tell that she was at least breathing, but she seemed to be very far away. Like she was asleep, or in a trance. 

The sight of his best friend looking like that made him want to cry, and he pulled with all his might at the tree roots that held her. Nothing happened. He grew more frustrated, more desperate, and more fearful with every try. He grunted as he pulled, using all the strength he had. Apparently all the strength he had wasn’t much, because the tree roots stayed fastened around her, not moving an inch. 

Owen kept trying. 

* * *

Around her, the fire seemed to have grown. More pieces of the ceiling were breaking off, crashing into the ground and sending sparks flying everywhere. Bethany was sure that she’d never felt so hot and exhausted in her entire life. Her lungs burned from the strain of trying to breathe. It was all too much for her. She couldn’t do anything else except lay at Owen’s side, her consciousness slowly fading out. 

“Bethany?” 

In the midst of everything, there was a voice. A boy’s voice. For some reason, it almost soothed her to hear it. As if one ray of sunshine was coming through the dark clouds. It seemed like she should recognize the boy’s voice, but she didn’t. Her head was too foggy too make sense of anything, much less who’s voice was calling her name. 

Not that Bethany really cared. She was too weak to even lift her head, and she’d stopped trying to rouse Owen a while ago. Maybe it was from the sheer exhaustion, or from the realization that he was gone forever, or from the knowledge that neither of them would be getting out of the burning library. Maybe it was from all of those things. 

A part of her wanted to get up, to keep fighting through the pain, but her muscles felt so weak, and the tears kept rolling down her cheeks. There was nothing to keep fighting for. Her friends were gone. Her family was gone. Her father, one of the most important people in the world to her, had left her. Everyone had. She was more alone than she’d ever been. 

“Bethany, please, I need you to wake up!”

Too pained and upset, Bethany ignored the voice. Despite everything that’s happened, she couldn’t leave Owen or anyone else behind. Not again. Not _ever_. She’d done that enough times before. She wasn’t doing that again. No matter what it cost her. 

“ _Wake up_!” 

* * *

“Wake up!” Owen shouted again and again, his voice filled with worry. He must’ve yelled it twenty times, and that still failed to wake her. He was almost out of ideas. “Bethany, can you hear me? Hello?!” He pulled at the tree roots with everything he had, stretching his arm almost _too_ much in the process. “Come on, wake up alrea—“ 

“She won’t answer you.”

Owen would’ve screamed if he hadn’t been in the middle of a sentence, trying to get Bethany to wake up. Instead, he jumped, losing his grip on the tree roots. He scrambled away from Bethany and turned around to see something even more horrifying than a faceless man called Nobody, which he’d never even thought would be possible. 

Standing right in front of him, only a few feet away, was a mummy. It was the same mummy from earlier, he noticed, except now it was standing upright. It was fully wrapped in bandages — or what he _hoped_ were bandages — and the only part of it that he could see were it’s eyes, which were a glowing green. All in all, it was something straight out of a horror movie. 

“Whoa!” Owen exclaimed, not sure what else he could respond with in that moment. His knees wobbled so much that he almost fell. He stared at the mummy, not daring to look away. “You — y-ou can _talk_! Who are you? What’s going on here? W-What did you do to them?” He closed his mouth to keep himself from rambling; it was a bad habit of his whenever he got nervous, which he definitely was right now. 

He had a feeling the mummy was smiling, although he couldn’t tell since it’s mouth was covered. “I am showing them what they deserve to see.”

Owen’s heart jumped. “What’s _that_ supposed to mean? What are you showing them?” 

“I am showing them their worst fears,” the mummy replied casually, as if Owen had just asked how the weather was. 

Of all things, Owen hadn’t expected to hear that. He felt another pang of guilt, so strong that his stomach twisted into knots. He glanced back at Bethany, then at his other friends. All of them were going through their worst fears? That was terrible! He couldn’t imagine what they were going through. And it was all because Owen had taken the stone, thinking nothing bad would happen. It was all his fault.

“Even Kiel?” Owen found himself asking. Of all people to be going through their worst fear, he’d never expected Kiel to. Kiel wasn’t afraid of anything. He’d fought every villain — and won — with unmatched confidence and a smile. There was no way he was afraid of anything, was there? Or maybe that’s just what Owen had always believed, or what he’d always _wanted_ to believe. He instantly felt bad for thinking that.

“Oh, yes,” the mummy said, taking a step closer to Owen. “All of them must suffer, just like every human must suffer. It wouldn’t be fair of me to leave your friend out. He was the hardest to make miserable, so he deserves it the most.” 

“T-Then why didn’t you lock me up with the rest of my friends?” Owen asked. “Why are you only showing them and not me?” He has to ask, even though he didn’t exactly want to. He really hoped he wouldn’t be giving the mummy any ideas. Now knowing that his friends were in their worst fears, he wouldn’t be doing them any favors if he got _himself_ trapped in his own worst fear. 

“Because you’re the one that took the stone, Owen Conners,” the mummy said, and Owen felt all the air rush out of his lungs. Uh-oh. This wasn’t good. How did the mummy know his _name_? He’d made up a fake one when he signed into the summer camp! Could the mummy read his thoughts? The idea made him shudder. 

“Oh! Um, stone?” Owen said, trying to appear deeply confused. “What stone? I don’t have a stone!”

“I will give you one offer,” the mummy said. “You hand me back that stone, and I’ll let your friends go.”

Owen gulped, glancing down at the magical stone in his shirt pocket. It was still there, glowing a faint green color that was visible through his tan-colored shirt. He’d give it up in a heartbeat to save his friends; it was the right thing to do, and he didn’t want to let them suffer any more than they already were. 

But there was another side to the debate. What he also didn’t know was whether the mummy would uphold it’s offer or not. Then he’d lose both things: the stone _and_ his friends. He also knew he shouldn’t give up the stone. His friends had risked so much to come here and get it. If he gave it up, he’d never get it back, and they’d never find Nobody. The whole point of their quest would be lost. 

“And if I keep it?”

The mummy walked closer to him. “First, you get to join your friends by living out your worst fear.”

“N-No,” Owen whispered, taking a few shaky steps backwards. This couldn’t be happening! Keeping the stone would also mean _he’d_ get put into his worst fear? If that happened — and seeing how all of his friends were trapped — there was no way he’d get the chance to escape on his own, much less save _them_. 

“Then, you’re going to stay here for all of eternity, and so will your friends,” the mummy said as it followed him. “You’re going to stay here _forever_. You will never get to leave.” 

“No! Please, I—“

“I know all of your greatest insecurities,” the mummy said, not giving him a chance to finish his sentence. “I know everything about you, Owen. Deep down, you’re afraid that you’re not good enough. You’re always comparing yourself to your friends, thinking of them as the heroes. You feel useless when you’re around them, don’t you?” 

“Please stop,” Owen begged, dimly aware that his eyes were becoming wet. He blinked several times, his mouth hanging open. He couldn’t say anything else if he wanted to. He was frozen with fear. 

“All you’ve ever wanted was to be a hero, but you know that you won’t ever be one. You will _never_ be one. All you do is make mistake . . . after mistake . . . after mistake. You know why your friends are living out their worst fears? Because of _you_. You took the stone. _You_ woke me up because you’d thought they’d appreciate you more. Maybe you thought they’d be proud of you. Does that sound right?”

Owen watched as the mummy’s eyes seemed to glow a bit brighter, and it walked even closer to him. “And now? Now they have to _pay_ for it.” 

He just stared at the monster in shock, tears spilling from his eyes. He hardly realized he’d started crying. He couldn’t say anything, not only because he was terrified but because everything that the mummy had said was completely true. It was everything that Owen had been thinking. Literally _everything_. He’d been right. The mummy _was_ able to read his mind. 

“Do you see what you’ve done?” The mummy murmured. “You’ve led everyone into a trap, and now, everyone will hate you. But that’s nothing new for you, is it?” Owen looked down, his face starting to burn. “I thought not. Your friends aren’t here to save you, and you can’t do anything to save them. You are useless without them.” 

“Stop saying that,” Owen pleaded, trying to hold back more tears. “Why are you doing this? My friends don’t deserve any of what they’re going through! They really don’t! It’s my fault! Please, let them go!” 

“Oh, I’ll let them go,” the mummy said, nodding. “But only if you give me that stone. If not, you get to join them. Would you like to know what your worst fear is, Owen?”

Owen barely shook his head, his mouth so dry that he couldn’t form another sentence. The mummy pointed to something behind him, and he slowly turned around, despite every instinct that told him not to. What he saw made his blood go cold. Standing in front of him was a coffin, which definitely hadn’t been there a few minutes ago.

“W-What is this?” Owen asked, fearfully glancing at the mummy.

“Go on.” The mummy beckoned him forward. “Read the inscription on it.”

There was absolutely nothing that made him want to do that, much less go near the creepy coffin. This kind of thing always happened in horror movies, except here, the mummy was showing Owen’s greatest fear. A small spark of curiosity entered him, which was what sent his feet shuffling forwards. 

A random thought occurred to him that whoever had come up with this “monster-showing-kids-their-greatest-fear” idea must’ve taken the example from Stephen King’s _It_. He knew the whole story pretty well, and he was at least glad that the mummy was slightly less menacing than the evil clown in _It_ was. 

And by less menacing, he meant that thankfully, the mummy didn’t seem to have a hobby of eating children. The clown in _It_ did, which was what had made the book so terrifying. Not that Owen had read much of it. Horror books just weren’t really his thing. And he definitely had never felt a real urge to jump into one, either. 

Owen’s heart raced out of control as he slowly walked up to the coffin. A part of him already knew what he was going to see, but when his eyes landed on the cursive writing, and he nearly choked. He was unable to look away no matter how much he tried to, because of the words that were written there. 

No matter how many times he blinked, it always said “Owen Conners” on the inscription. He wasn’t imagining it. That was _him_ inside the coffin, and he was . . . he was _dead_! He wasn’t even living out his greatest fear like his friends were, but seeing it displayed like this made it somehow more unsettling to look at. 

The mummy waved a hand, and the coffin vanished. “This is how you’ll be living out the rest of your days if you don’t give me the stone. Tell me, would you like to live inside your greatest fear?” 

“No,” Owen managed to say, his voice barely a whisper. He was still staring at the spot the coffin had been. He blinked a few times, trying to come to his senses and remember that none of that had actually been real. 

“Then _give me_ the stone.”

“I — I can’t! I need it for something!”

If mummy’s could sigh, this one did. “I am giving you a choice, Owen. Would you rather have your friends suffer?”

“No!” Owen said, swallowing down the lump in his throat. “But I can’t give you the stone, either. My friends did _nothing_ to you! I was the one who took the stone, and believe me, I-I already feel guilty about it. I’m the only one who _did_ anything to you. I’m the only one who actually deserves to suffer.” 

“That’s right,” the mummy said. “You took my stone. As for your friends, they will suffer and they will _continue_ to suffer until you give me my stone back. You are _already_ suffering either way, Owen. If you decide to keep the stone, you will suffer like no one has ever before — in your own worst fear. And I _will_ make sure that yours is even worse than what your friends are going through.” 

“On the other hand,” the mummy continued. “If you decide to give the stone to me, your friends will be released, and you will feel just as much guilt for giving me the stone.” It laughed in a strange, cackling sort of way. “Your friends will hate you either way, I’m sure. So, what is your decision? Will you give me the stone?”

Not knowing at all what to do, Owen hesitated. The best option would be to give the mummy the magical stone. That way his friends would be free, and Owen wouldn’t have to risk their lives _and_ his. But there had to be a way to both keep the stone _and_ save his friends! They needed the stone. It was their only shot at finding Nobody and saving the fictional world. Wasn’t that important too?

Of course both were important. Obviously his friends’ safety was even more so, but that didn’t erase the fact that he still needed the stone. Nothing else had worked when they'd tried finding Nobody. But if he didn’t give up the stone, he’d be put into his worst fear, unable to save his friends at all. That would be the worst of the two options! 

Furrowing his brows, he quickly sized up the cavern and the distance from him to each of his friends. An idea popped into his head; it was a risky one, probably one that Kiel would’ve approved of if he was here. There was a huge chance it wouldn’t work, but Owen wasn’t liking his options anyway. If he could save at least one friend, it’d be worth it. Right? 

Hoping he wasn’t dooming himself, Owen said, “O-Okay. I’ll give you the stone, but only if you promise to release my friends.” 

“I promise,” the mummy said, so Owen slowly reached into his shirt pocket with a shaking hand. He took out the stone, closing his fist around it. Well, it was now or never. He was about to either make the worst decision of his life or . . . yeah, the worst decision of his life. There wasn’t an in-between. Owen just hoped that it’d work, or else he would maybe regret not giving the stone to the mummy first.

He swung his arm back like a baseball pitcher, and using all of his arm strength (which sadly wasn't much), he threw the stone. It sailed across the cavern, landing somewhere a surprisingly good distance away with a _ping!_ It wasn’t that far, but it was far enough that it bought Owen some time. 

He turned back to the mummy, jittery with nerves and something like adrenaline. It might’ve been the most reckless thing he’d ever done. “You just need to find it first!” 

Without waiting for a response, Owen made a run for it. His legs shook as he raced across the cavern, and he activated his time powers in for an extra boost. With time slowed down around him, he felt more confident that he’d make it. He ran in the direction that he’d seen the stone land, then quickly searched the ground for it.

From years of working in the library and sorting out books, Owen had a gift for spotting anything out of place. It always came in handy when he had to organize the shelves and move books that didn’t belong there. It took him only a few seconds to locate the green stone laying amongst the dark rocks, and he quickly snatched it up.

“Gotcha,” Owen breathed, a smile briefly coming to his face. Part one of his plan had worked! Now time for part two: freezing time so he could rescue his friends. It was the only plan he could come up with. He wouldn’t feel good about his choice if he’d went through either of the mummy’s options. 

Owen hurriedly slid the stone back into his pocket. He tried not to think about how much faster his heart would start beating it a second; already, his heart was pounding so fast he was sure he’d faint. He kicked in his time powers further, gradually stopping time all the way. As he did, his body vibrated harder and harder. His chest tightened with pain, but he ignored it. 

Feeling immensely grateful that he had his time powers to help him out, Owen started running to Charm, who was the closest to him from here. He had more time, now. If he could free one of his friends, he’d have a lot less trouble freeing the rest of them. For a moment, he felt like maybe things were working out in his favor. 

But that moment ended. He barely made it three steps before something knocked into his stomach, causing the air to leave his lungs. Owen screamed as he flew backward. He hit the ground hard, landing on his injured arm, which was still wrapped in a cast. He winced, feeling a familiar tightening sensation as his still-healing arm began to throb with pain. 

_No way! You’re not failing on me now, stupid arm!_ Owen thought suddenly, glaring down at his broken arm. _Not if my friends need me._

Two mummy-like feet approached Owen, and his eyes widened to the size of saucers. Having grown fairly tired from using his time powers, plus with the impact of hitting the ground that hard, Owen didn’t have enough time to dodge. The mummy grabbed him around his waist, dragging him across the cave floor as if he were as light as a feather.

“No!” Owen shouted, desperately trying to get free. He wriggled his arms and legs around, but he could feel himself getting tired already. He didn’t have enough strength to fight against the mummy, who was somehow much stronger than Owen. His entire body was hurting, and he knew there was no way he could use his time powers now. 

For one, it would bring him more pain and he didn’t know where else he could run. Clearly, he hadn’t been fast enough to free any of his friends. How could he outrun the mummy without getting nowhere? Another reason was that the mummy was holding onto him, so unless Owen managed to break free, using his time powers meant the mummy’s time would _also_ be sped up. 

“I see you won’t be giving me my stone back, so that leaves me with no other option,” the mummy said, and it’s words made Owen feel like he’d lost. “I must put you into your worst fear. You’ve already shown me that you never intended to give me the stone, so this is the only option left for you.” 

“No! Please don't do this!” Owen shouted, the idea of being stuck in his worst fear forever playing through his head. Even worse, his friends would be stuck in theirs’ too. It occurred to him that he’d already lost this battle. His plan hadn’t worked. He didn’t know what he could do, and he only had seconds before the mummy would throw him into his greatest fear. 

Despite Owen’s many protests, the mummy continued dragging him until they reached the rocky wall. He fought with every ounce of strength he had left, but in general, he didn’t have much of it left to begin with. The mummy pulled Owen to his feet, then pushed him towards the wall. 

This was it. He was really going to be stuck in his worst fear. It was too late to save his friends, and he didn’t know _how_ to save them, much less how to defeat the mummy. All of the tree roots must’ve been magical in this book, because they moved towards him like snakes. He squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for the tree roots to latch around him. 

Except they never did.

* * *

**A short time earlier**

Gwen stood outside the cave, tossing stones into the small brook in front of her. Other people might not enjoy keeping watch, because it kept them from the action, but Gwen genuinely enjoyed it, just like she enjoyed almost everything. Out here, she got a view of the beautiful forest, with trees that stretched taller than the ones back on Argon VI and flowers that smelled like contentment.

It also made her feel like she was keeping her friends safe, which she loved doing. Up until she’d met her best friend Bethany, she’d never had an opportunity like that. Having six friends to bond with and go on an quest with was like a dream. It was dangerous, yes, but Gwen was confident that everything would work out in the end. Especially with the whole Nobody thing.

So far, no one else had come across the cave. Gwen didn’t know what she should be “looking out” for. If any of the Scouts happened to come here, she’d steer them into another direction with a smile. According to Orion, the Scouts were dangerous and shouldn’t follow them into the cave if they came across it. 

Gwen didn’t think she could agree with that! Not the second part, because her friends deserved all the time they needed to find the stone. The part about them being dangerous was what confused her. Ever since they’d come to this world, everyone had been incredibly nice and enthusiastic. It reminded her that optimism was contagious, and it was everywhere. 

She’d spent time at a summer camp (which up until now, she’d never even heard of!), and had been able to live among the Earthers, doing very Earth-like activities like face-painting and swimming and roasting marshmallows over a bonfire. Every activity they did made Gwen’s small world bigger, and it only made her want to visit Earth _more_. 

Gwen hoped that the environment had lifted her friends’ spirits. Especially in Bethany’s case, because Gwen cared deeply about her and only wanted her friend to have more happiness. The same went for her other friends. She’d been able to tell that Charm had been in a grouchy mood the entire time, but that wasn’t her fault. Gwen knew what they were going through could be very stressful sometimes. 

After tossing some more stones into the brook, Gwen glanced back at the cave. She wondered how long her friends would be, and how long it would take to find the magical stone that Fowen had told them about. They’d been gone a while, she realized. Much longer than they’d said they’d be. 

Gwen stepped towards the cave. Something told her she should go inside, and she always listened to her gut feeling. Should she check on them, just to make sure they were okay? Even though Orion had wanted her to be on lookout, and Gwen would feel kind of bad for leaving, she also knew that she should go inside either way. It wouldn’t hurt. And if her friends happened to need her help, she’d be there.

Optimistic that this was the right choice, Gwen walked into the cave to find her friends. But nothing prepared her for what she found.

* * *

“Hey!” a girl’s voice shouted, startling Owen so much that his eyes flew open. “Let Owen go!” 

Both Owen and the mummy turned, and Owen heaved the biggest sigh in relief. To his surprise, Gwen was standing there, with her hands on her hips like some kind of incredible superhero. And she was technically a superhero, so that was hardly a lie. He had never been so thankful to see anyone, ever, in his entire life. 

Owen was beyond shocked. He’d been so focused on this that he’d completely forgotten that Gwen had been keeping watch outside! He was ecstatic that she had made the decision to come inside, whether she knew they were in trouble or not. Owen didn’t think he would’ve been able to fight the mummy off and save his friends simultaneously — all by himself, too!

“Another child to install fear into?” the mummy said, and Owen was glad to detect a hint of shock in it’s voice. At least now they had the advantage of two people instead of only one. The mummy let go of Owen and backed away from him, giving Owen the opportunity to scramble to Gwen’s side. She steered him a good distance away until they were out of the mummy’s view. 

“Are you okay?” Gwen asked him, throwing her arms around him and squeezing him in a tight hug. Owen felt like he might stop breathing then and there, but it was the good kind of breathlessness and he was glad he wasn’t still about to get put into a fear sequence. 

“Y-Yeah, I am,” he replied when she pulled away, suddenly able to breathe much better. He glanced nervously back at the mummy before looking back at her. For now, it hadn’t followed them. “ _Thank you_.” 

“No problem!” Gwen said, squeezing his hand warmly before returning her arm back to her side. Concern flashed in her eyes. “What was the mummy trying to do to you?” 

“I-It was going to put me in my — in my worst fear,” Owen breathed. He gestured at their friends. “And it put all of _them_ in their worst fears, too.” 

“Oh no!” Her eyes went wide, and she looked around the room for what appeared to be the first time. He could tell she was staring the longest at Bethany, clearly feeling just as bad as Owen was about the situation. “Why would it want to do that? That’s terrible!” 

“I should probably mention I found the stone,” Owen admitted, taking it out of his shirt pocket to show her. After she got a good look at it, he quickly slid it back in, not wanting to lose hold of it again. 

“Really?” Gwen’s mouth formed into an _O_ as she stared at the stone. “That’s good news! At least you found it.”

“Yeah.” Owen felt his face already burning up at his next words. “But what I didn’t realize was that the mummy was going to release some kind of curse . . .” His words spilled out faster. “And I found out that taking the stone caused our friends to be put into their worst fears. So basically, all of this is my fault!” 

A hand laid on his shoulder, and he met Gwen’s sympathetic eyes. “ _None_ of this is your fault, Owen. Don’t put that pressure on yourself. You didn’t know this was going to happen. None of us could’ve known.”

“I — I know.”

“And speaking of who really did this . . .” Turning back to the mummy, Gwen narrowed her eyes in a way that was probably supposed to look threatening, but it was impossible for her to look scary. “I don’t believe in violence . . . but I say we should kick this guy’s butt!”

Despite his fear, Owen couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah!” Then, the fear came rushing back to him — momentarily forgotten when Gwen had showed up. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “But we have to be careful. I tried getting Bethany free earlier, but it wasn’t working. We need more time to free them without the mummy coming after us.”

“Okay,” Gwen whispered back. “You try to wake our friends up, and I’ll try to convince the mummy to let them go. If we work together, I believe we can achieve it!” 

“Got it!” Owen said. They high-fived. 

He felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He wouldn’t have to face this alone. If anyone could convince the mummy to let their friends go, it would be Gwen. She had the impressive ability to turn even the greatest villains into the best heroes. 

If she could do that, she could convince the mummy to let their friends go. Or at least she could stall while Owen attempted to do it himself, which he would try to do, because they definitely needed help fighting this thing. As much as Owen wanted to believe otherwise, there was no guarantee that the mummy would listen to Gwen. That gave Owen only a little time — maybe only a couple minutes — to rescue as many of their friends as he could. 

While Gwen flew on her jetpack back over to the mummy, Owen kicked in his time powers while the mummy was distracted. His heart rate sped up until it was as fast as hummingbird’s wings, and his body shook harder with every passing second. Knowing he didn’t have much time before he’d feel exhausted again, Owen ran to the opposite end of the cavern, where the mummy wouldn’t be able to stop him so easily. 

On this side, the closest person to him was Kiel. Owen ran to him first, releasing his hold on time. He gasped from the pain, noticing just how much his body was shaking from using his powers so much. Not that he had a choice. His time powers were all he had to help him out, and soon enough, he’d have his friends free and they could help with the fighting.

Owen glanced over his shoulder to see Gwen talking with the mummy. He couldn’t pick up what they were saying, but he hoped that the mummy wouldn’t make her upset like it’d made him. Knowing Gwen, she was confident and never let negativity get to her. She probably had this a lot better handled than Owen had, but that didn’t mean that Owen shouldn’t hurry.

So he got to work. Standing on his toes, Owen wrapped his hand around a tree branch and pulled. For some reason, the tree branches surrounding Kiel were less unmovable than the ones holding Bethany captive. When Owen pulled at them, he was surprised that the tree roots actually started to loosen their grip around Kiel. 

He kept pulling over and over at the tree roots, even when his arm got tired from the strain. His friends needed his help! He couldn’t give up, even if he’d been the one to put them here in the first place. Saving them was all he cared about, and for the first time, it wasn’t at all for the hope that anyone would see him as a hero. He just _needed_ them; they were his only friends. 

At last, the tree roots lost their hold on Kiel. Owen hadn’t even realized it had happened before the boy magician was toppling forwards. Owen quickly tried grabbing him before he could fall all the way to the ground, but they both ended up sinking to the rocky cave floor. Pain exploded through Owen’s back from the impact; he must’ve fallen on the ground ten times already today! 

“Kiel!” Owen said, unable to keep the worry out of his voice. He sat up and shook Kiel by the shoulders, who was laying on the ground next to him. His eyes were slowly beginning to open, and he looked deeply confused.

“Where . . . where am I?” Kiel asked, his voice coming out slurred for some reason. He slowly sat up, and Owen placed a hand on Kiel’s back to assist him. Kiel looked incredibly tired and worn out, and the color was just starting to return to his face. If Owen didn’t know any better, it seemed like Kiel had just woken up from a nap. 

“We’re in the cave, Kiel,” Owen told him. “Remember? It’s me, Owen!” 

Deciding that Kiel wouldn’t fall over again, Owen threw his arms around his friend, hugging him. The fear that he’d never see his friends again had been huge, and now that he’d managed to save Kiel, it felt even more like a relief. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what Kiel had gone through while in the fear sequence. If Gwen hadn’t shown up, Owen never would’ve been able to save him.

“Are you okay?” Owen asked as he pulled away from the boy magician, who was unusually quiet.

Kiel barely nodded. His eyes were slightly glazed over, yet he looked the same way he had back when Bethany had been missing when they were in Doyle’s book. That worried Owen. If this fear sequence had been realistic enough to upset _Kiel_ , there was no denying that it would upset Bethany, Kara, Charm, and Orion even more. 

Owen felt bad that he didn’t know what his friends had gone through. Really bad. Seeing Kiel like that made his heart hurt, and he hoped he could snap him out of it. Telling Kiel that none of what he’d gone through had been real would surely help with that, but Owen wished none of his friends would’ve had to go through their worst fears in the _first_ place. 

He held back the millions of questions that he wanted to ask, because there wasn't much time and all of them were in danger. He placed a hand on Kiel’s arm. In a rush, he added, “I’m sorry, I’ll explain everything later but I need you to help me fight that thing!” 

Kiel only blinked, and Owen tapped him on the arm, trying to get him focused. “Kiel! Please! I know this is confusing but we’re about to die so I _need_ you to get your wand-knives out so me and Gwen aren’t killed!”

The boy magician glanced around him, his eyes widening as he seemed to realize more of what was going on. Even worse, Kiel looked like he might burst into tears, which was an expression Owen had only seen on him once. His eyes landed on Owen first, then on Gwen and the mummy from behind him. “What? Owen . . . you remember me? What’s going on?” 

Owen frowned. Why wouldn’t he remember Kiel? Then, it dawned on him. In the rush of everything that had happened, he had never actually stopped to consider what his friends’ fears were. Whatever Kiel’s greatest fear had been had something to do with . . . people not remembering him. Another pang of guilt wracked through him. 

“Yes, of course I do!” Owen assured him. “Just, before I explain anything, take your wand-knives out!”

As Kiel obeyed and took his wand-knives out of their sheaths, Owen filled him in on the situation as quickly as he could. He told him about him taking the stone, the mummy putting all of them into their worst fears, the mummy’s offer to Owen, and Gwen showing up. When he was done, Kiel gave Owen a bewildered look, looking angrier and less crestfallen than he had earlier. 

“What?” Kiel demanded, his eyebrows raising. “All of that happened, and I _missed_ it? Because I was stuck in a . . . fear sequence?” He seemed offended by the idea. 

“Trust me, the mummy is terrifying. I’m glad you missed some of it,” Owen said, throwing a nervous look over his shoulder. “I’m really sorry you had to go through that.”

Kiel winked, but it looked forced. There was a deep frown on his face. “Yeah, me too.”

“I’m sorry,” Owen told him again. “It’s all my fault. It was either trade the stone for you guys, or keep the stone and get stuck into my own fear sequence. I had to make up another plan to save you and it didn’t even work and Gwen was the only reason I was able to—“ 

“It’s okay, Owen.”

“No, it’s not okay at all!” 

“We can talk all about that later,” Kiel said, starting to stand. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You did the right thing. For now, let’s take that mummy down. Leave the fighting to me!” 

He still seemed weak, but now had enough energy to walk, which was good. Owen could tell Kiel was still upset, but that wasn’t all he was worried about. It hadn’t occurred to him just how much energy he would be lacking. It was clear it’d take Kiel a little while to gain it back. How could he cast spells and fight when he was this tired? 

“Wait!” Owen said, standing up too and grabbing Kiel by the wrist. “What if you don’t have enough energy to fight? I can fight too! I have my time powers, and—“

“Do you know who you’re talking to?” Kiel asked with a wink, but not unkindly. “I’ve fought dragons when I’ve been this tired. I’ll be fine, and I can help Gwen! Just try waking up the others. We’ll stand a better chance that way.” With that, he took off running, both wand-knives in hand. Owen should’ve expected that answer, but the idea still bothered him.

He hesitated. He watched Kiel go, wishing he could do something to help defeat the mummy. If he could use his time powers without getting exhausted, he could help somehow. But Kiel had told him to free their other friends, and of all things, that would be the most useful. The more people they had, the less of a chance the mummy stood. At least Gwen had Kiel to help her now. It was time for Owen to save the rest of their friends.

Rubbing a hand over his clammy skin, Owen scanned the area around him. He spotted a flash of pink hair nearby, and his heart jumped. He set his legs into motion, forcing himself to run so he’d get there faster. The sooner he saved everyone, the faster they’d get out of here. It only took a minute for him to reach Kara, and Owen came to a stop, trying to catch his breath. 

He glanced back at his two conscious friends to see how they were doing, and spotted Kiel and Gwen in front of the mummy. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Kiel was casting a spell at the mummy, sending red sparks flying everywhere. Gwen was flying around in the air, probably shouting words of encouragement. 

Satisfied that they were fine for now, Owen turned back to Kara and began pulling at the tree roots with all his might. They were tightly wound around her, but after many tries, he managed to get her partially free. His hands were sweaty, making it harder for him to get a good grip on the tree roots. Biting his lip in frustration, Owen used everything he had and yanked hard on the tree roots, nearly popping his arm out of his socket in the process. 

The tree roots abruptly came free, releasing Kara from their grasp. Before he knew it, Owen was falling backwards. As he landed on his back, he felt a weight on his chest. It took him a moment to realize that he was still holding onto Kara, his arms thrown around her in a tight hug. The position they were in made his broken arm throb with pain, but he ignored it.

Kara’s arms were hooked loosely around his neck, and her head was buried into his shoulder. She must’ve fallen on top of him when they’d gone down. Owen felt his face heat up as he gently let Kara fall the rest of the way to the ground, keeping his arms around her just in case she needed support. 

“Kara?” Owen asked, using his good hand to push a few locks of pink hair out of her face. “Are you okay?” 

Her eyes were half-lidded, just starting to open. He could tell that she was barely conscious, and was probably lacking a ton of energy from what had happened. He held back the millions of questions that threatened to pour from his mouth. Kara made a small noise of protest, and Owen felt a little more relieved. At least she was starting to wake up. 

Since they didn’t have much time, he gently tugged at her shoulder. “Come on! Please, Kara. You have to get up. We need your help!” 

Owen withdrew his hand from her face and hooked his elbows underneath her armpits in an attempt to help her up. He didn’t have much arm strength in general, so it was hard to lift her. He was only able to bring both of them to their knees, because of how weak Kara was and how much she was shaking. She didn’t seem to have the ability to stand at the moment, which was something he was worried about. 

“Are you okay?” he asked her. 

Kara’s eyes seemed distant and foggy as she looked up at him, blinking slowly as if she was just waking up from a nap. Then, her eyes widened in recognition, and her jaw dropped. “Wh — What?” she whispered, looking like she was seeing a ghost. “O-Owen? Are you real?” 

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m real,” Owen breathed as she lifted a shaky hand to touch the side of his face. He reddened. He’d never had anyone touch him on the cheek before. All things considered — despite his fear that’d been constant ever since he saw the mummy — he was _still_ kind of flustered about it! 

Kara’s hand was surprisingly cold when she touched him, but he didn’t flinch away, not wanting to upset her more. After going through her worst fear, whatever it had been, he had no doubt that she’d be upset. She looked like she wanted to cry, but a thousand emotions seemed to be going through her head, and no tears came. 

Gasping, Kara suddenly crashed into his arms, clinging onto him like he was the most important thing in the world to her. Owen nearly fell over, and he had to lean forward to prevent that from happening again. His eyes grew wide. For a moment, he just sat there like a statue, his arms at his sides. He’d never had anyone hug him that way before. 

He felt Kara shaking against his chest, just as much as he did when he used his time powers. Trying to calm her down, Owen gently put his arms around her, rubbing her back as they hugged. He hoped she wouldn’t notice how much he was shaking, too. He held onto her even tighter, to reassure her that she wasn’t in that fear sequence anymore.

Owen was almost sure he might’ve heard her crying, and his heart twisted painfully. “I’ve got you, Kara. I-It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re okay now.” 

“How are you alive?” Kara asked in a shaky voice. She squeezed him even tighter, as if to make sure he was really there. 

He held onto her just as tightly, so relieved that she was okay. But her words made him freeze. At first Owen thought that maybe she was talking about the whole mummy situation, but she must’ve not known about it while being stuck in her worst fear. 

So that meant only one thing, and it gave him a rush of embarrassment as well as pity. Her _worst_ fear . . . had shown him not being alive? Seriously? Had Kara seen him die? The idea was unsettling, and it made him feel even worse that he hadn’t been able to prevent this from happening. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Owen whispered, not sure what else to reply with. Well, not _fine_ , given the situation they were in. But he was better now that his friends were getting rescued. He took a shaky breath, but he didn’t pull away from her. “Listen, we—“

“Shh,” Kara murmured, still holding onto him. Her breathing was almost back to normal now. “Just give me a few more seconds. Let me listen to your weird, metallic heartbeat.”

He was glad the lighting was dim in the cavern, because his face had started to burn. “Okay.” 

They stayed like that for a few more seconds, clutching each other. Kara pulled away first with a deeply confused, hurt expression. “I don’t get it. I-I saw you _die_. The entire world was gone. I was in the future, and—“

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t real.” 

“What?” she asked, clearly confused.

“None of that was real. There’s a lot I have to tell you, and it’s probably super confusing but—“ Owen glanced over his shoulder. “There’s this mummy in here. It wanted to torture us, so it showed everyone their worst fears. Everyone except for me and Gwen. We‘re the only ones who were able to rescue you guys. And now the mummy is still here and it’s trying to hunt me down, and Gwen’s trying to distract it, but I still have to rescue Bethany and Kiel and Orion and Charm before we—“ 

“Wait, wait, slow down.” Kara stared at him. “You're talking super fast. Are you saying that none of that was real? It was just my worst fear?” She looked down glumly. “It really _felt_ real. It’s all true, what I heard in there. What they told me.”

_They?_ Owen thought, but didn’t question it. He shook his head. “No, whatever you heard in there, it was only meant to scare you—“ 

“But it _is_ true. I destroy everything. I destroyed the world without even trying, so I hurt you . . .” She looked away from him. “I’m afraid of what I’m capable of. Everyone has always been right about me. I’m a monster.”

“What?” Owen blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to say that, and it bothered him that she even thought that about herself. “Kara, you are _not_ a monster. You never will be, okay? You’re a great person!”

“A person who’s destroyed the future,” Kara replied bitterly. There were tears in her eyes. “What kind of person does that?” 

“You aren't a monster,” he told her. “Sure, you would be one if you _wanted_ to destroy the world and get me killed, but you _didn’t_ want those things. A monster would _want_ bad things to happen to others! You don’t. You did everything you could to _stop_ the world from being destroyed.”

She said nothing, so he added, “You aren’t a monster, okay? As a wise person once told me: with great power comes great responsibility.”

“Who told you that?” Kara rubbed at her eyes, wiping her tears away. She managed to half-smile. “Kiel?”

He smiled back. “Actually, a Spider-Man comic.”

Owen felt a wave of guilt wash over him for putting her through that. For putting _all_ of his friends through that. The pain Kara had gone through had made her go right back to loathing herself, and he knew that it was all his fault. Taking the stone had been a bad idea. His friends had suffered greatly, all because of him. He felt his heart sinking through the ground. 

The random thought occurred to him that if she was reading a comedy book, she wouldn’t be crying. _No one_ could cry and read that genre at the same time.

“How _dare_ you free them, Owen!” the mummy’s voice echoed across the cavern, and both Owen and Kara whirled around to see the mummy advancing towards them. Owen gasped. He also saw Kiel on the ground, and Gwen trying to help him up. Uh-oh. 

“Hide!” Owen shouted, quickly activating his time powers. A familiar tingling sensation coursed through his body, and he pulled a surprised Kara into a run. Ignoring his exhaustion, he didn’t stop running until they collapsed behind the safety of a boulder, a few feet away from where they’d last been. 

Owen gasped again as pain went through his chest, and he leaned back against the boulder, ducking as low as he could go. His heart was beating so fast. As much as he kept telling himself to stop using his time powers, he couldn’t help it. It was the only advantage he had against the mummy!

“Wow, you were right about that mummy being crazy,” Kara said, her voice shaking slightly. Her shoulder was pressed right up against his, since there wasn't much room to hide. He glanced down, realizing for the first time that they were holding hands. 

She gave him a worried look. “Owen, are you okay? You look exhausted.” 

Owen grimaced. “Yeah, I’ve just been using my time powers a lot today.” 

Her frown deepened. “You should take a break. Using them will just make it worse. We could’ve found somewhere to hide without them.”

“I know. But that mummy is _super_ fast.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “What does it want from us?”

“I-I don't know,” Owen said. “All it wants is for us to suffer in our worst fears. Oh . . . and it _might_ want this.” He pulled the magical stone out of his pocket to show her, and her eyes widened.

“Whoa. It’s _beautiful_.” She touched it with her fingers, accidentally brushing her fingers lightly against Owen’s palm in the process. The contact made Owen blush; he tried not to notice. “That’s what it’s after?”

“Yeah.” He cringed, carefully putting the stone back. “This whole thing kind of started right after I found the stone. That’s why everyone else was in their worst fear except me. Because I was the one who took it.” He kept his eyes on her, watching warily for her reaction. “But I couldn’t give the stone up, so me and Gwen tried every other method we could to save you guys. Now we just need to get out of here before that thing tries to hurt us _more_.”

“Wait.” Kara turned to stare at him, her face still a mask of fear and now with something like hurt. “We were put into our worst fears because you took the stone?”

He gulped, not liking the tone in her voice. “Yes? But I-I promise, I didn’t know that would happen!”

She opened her mouth to reply — with what, he didn’t know — but Owen heard Kiel shouting something. It took him a moment to realize what he was saying. “Owen! Kara! Watch out!”

“Come on!” Kara said, pulling Owen to his feet. They turned just in time to see that the mummy was walking towards them. And it was _close_ , maybe only a few feet away. Owen froze. He saw Kiel and Gwen running towards them too, but they were too far away and they wouldn’t get here before the mummy did. 

Thinking of how weak Kara still was from what she’d gone through, Owen forced himself to step in front of her, extending his good hand out. Just like when he’d fought the Science Police, he willed time to speed up for the mummy. His heart began pounding faster and faster, and his body began to shake worse than ever as he focused on the mummy.

“What’re you doing?” Kara shouted at him.

“Trying to protect you!” he tried shouting back, but it came out more as a whisper. His vision started to blur, but he kept trying, even when nothing seemed to happen to the mummy. He felt surprised. Why weren’t his time powers effecting it? Maybe because it was a mummy? But didn’t mummy’s decompose over time, too? He thought—

“Owen, stop!” Kara’s voice was filled with fear, and Owen realized that the world had started swaying around him. His vision was getting hazier by the second. “Please, stop using your powers! You’re going to get hurt!”

Owen did. And then he toppled backwards, immediately collapsing into Kara’s arms. The impact caused both of them to sink to the ground, and he was barely aware that her arms were around him, and she was saying something that he couldn’t hear. He leaned his head against her, too exhausted to respond or open his eyes. Even though he knew he should.

“Hey, we have to go,” Kara was saying, and he weakly opened his eyes to see that she was starting to pull him away from the fight. In front of him, three Kiel’s were casting spells at three different mummies. Confused and disoriented, Owen blinked, waiting for his vision to return to normal.

“No,” Owen mumbled, realizing for the first time that tears were on his cheeks. “Kara . . . Kiel, he needs . . .”

“I know,” Kara said, and kept dragging him until finally, she let him rest against a boulder. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna help him.” She pointed in a direction. “Gwen’s over there, trying to get the others free. Stay here and relax, okay? Don’t move until you feel better.”

She paused before continuing. “You could've taken the mummy with your time powers too, but I know that tires you out, so I figured the rest of us can handle this. And you have a broken arm. Can’t have your arm getting more broken, can I?”

“Yeah, that’s . . . exactly . . . it does tire me out,” Owen muttered, feeling lame at his response and that he hadn’t been able to effect the mummy at all with his powers. Still fairly exhausted, Owen closed his eyes, leaning against the boulder. “So, um, thanks.”

But when he opened them, she was already gone, leaving him to wonder if she was mad at him or not. 

* * *

_“Take us down, and we keep trying. Forty-thousand feet, keep flying. Take us down, and we keep trying . . .”_


	40. Kids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle against the mummy grows tougher. Owen, Kara, Kiel, and Gwen fight to free their friends from their fear sequences.

_**Battles (by The Afters)** _

_“You’re going before me and oceans are parting. You’re fighting my battles . . .”_

* * *

Kara’s feet seemed to fly across the cave floor as she ran towards the fight, going farther and farther from Owen, the person who she automatically wanted the protect the most. Although she tried shaking off her complicated emotions, they stuck to her like honey, not letting go even when she tried focusing on a strategy for the fight. 

The situation was still taking some getting used to; it was crazy. But Kara was used to craziness. Time travel had introduced her to it, adapting her so she’d come to expect the most random of occurrences. She was used to surprises, but finding out that the entire situation with the world getting destroyed and Owen getting killed hadn’t been real? 

That had been a huge shocker.

But it had also made so much sense. When Kara was living out her worst fear, bad things kept happening until they seemed to pile up on each other. Looking back on it, something had felt off about it. It had felt more like a fever dream than real life. But Kara had been too emotional to notice. At the time, it had only seemed like a very bad, unlucky day. 

At first when she’d woken up, Kara had been confused. Downright confused. Somehow, she’d woken up in a cave when the last place she was sure she’d been was with her future self, holding onto Owen as he passed away. And then her eyes landed on Owen, alive and well, and Kara had never felt so many emotions all at once.

Then she’d found out about the mummy and the stone and the _reason_ why she’d been put into her worst fear — because of Owen, of all people, taking the stone — and Kara wasn’t sure what she was feeling anymore. She knew he hadn’t intended this to happen; he was too kind-hearted and he’d never want anyone to suffer, let alone his friends. 

But Kara couldn’t help wanting some distance from him now, anyway. She didn’t know why. She _wanted_ to be angry at Owen for causing all of this, but she didn’t know if she could ever _be_ angry at him. He obviously hadn't known any of this would happen. If he had, he probably wouldn’t have taken it. It wasn’t all his fault. It really wasn’t. 

Kara was just afraid of what might happen if she actually lost him. For good. 

Seeing Owen use his time powers to their max had reminded her of that. Just seeing how exhausted he’d become from using them — nearly passing out in her arms — had made her afraid. He shouldn’t have used his time powers that much, but he had. To protect her in the same way she’d always protect him. 

All Kara knew was that this mummy had caused her and her friends enough pain for one day, and for that, she was going to bring it down. So far, Kiel had been fighting it ever since she’d woken up. Gwen must’ve been too, but now she was trying to wake up Bethany, Orion, and Charm. She hoped they’d wake up soon. 

That left Kara and Kiel to fight the mummy together. She normally fought villains by herself, but fighting two against one would be a much better way to take the mummy down. Owen had said the mummy was fast and manipulative, but Kara wasn’t about to let that stop her take it down. The Countess had been _just_ as manipulative, and Kara was used to dealing with villains like that. 

Her body felt worn out from her weakened emotional and physical state, which must’ve just been a side effect from being in the fear sequence. Kiel probably was feeling much of the same way, as would the others when they got free. 

“Good thing you showed up!” Kiel ran to her as she approached, and behind him, Kara saw the mummy trying to break free of invisible ropes that were around it. He stashed his wand-knives in their sheaths. “I just ran out of spells. Where’s Owen? Is he okay?” 

“I put him over there,” Kara said, glancing back at the spot where she’d left Owen. He was still slumped against the boulder with his eyes closed, all of his energy spent. “But he’ll be okay, and he should be safe. We just need to focus on keeping the mummy away from him!” 

Kiel’s expression was unusually serious. “Definitely. It already hurt him enough.” 

The mummy made a loud grunting noise, and Kara felt a chill go through her. Both of them looked over to see that the mummy had managed to break free of it’s bonds. Once it had, it began walking over to them, looking like something out of the horror movies that Kara used to make fun of as a kid. She found herself gaping. 

Kara quickly turned back to Kiel, ignoring her fear. “Alright. I can handle this. I’ve got my time bracelet to help us out. Go learn some spells!” 

He looked unsure. “Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it,” she said, with only half the spunk that she normally had. Strands of her hair were falling in her face, so she pushed them behind her ears. “After what that mummy did to us, I want to _fight_.” 

And as much as Kara really _was_ determined to take this mummy down (it totally deserved a taste of it’s own medicine!) she wasn’t so sure about the handling-it-on-her-own part. Kiel had been casting spells at it and still was struggling to fight back. Kara would only have to fight it on her own for a few minutes, up until he and hopefully the others joined them. Then, they’d fight the mummy off together. 

“Okay. Don’t do anything I would do. I’ll be back soon!” He gave her a wink that said _good luck_ , and ran off to go learn spells from his spell book. Kara turned back to the mummy, who was quickly coming towards her, it’s glowing green eyes as bright as the stone that Owen had shown her. Kara held up her fists, preparing for a fight. 

“You cannot beat me,” the mummy said with a chuckle. “Give up your ridiculous fight now. Maybe I’ll let all of you go. You won’t win, either way.”

“Wanna test out that theory?” Kara challenged, narrowing her eyes. Noticing that her hands were shaking, she closed them tighter into fists. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

The mummy tilted it’s head, walking closer to her. “Fine, then. You are going to suffer.”

“Really? You mean more than I’ve _already_ suffered?” She glared at it. “What could you possibly do to me? Let’s think of some punishments for a second. How about throwing me into a lake of lava? Feeding me to land sharks? Throwing me off a cliff?” 

The mummy ignored her. “I know everything about you. I know _all_ of your weaknesses. Do you know what insanity means, Kara?” She nodded. “It means doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

“Thomas Edison said that,” Kara said, surprised. “How would you know that?” 

Ignoring her question, the mummy added, “That is what you’ve done all your life. With trying to stop the future from getting destroyed . . . with trying to save Owen . . .” It took a step closer. “And you kept doing it over and over, trying to save everyone. You expected that maybe one time out of a thousand, things would end differently. But they never did, did they?”

Kara stared at it, unblinking. She hated that the mummy was right. How did it _know_ so much about her? She let out a shaky breath, afraid that if she tried to respond, she’d get more upset than she already was. Luckily, the mummy kept talking. “Owen didn’t tell you the choices I gave him, did he?” 

“What choices?”

“I gave him two options: trade the stone for his friends, or keep the stone for himself and allow his friends to continue suffering. Do you know which one he chose?”

“Trick question!” Kara said, knowing the mummy was only trying to get under her skin. “He didn’t chose either!” 

“Actually, no,” the mummy drawled. “He chose to keep the stone. He chose to leave his friends behind and keep it, just so he could get all the credit.”

“No.” She shook her head firmly. “You’re just making up lies to make me upset. He wouldn’t — he wouldn’t do that. Owen would never do that! He cares so much about his friends.” 

“Ah, but you’re mistaken. Owen _did_ do that, because he’ll never care about you as much as you care about him. He wasn’t even going to save you until I gave him no more options. He realized that he needed help fighting me. That’s the only reason he saved you.”

Kara’s hands faltered, falling back to her sides. “That can’t be true.”

“I hate to say that it is. Did you know that he only cared about you at all because he felt sorry for you? Because of all your burdens of ending the world?” 

“Stop it. I’m not listening to you!” 

It walked even closer to her, faster this time, and Kara slowly backed away. “He used you, Kara. To get out of the time prison. All he cares about are his own selfish needs. Now he’s using you again so you’ll fight me. But the truth is, he _hates_ you. He hates that every time he’s with you, he dies.”

“I-I’m not letting that happen again!” 

“You say you want to protect him, but you only cause him pain. You only cause _destruction_. All you’ve done is the opposite of protecting him. All you’ve done is bring pain into his life.”

That struck a chord. Kara was _done_ with all the manipulation. Anger flooded her entire body, from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. “Owen has never thought of me like that! He almost died trying to protect me today. Because he’s my friend and he cares about me! Because _you_ hurt him!” 

Kara hit her hand over her time bracelet, disappearing right before the mummy could grab her. Then she changed directions. reappearing right behind the mummy and slamming it in the back of it’s knees. Although the mummy was strong on it’s own, it’s legs staggered every so slightly. It twisted around, extending an arm to grab her, but she winked out before it could.

Then she appeared right above it and kicked her leg out as she fell, hitting the mummy square in the face. This only seemed to aggravate the mummy more, and this time, Kara was a split second too late to hit her time bracelet. With surprisingly fast reflexes, it’s hand latched around her leg, and she found herself screaming as it pulled roughly on her leg. 

Kara felt pain run through her leg, and she winced as she felt herself being hurtled to the ground. She hit the ground hard, and all the air flew from her lungs. Her eyes went wide. The mummy was still holding onto her leg, and it was holding it so tightly that it brought even more pain. She was about to slam her hand over the time bracelet, trying to transport herself away, but the mummy pulled on her leg again.

She gasped as she skidded across the cave floor, the mummy’s hand digging into her ankle. Kara’s arms fell at her sides, and the mummy let go of her leg. She winced as pain burst through the spot where the mummy had grabbed her leg, but she didn’t have time to focus on that.

“No more of your time distortions!” the mummy said, it’s voice low and angry. 

Before she knew it, the mummy put both of it’s hands over her arms, not giving her a chance to move them. Then it reached down to her wrist, and Kara realized what it was doing. It was trying to grab her time bracelet! A cold wave of fear shot down her spine, and she wriggled around, trying to move her arms. There was no way she could let it take her time bracelet!

“You are _not_ getting that!” she told it, and kicked her leg out again and again until her foot came in contact with the mummy’s stomach.The mummy lost it’s grip on Kara’s arms. Relieved but still shaken up, she scooted backwards, using her hands and legs to pull herself away from it.

Then, without giving herself time to think anything through, Kara slapped her hand over the time bracelet and disappeared from the spot, reappearing a few feet behind the mummy. Whew! That’d been a close call. Her head was spinning from the idea of the mummy taking her time bracelet. She pushed herself to her feet with some difficulty, then winced. 

Kara tilted her head down, looking at her leg with wide eyes. For some reason, it was hurting immensely from when the mummy had grabbed her. Hopefully it wouldn’t mean anything bad; it just would bring her some pain for now. The good thing was that she could still fight, so for now she wouldn’t bother worrying about it. 

Breathing hard, Kara quickly glanced around her to check on her friends. Kiel was still learning spells, Owen was still where she’d left him, and Gwen had recently freed Charm and was helping her up. Good. Kiel should be back soon, and by the time they defeated the mummy, Bethany and Orion would be free, too.

So she hit a button on her time bracelet again. 

This time, she appeared behind the mummy and kicked it in the back of it’s stomach, causing dust to fly everywhere. Angrily, the mummy whipped around to grab her, but Kara quickly hit her time bracelet again. Adrenaline flooded through her as she reappeared again and kicked the mummy with all the strength she had, her foot solidly colliding into it’s chest.

The impact caused the mummy to fall onto the ground. Finally! Wanting to grin at her success, she slammed a hand over her time bracelet before she could land. Now appearing again, she was standing on both feet in front of the mummy. Kara stared at the mummy, her heart racing a great deal from the fight. 

She would’ve expected that it would’ve collapsed into a pile of mummy dust, or that it at least wouldn’t be able to get back up. Kara had seen some movies about mummies and they couldn’t be _that_ invincible. They were mummies! How could they still hold themselves together if they were beat up?

But she was totally wrong.

Not seeming to have even a hint of an injury, and mummy easily climbed to it’s feet. She watched it with fear. “I told you, Kara. You cannot beat me. You’re too weak.” 

“I-I—“ She took a step back. Her leg burst with pain, and she inhaled sharply. “I’m _not_ weak.” 

“Is that so?” It’s eyes pierced into her’s. “I assume you won’t be able to stop me from taking this.” Then with extremely fast movements, it reached out and grabbed her wrist tightly. 

The wrist that her time bracelet was on. 

“NO!” Kara screamed, trying desperately to pull her arm away. “You can’t have it! _Let go_ of me!” Then she grabbed the mummy by the hand, trying to get it off her. Her hand came in contact with the mummy’s, and instantly, she lost control of everything. Suddenly, she wasn’t in the cave anymore. 

She was back in her worst fear, a gigantic vortex swirling right above her head. It took her breath away, and surprised her so much that she stumbled backwards. Her stomach dropped to the floor. Oh no! How could she be back here? She whipped her head around, her hair flying all around her in the wind like a tornado of it’s own. 

Everywhere she looked, objects and people flew into the sky. It was just as terrifying as before. Kara reached out with both hands, trying to grab anything she could, but the wind just kept getting stronger. Lightning danced across the sky. Thunder rumbled in her ears. She plugged her hands over her ears, trying to drown it out. 

And then, somewhere in the distance, she saw Owen. He was waving his hands, as if to signal for help. “Kara!” he yelled, and it was so loud that she was barely able to hear his voice. They were miles apart. 

“Owen!” Kara shouted above the storm. She ran to him, but every step caused her feet to sink through the concrete. She couldn’t reach him in time. He was way too far away, and seemed to get even farther every time she moved towards him. She reminded herself that none of this was real, but her fear was strong and she couldn’t push it down when she was back here.

Then Kara blinked, and she was in the cave again. “Wha— how?” A shudder went through her. What had just happened? The mummy still had it’s hand clamped tightly around her wrist, and it took her a second to realize what was happening. In slow motion, the time bracelet left her wrist, and Kara couldn’t do anything to stop it.

“No, no, no!” she quickly shouted, but it was too late. The mummy closed it’s fist around the time bracelet, and she heard a crunching sound. When the mummy opened it’s hand, pieces of the time bracelet came off, crashing to the ground.

“Don’t worry. You can have it back,” the mummy said, tossing it back to her. Kara caught it before it could fall to the ground and get damaged even further. Her mouth hung open as she gingerly held what was left of time bracelet in her hands. Many of the symbols on it were gone or smashed, and either way, there was no way it would work now.

She slowly looked back up at the mummy, blinking back tears. “How could you do that?!” 

The mummy seemed to smile. “Because you deserve to feel pain. And next? Next I’m going to get your friend over there, take that stone from him, and put _all_ of you back into your worst fears.” Kara’s heart flipped when it dawned on her that the mummy was talking about Owen. “I know how much you hate to see Owen suffer, so I’ll let you watch. I’m sure he won’t have the energy to fight me again.”

“ _No_! Don’t you _dare_ hurt him,” Kara said, glaring at the mummy. She took a step back, positioning herself in front of where Owen was sitting, but he was still several feet away and she didn’t know if she could reach him before the mummy did. Without her time bracelet, it would be hard.

“Try and stop me,” the mummy said, shoving Kara out of the way as it started to move towards Owen. Afraid to lose her best friend, Kara ran after it, but pain that was even worse than before shot up her leg. She cried out and stumbled, collapsing to the ground.

“Owen,” Kara muttered, struggling to sit up. She tried climbing to her feet, ready to run after the mummy no matter how much pain it gave her, but her leg gave out again. “Owen, watch out!” 

_No!_ she thought. _Not now!_ This couldn’t happen. She had to help Owen! She couldn’t lose him now, not after everything! She’d _just_ gotten him back, and that was after three long weeks of being stuck in solitary confinement, not being able to see him. There was no way he could fight back against the mummy. His time powers had zapped all his energy. 

Could Kara reach him at all? Seeing that the mummy had almost gotten to him, she knew it was already too late. She saw Owen’s eyes widen, and he pushed to his feet unsteadily, looking pale and flushed. Their eyes locked from across the cavern. Images played through her mind, reminding her of all the thousands of times that she’d lost him previously. 

“Hey! Over here, you stupid mummy!”

Kara, Owen, and the mummy looked over to the source of the voice. Kara couldn’t stop the smile from tugging on her lips. There was Kiel, both wand-knives pointed directly at the mummy. He’d finished learning his spells! She watched as Kiel murmured a spell, and a strong wind emerged from the tips of his wands. The mummy was sent flying backwards into the cavern wall.

That was when Charm stepped in, running to Kiel’s side. The half-robotic girl didn’t seem to be sad; only furious. Kara was used to seeing that expression on her new friend’s face, but this time, she could tell it was deeper. It seemed that all of them had gotten enough pain today. 

“Just warning you, these won’t be on stun!” Charm shouted, and pointed her ray guns at the mummy. As it tried to stand, she began firing lasers at it. Laser after laser flew into the air, turning the cavern into a light show. Each time, the mummy managed to dodge, but Kara saw one actually hit the mummy in the shoulder. 

With the mummy preoccupied with Charm, Kiel jogged over to Kara, slightly breathless. “Sorry that took so long. I was trying to learn as many destructive spells as I could. Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, thanks,” Kara told him, unable to keep the pain out of her voice. She held up her time bracelet. “Time bracelet’s busted, though.”

“Yikes.” He made a face. “Sorry about that. I can probably fix it with magic later. C’mon.” He grabbed her hands and tried pulling her to her feet, but shockwaves went down Kara’s leg, and she instantly gasped. Kiel immediately let go of her, which she appreciated, as the pain stopped when she stopped moving. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“It’s my leg,” Kara whispered, shaking her head. “The mummy did something to it. I — I don’t know what it was exactly.” 

At that moment, Owen came over to them. It He still looked tired, but seemed to have more energy than he did earlier. His eyebrows knitted with concern. He crouched next to Kara, his doe eyes wide. “W-What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” Kara gave him a shaky smile, slightly forced given their situation. Her heart fluttered at the sight of him being okay. A few seconds she’d thought he was going to die, and this was a much better outcome. She was tempted to reach out and squeeze his hand, but something held her back. She didn’t know what it was. 

“Are _you_ okay?” she asked. “Do you feel better?” That was the more important question here, after all. _Way_ more important than how her leg was doing. Leave it to him to worry about her, when he was the one that the mummy was actually after!

“Yeah. I-I’m good enough to walk,” Owen said quietly. “Thanks, Kiel, for saving me. That was super close!” 

The boy magician winked. “Of course. Have I ever let you down?”

“Probably a few times.” Owen smiled. Then he looked down at Kara’s hands, and he gasped. “Your time bracelet! It’s broken!”

“I know.” She stuffed what was left of her time bracelet in her pocket, not wanting to keep getting reminded of what she’d lost. It was a low blow to lose her time bracelet, the only thing she had as a weapon. “The mummy broke it. Don't know how much of a help I’ll be without it. Unless I can use my immunity to paradoxes for something?” 

“Yeah, maybe,” Owen said sincerely. “It’s okay. We’ll fix it somehow. I promise.”

Kara nodded. She believed him. 

“Which leg is hurting?” Kiel asked her. Kara pointed at her right leg, and Kiel bent down, starting to roll her pant leg up. Owen watched in silence, not moving from where he was sitting. 

“I’m sure it’s nothing bad,” she said, but all thoughts of it not being a big deal were thrown out the window. 

She hadn’t known what she’d been expecting it to look like, but what she found wasn’t even close to how she’d imagined it. Surrounding her ankle was a huge black spot. It looked like she’d spilled ink over it, but when she tried rubbing it, it didn’t come off. It only hurt more when she touched it. 

Owen blanched. “Oh my god. How — what _is_ that? How did the mummy _do_ that?!” 

“Wow,” Kiel muttered, his eyes on Kara’s leg. “Okay, yeah, that looks pretty bad.” He patted Kara on the foot. “Sit back and relax. I’m gonna try some magic and if—“

“No magic!” Owen interrupted, shaking his head. “What if it hurts her?”

“It would just be _healing_ magic, Owen. That would help her. And I would be casting it! No one could possibly get hurt when I’m doing it.”

“Didn’t you say the same thing when you tried fixing my arm when it got broken?”

“I don’t know.” 

“Well, you did! And Kara’s leg looks pretty bad so I don’t wanna risk anything! We have no idea what that black thing is or how to get rid of it!”

Kiel sighed. “Who cares what it is! _Whatever_ it is, it’s hurting her. Magic can fix it.”

“How do you—“ 

“Guys, it’s okay. I’m fine with using magic,” Kara interrupted, just wanting it _gone_. She had absolutely no idea what the black spot on her ankle meant, or what it could be doing to her. Kiel gave Owen a _see?_ look. Owen looked like he wanted to protest, but he fell silent. 

“Great,” Kiel said, winking at her. “Hang in there, okay? There’s a chance this _might_ hurt, but I’m not sure. I’ll try to be quick.” 

He pointed his wand-knives at her ankle, and Kara clenched her teeth, bracing herself for more pain. As Kiel started to recite a spell, Kara reached out for Owen’s hand this time, threading her fingers through his and squeezing them softly. He squeezed back, giving her a sheepish, slightly embarrassed smile. Kara shut her eyes, hoping that if there was any pain, it would be over soon. 

Before Kiel could finish saying the spell, however, Owen glanced behind them, and when he turned back to them, his mouth was dropped open. His hand fell out of her’s. “Um, guys? We need to get up. Like, _right_ now.” 

“Why?” Kiel asked, looking over his shoulder to see. 

“Come on! We gotta go!”

From her position, Kara couldn’t see what they were looking at, so when both of them quickly moved to help her up, she knew it was bad. Once she spotted what they’d seen, and her body went cold. The branches that were along the cave wall were moving, and they were blocking Charm, forcing herself to fire at them instead of the mummy.

While they were a good distance away from the cave wall and wouldn’t need to worry about the branches, what they _did_ need to worry about was the mummy, who wasnt getting shot at by lasers anymore. Instead, it quickly heading towards _them_. Fear washed over her. How was the mummy just as unhurt as it was earlier? It didn’t seem possible!

Owen slid his arm around her waist, and Kiel weaved his around her shoulder. With some difficulty, they pulled Kara to her feet, and she threw her arms around their necks. There was no time to be slow. The three of them hobbled away as quickly as they possibly could, but Kara knew she was just slowing them down. She wished her time bracelet still worked, especially since they needed to hurry. 

Up ahead in the direction that they were going, Gwen had pulled Orion free. Her hand was resting on his shoulder, and she was talking to him, most likely telling him the truth of the situation like Owen had done for Kara. As Owen, Kara, and Kiel came closer, Gwen and Orion jumped to their feet, obviously noticing the mummy that was coming after them. 

Every step sent pain shooting through her leg, and it seemed that every few seconds, Owen kept asking if she was okay. Not wanting him to worry, Kara always said yes. They didn’t have time to fix her leg, anyway. Not while they were in the middle of a fight, trying to escape from a crazy mummy. There was too much danger, and they needed to take care of the mummy first.

“ _Slight_ problem,” Kiel said as they met up with Orion and Gwen, who’d run over to them as soon as they noticed something was wrong. 

“Slight?” Orion repeated darkly, raising his eyebrows. He looked even more grouchy than usual, and he eyed Kara. “What do you mean by ‘slight’?” His next words surprised Kara. “What’s wrong with Kara?” It was the first time she had seen him act concerned about others’ well-being, although she’d been able to tell he cared more than he let on about Bethany, his adoptive sister. 

“She’s hurt,” Kiel explained. “I have my magic, so I’m going to help Charm fight the mummy. Gwen, can you . . .?” 

“I’ve got her!” Gwen said, seeming to know exactly what Kiel was implying. 

As Kiel left Kara’s side, Gwen took his place and slid her arm around Kara’s waist. Having no time to waste, Kiel moved past them to face the mummy. He cast a spell right away, causing ice to form at the mummy’s feet. The mummy skidded across the cave floor, suddenly unable to stay upright. All of them watched as it continued to slip, losing it’s balance completely. 

Despite her fear, Kara smiled, loving that the mummy was getting a taste of it’s own medicine. It deserved it, especially after what it had done to them. Charm was running towards Kiel, firing more lasers at the mummy as she did so. Having less of an ability to dodge the lasers, some of them hit the mummy with excellent precision, even while Charm was farther away. 

Their small group turned back to each other, having some more time to talk since the mummy was preoccupied. Momentarily letting go of Kara, Owen stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Orion. The other boy stiffened. Kara didn’t have to know body language to see that he was uncomfortable. 

“Can you let go of me?” Orion asked, except it was more of a request than a question. 

“Oh!” Owen instantly pulled away, his face reddening. “Sorry, yeah. Just wanted to make sure you were okay after going through your . . . you know . . .” He trailed off. 

“I am,” Orion snapped, and it came out more harshly than it probably was intended to be. “Where’s my sister?” It seemed like that was the only question in the world he cared about. And it probably was.

Kara just shook her head, having no idea. It was Owen who answered. “She’s over there,” he said in a rush, tilting his head in the direction of where Bethany was, at the other side of the large cavern. He wrapped his arm around Kara’s waist again, supporting her alongside Gwen. “I tried freeing her earlier, but I couldn’t — I’m sorry, it didn’t work. I don’t know why. But trust me, we aren’t leaving here until she’s with us.” 

Orion’s expression didn’t change, but Kara thought she might’ve seen worry flash across his face. He stared at Bethany before looking back at them. “Get her out of there. Promise me, Owen. You better promise me you’ll get her _out_ of there.” 

“I-I promise,” Owen said. Wordlessly, Orion nodded, accepting Owen’s answer. Then he took out three Twilight throwing stars and joined in the fight. He threw his arm forward and sent one of the throwing stars hurtling at the mummy, where it hit it’s mark. 

“Let’s go,” Gwen said, squeezing her arm tighter around Kara. She looked at her. “Kara, do you think you can make it to Bethany?” 

“Yeah,” Kara grunted, nodding even though she wasn’t sure if that was completely true. Owen and Gwen were both looking at her, identical expressions of concern on their faces. “I think so.”

“You sure?” Owen asked.

Her leg ached. Kara ignored it, meeting Owen’s worried eyes and holding his gaze. “Yeah, I’m sure,” she said firmly. “Bethany needs us! I can do it.” 

She gave him a pointed look, daring him to disagree. He didn’t, even though she could tell he sensed her discomfort. He was still fairly tired, she noticed. All of them were. Out of all of them, the only person who had the most energy was Gwen, but it wouldn’t be long before she got tired, too. Not that Kara could imagine Gwen being that tired, but she didn’t want to wait around to find out. 

The more important thing was saving Bethany. Kara might have only known her for two days — and they were just starting to get to know each other — but she would protect her with her life. She knew that Bethany and Owen were best friends, and had been before anyone else took that position. Kara also didn’t want Bethany staying in that fear sequence any longer than she needed to. Living through that had been awful; she wouldn’t wish it on even her worst enemy. 

Gwen and Owen wasted no time in moving her. The three of them hurried across the cavern, simultaneously trying to avoid Kiel’s spells, Charm’s lasers, and Orion’s throwing stars. With Kiel, Charm, and Orion fighting the mummy together, Kara could tell things were getting easier. Despite being practically invincible, the mummy was having a harder time fighting back, which was a good sign. 

Things were starting to work out. Or, well, she _hoped_ things were. They still had a long way to go, and Kara wasn’t sure if the odds were _really_ starting to work in their favor or if she was just hoping they would. Usually they didn’t. But for once, she thought they might. And given her past experiences, that was a rare feeling for her. 

The cavern was a lot bigger than Kara realized, which meant it took them a frustratingly long time before they could reach Bethany. Maybe ten minutes, between trying to avoid the fight and Kara struggling to walk properly. It would’ve been much faster if she still had her time bracelet, but sadly, they’d have to take the long route.

As they got closer to Bethany, Kara gasped — and this time, not from the pain in her leg. Tree roots were wrapped around Bethany, holding her so tight that she couldn’t move. Kara remembered what Owen had told her on the way to the cave, about the trees being magical. Maybe that was what was going on here? It would make sense. Sort of.

It occurred to Kara that that had been what _she_ was trapped in, but at the time, nothing was really making sense. She’d been exhausted and confused, not even realizing that she‘d been trapped in tree roots until much later. Seeing it from an outside perspective made her acknowledge just how intense and dire the situation was, and how much they really needed to save Bethany. 

It worried Kara what Owen had said, about being unable to get Bethany out. Why had it been so difficult? He’d been able to get Kiel and Kara out just fine. The same could be said for Gwen, who’d managed to free Charm and Orion. It didn’t explain why Bethany was the only one who hadn’t gotten free. 

Kara had a bad feeling about this. Whatever was going on with Bethany was different. Something was wrong. 

“You said you couldn’t pull her free?” she asked Owen, glancing at him. They’d come to a stop, all three of them unable to look away from at their motionless friend. In Kara’s case, she’d only managed to look away for the sake of asking Owen a question.

“Yeah, I don’t know why!” he said. “It was so weird. It was like the tree roots were glued to her, or something.”

Suddenly her own problems seemed a lot less bad. “Do you think we can get her free?”

“I hope so.” His voice faltered. “She’s my _best friend_. We _have_ to save her.” 

“We will,” Kara said. “Like you said, we’re not leaving until she’s free.” 

“That’s right!” Gwen agreed. “She would never leave any of us behind, so there’s no way we’re leaving _her_ behind. If all of us try, I’m positive we can get her free. It’ll work out.”

“Yeah!” Owen said. “It‘s got to. It probably wasn’t working last time because it was just _me_ pulling on it. But with three people? We can save her.” He looked at Kara, his hand still wrapped around her. “Are you okay to stand on your own?” 

“I might be, since I made it this far,” Kara said, glancing down at her leg. “Let me try.”

“Okay,” Owen said, reluctantly letting go of her. Gwen did too. Kara gingerly stepped down on her foot, testing her weight. Pain filled her ankle, shooting all the way up her leg. She was unable to keep from crying out, and both of them immediately jumped in to grab her. 

Kara bit her lip hard, frustrated that an injury was getting in her way. She gently pushed their arms down before they could grab her. “Wait, I think I can still stand.”

Owen knitted his eyebrows, trying to grab her again. “Kara, you’re in a lot of pain. You can’t walk on your own.”

She rolled her eyes. “We don’t have time to argue—“

“You almost fell while standing up. You need help with walking!”

“You can use my jetpack,” Gwen offered, showing her the straps that were over her shoulders. “It’ll make it easier for you to get around.” 

“No, it’s fine! I don’t need to borrow that.” Kara shook her head. “For this, I just need to stand. If we’re going to free Bethany, we need all three of us. And as much pain as I might be in, I’m not about to let Bethany stay in there for any longer than she needs to.”

“Okay, okay,” Owen said, not looking too happy about that. “You’re right! Just . . . if you fall or something, you can’t argue with us. You have to let us help you.”

Gwen smiled. “Or we’ll just help you anyway!”

“Okay,” Kara relented. “Agreed. Now let’s go free Bethany!” 

She found that although her leg was still hurting immensely, she was able to stand upright if she kept most of her weight on her other foot. It was still hard to walk, but nothing could be done about that. The good news was that she didn’t need to do much walking right now, since all they had to do was pull the tree roots that held Bethany captive. 

The three of them stepped forward and each grabbed a tree root. They began pulling, and Kara felt certain that they’d free Bethany with their combined strength. Maybe these tree roots were just stronger than the others, and that was why Owen hadn’t been able to free her earlier. Maybe it required more people to move them.

Or, as they soon found out, maybe it _was_ impossible to move. 

* * *

Owen had started out hoping he’d get all of his friends freed from their worst fears, and as more of them were saved, he felt more optimistic about getting out of here. Except all of the hope that was left in his body quickly dwindled, as no matter how hard they pulled on the tree roots, he couldn’t save his best friend from her worst fear. 

“I thought this would work,” Owen said as he pulled away, turning to Kara and Gwen. 

He was even more worried for Bethany than before, now that she was officially stuck. He really _had_ thought they’d be able to get her free — no, he’d been _sure_ of it! — but he was wrong. His shoulder’s deflated, and he decided that he must’ve just set a record for the shortest optimistic feeling in history.

“Something’s wrong. Why can’t we get her free?” Kara asked, wiping a hand over her forehead. There were beads of sweat on it, and bags were under her eyes.

“We can,” Gwen said, her hands still on the tree roots. She yanked at them hard, and Owen could tell she was trying to hold onto hope still. “We just need to keep trying. Come on! Let’s keep pulling!”

Hating himself for it, Owen stopped her. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Gwen, I don’t know _how_ to tell you this but . . .” His eyes flickered to Kara, and he swallowed hard. He dreaded his next words, and what they actually meant. “I don’t . . . I don’t think we can get her free.”

“Of course we can! Don’t lose hope, Owen.”

“I’m not!” he said. “I’m just saying, we’ve been pulling at these tree roots for like, five minutes, and nothing’s working. I don’t get it! We've literally been able to get everyone free _except_ Bethany. It’s almost like . . .” He furrowed his brows as a scary thought came to his head. “It’s almost like —“

“She doesn’t want to leave,” a voice said, and Owen felt his entire body go cold. He recognized that voice. 

Standing several feet behind them, Owen saw the mummy. Somehow Kiel, Charm, and Orion had landed on the ground, and all of their weapons were almost on the other side of the cavern, making them too far to reach. He watched as his friends climbed to their feet. Even Charm, despite being half-robot, looked slightly unsteady. 

Owen’s heart sunk. Apparently his hope that they would be able to defeat the mummy was wrong, because clearly, it was able to withstand anything they threw at it. It was just too strong. He wished he knew more about mummies, but he didn’t. He just hadn’t expected this mummy to be so relentless and strong. 

He didn’t know how things had gone downhill so drastically, but they were out of options and plans. They had to think of something quick, something that would actually work. Would they be able to free Bethany and defeat the mummy at all? Owen was starting to think that maybe neither would happen, even though he really tried believing they would.

“She doesn’t want to _leave_?” Orion growled, moving to stand beside Owen, Kara, and Gwen. “You’re lying.” 

“Oh, but I’m not,” the mummy said. “You see, your friend Bethany does not wish to leave her fear sequence. She couldn’t bear to leave her friends or family behind. Does that sound familiar?”

It did to Owen. Bethany had always been known as someone who never gave up on those she loved, not even when they suddenly vanished during a birthday party. She’d searched for her father for years, refusing to give up on him even when there wasn’t any hope, even when she didn’t know where he was. Owen had always admired her for that.

He didn’t know what her worst fear was, but it had to involve her friends and family somehow. And knowing Bethany, it made a lot of sense that she wouldn’t want to leave, no matter how terrified the idea made Owen. If she was afraid of losing anyone she cared about, she would hold her ground. She would let herself suffer for them. That was just who she was. She was more selfless than she realized. 

Just like when she’d let herself almost get drowned, refusing to leave Owen and Kiel behind in the fictional world. Because she _knew_ she was protecting them. Ugh. This made things a lot harder. So it seemed that the mummy was right: Bethany really _didn’t_ want to leave. So how could they convince her to do that? Owen tried thinking of something, but he didn’t have a clue.

“Let her go!” Kiel shouted, running to the mummy and throwing himself against it. He didn’t have his wand-knives anymore, Owen realized with horror.

“Kiel! No!” Owen shouted, but the mummy hit him hard enough to send him flying into the wall. Before the magical tree roots could grab him, Charm got to him first, dragging him to safety. The rest of their group clustered together in front of Bethany, blocking the mummy from her.

“I don’t understand,” Gwen said. “She wouldn’t be leaving her friends behind.

We’re here.”

“ _She_ doesn’t know that,” the mummy said. “And she never will, so she’ll stay there.”

“How do we get her out?” Orion demanded, a shadow passing over his face.

“You won’t be able to. Unless . . . you give me that stone you took from me. Then maybe I’ll reconsider.”

All eyes went to Owen. He felt his face burning up, and he couldn’t look at anyone. It was the same offer as before, but now, there was no way he’d get Bethany free if he didn’t give the mummy the stone. That was the only reason it was coming after Owen and making his friends suffer in their worst fears. And Bethany was his best friend; he _couldn’t_ lose her.

Except the words that came out of his mouth were, “I can’t let you take it.”

Orion threw him a glare. “Seriously?”

“ _Owen_ ,” Charm hissed. “Don’t be an idiot. Who cares about a stupid stone?“

“We need it to find Nobody!” Owen protested, not feeling very confident as he said it. He looked back at the mummy, his body shaking. “Just hear me out! I can’t let you keep Bethany. I know you want the stone, so take something else from me instead. I’ll trade my time powers for Bethany.”

“Owen!” Kara said, shaking her head. “Your time powers are all you have to defend yourself! Don’t you want to keep them?”

“Yeah,” he whispered to her, frowning. “But I’ll be okay without them.” He shrugged. “Maybe I’ll even get my powers back another time.” He turned back to the mummy, crossing his fingers behind his back. Even though he didn’t want to give up his time powers, it was the only offer he could make. “So, will you take them?”

They all looked at the mummy. “Very well,” it said. “I will accept your time powers in replace of the stone.”

“And then you’ll free Bethany?” Gwen asked hopefully. She leaned down to help Kiel up, who’s eyes had just begun to flutter open. She and Charm helped the boy magician to his feet.

“Yes.”

Slowly, Owen nodded. He took a shaky breath, reminding himself that this was all for Bethany. That was all he needed to remember to make him feel better about this. It would be worth it in the end, when he had his best friend back. “O-Okay. Then do it.”

His friends stepped back to give him space, watching the mummy carefully in case it tried anything. Owen watched fearfully as the mummy came closer to him and lifted it’s hands, placing it on his shoulders. Owen tried not to flinch. That was when his heart started to pound, faster and faster in a way that felt similar to when he used his time powers.

As the seconds slipped by, it felt like all of the energy was draining out of him. He felt pain build to his chest, and his body wouldn’t stop shaking. His breathing was becoming unsteady, he could tell. Owen gasped as more pain went through his body. His vision became clouded, just like when he used his time powers too much. 

Except the pain didn’t stop. It just kept getting worse until spots appeared before his eyes, and he would’ve fallen if the mummy hadn’t been holding him up. More and more energy drained out of him. Finally, the mummy released him, and Owen had the sensation of falling without even knowing it.

Someone caught him in their arms, and voices echoed around his head, sounding very far away.

“Owen, can you hear me?” someone was saying, maybe Kiel. When Owen was able to open his eyes, he saw his friends’ blurry, panicked faces. He blinked slowly, feeling so exhausted that he couldn’t even move or think.

“Huh?” he whispered, barely able to move his lips. As he became more aware of his surroundings, he noticed that someone was brushing hair off his forehead, and someone else was squeezing his hand tightly. His eyes darted from each of his friends, a single question on his mind: _Had it worked?_

“Thank goodness you’re okay!” Gwen said, laughing breathlessly in relief.

“Well?” Charm demanded. Even she looked a little worried, he noticed. “Are your time powers gone?” 

Kiel waved a hand in front of his face. “How do you feel?” 

Owen closed his eyes, trying to feel his time powers within him. He let out a shaky breath. It took him almost a full minute to concentrate, given how tired he was. There was nothing there at all. He couldn’t sense his powers anymore. They were gone. Officially. 

“They’re gone,” he confirmed, almost too quietly for anyone to hear. He expected to feel a sense of accomplishment, but he didn’t really feeling anything. He felt his hand being squeezed a bit tighter, and he glanced over to see Kara giving him a small, supportive smile. His smiled shakily back. 

Kiel looked back to the mummy. “Owen gave you his time powers. Now do us a favor and let Bethany go!” 

The mummy chucked. “This is the one thing I love about humans. You are so easily fooled. You just gave me the power to manipulate time. Did you really think I was going to give you your friend back, after I directly told you I wanted all of you to suffer? Is that what you thought?”

Their jaws dropped, Owen’s included. Kiel’s face fell. “Uh, yeah. That _is_ what I thought.”

“We made a deal,” Orion hissed. “You can’t refuse to release her.”

“Yeah!” Kara said, looking furious. “You _promised_ us!” 

“All of you are weak,” the mummy said. “Deep down, you are all afraid. Afraid of losing someone or something, afraid of not being good enough . . .” It scoffed. “You are all pathetic. None of you have the strength to beat me or save your dear friend Bethany. All of you mean _nothing_.” It’s gaze lingered on Owen. “And you? You are _nothing_ without your friends.”

Despite his tiredness, Owen sat up, his eyelids heavy. “You’re totally right,” he mumbled, and his friends gave him shocked looks. “I am nothing without my friends, because I’m just . . . ordinary. I mess everything up, and I’m only here because I thought I could contribute something. But I was wrong. I couldn’t.” He looked at the ground, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.

“What you said about my friends, though? That’s not true. My friends are incredible. I wouldn’t have been able to do much of anything without them. They’ve been with me through my worst moments, and I’m lucky to have them. So take out all your insults on me. I deserve it!”

“I mess up again and again, and I messed up now when I thought I was doing the right thing by taking the stone,” he continued, averting his gaze to the ground. He met the mummy’s eyes and used the small amount of strength that he had to push himself to his feet. “But don’t do that to my friends. You’ve put them through their worst fears, and they don’t deserve more criticism. They’ve had _enough_.” 

He took a shaky breath, glaring at the mummy as he mustered up every ounce of courage he had left. “So let Bethany go and leave us _alone_!”

For the years to come, Owen would think back on that moment and wonder how he’d managed to be so confident with his words. It was rare that he was confident, so when the words spilled out of his mouth, there was only silence afterward. His friends stared at him as though they’d never seen him before. Even the mummy was shocked. He had surprised himself, too. 

Charm was the first to move, breaking the stillness. She sprung up from where she was sitting and charged at the mummy, as if she had the perfect idea of what to do. Using the strength of her robotic arm, she whammed it into the mummy, pushing it straight into the rocky wall of the cavern. 

The mummy was fast, but the tree roots were faster. They quickly weaved around the mummy, fastening themselves tightly around it. Despite having a lot of strength (plus, it’s new time powers) the mummy couldn’t get free. After struggling to escape for a few seconds, the green glow of it’s eyes winked out, and the mummy stopped moving.

Owen’s eyes expanded to the size of saucers, and he opened and closed his mouth, trying to process what had happened. The mummy was in it’s worst fear! He hadn’t dreamed that, had he? There was a moment when no one spoke, just staring in shock at the unmoving mummy. No one could believe what had happened. Even Charm looked surprised about it.

Then, he heard a loud noise, followed by a cough. He whirled around, staggering on his feet. That was when he saw Bethany sitting there, looking barely awake but thankfully alive. A rush of emotions filled Owen, and he felt the urge to whoop for joy and cry all at once. He rushed to Bethany, dropping to his knees and throwing his arms around her.

“You’re okay!” he exclaimed happily, choking on his tears. All of his emotions came pouring out, maybe because it was finally over or maybe because he couldn’t believe everything had worked out. 

“Owen,” Bethany choked out, sniffling. He felt a pair of arms hesitantly wrap around him, and soon, she was hugging him back just as tightly. Owen didn’t know what her worst fear was, but he didn’t care. All that mattered to him was that she was out of there, and she was okay now. 

More arms wrapped around the both of them, and when Owen looked up, he realized that Gwen had joined into the hug, followed by Kiel and Kara. A grin came to his face, and he sniffled, burying his head further into Bethany’s shoulder. After lots of convincing, they finally got Orion to join them. Charm refused to participate, even when Gwen tried dragging her over. 

When their group hug finally came apart, they explained everything that had happened to Bethany. She’d acted upset, confused, and almost disbelieving about it the whole time, but realizing that all her friends were around her, she seemed to come more to her senses.

“What about my dad?” she’d asked Owen quietly when they were done telling the story, pulling him aside. “Is he . . .?”

Owen had only shaken his head. “Not here.”

“Oh,” Bethany muttered, and he knew without asking that she was having a hard time accepting that. She’d barely looked any of them in the eyes, aside from when she first discovered they were there. After that, she’d kept more to herself, sulking. Owen didn’t know how to make her feel better.

As they finished filling each other in on what had happened, Owen announced what he’d been dreading to tell his friends all afternoon. Well, the ones that didn’t know yet. And it’d already been difficult to tell Kara, Gwen, and Kiel, so he could only assume the others would act more upset. 

“There’s something you all have to know,” he spoke up. “Kara and Gwen and Kiel already know this, but, um, I was the one to make you guys go through that. I took the stone, so as punishment, the mummy did that to you. I’m really, really sorry.”

Shame and embarrassment filled him, and his face burned. He managed to glance around at his friends, frowning when he saw their reactions. None of them looked happy with the news; not that he expected them to be. Charm and Orion looked angry, and Bethany and Kara just looked upset. None of them said anything. 

But then, Kiel just patted his shoulder. “It was only a mistake, Owen. Let’s just get out of here.”

Somehow, that made Owen feel _worse_. 

“I’m sorry . . .” he said again, but his friends slowly started walking to the front of the cavern, leaving him standing alone. He sighed and caught up with them, kicking pebbles with his shoe. 

His happiness from earlier at having defeated the mummy was now gone. He just felt _bad_. He’d lost his time powers, and now he was back to square one: an ordinary nonfictional boy. And despite all the risks he’d taken to save his friends, they were still upset with him. _Great_. Just great.

“The stone had never been here before,” Owen heard the mummy say as they turned their backs on it. He flinched, glancing back over his shoulder. “It was a gift from a boy that came here yesterday. He told me you’d be coming, and that you would take it from me. You see, he also wanted me to put you in your worst fears.” 

“Are you kidding me?” Owen asked, mostly to himself. He felt a pang of fear, and turned around the rest of the way. “What boy? This stone has literally been in here the entire book!”

For some reason, all of his friends turned to him in shock. Then, the realization hit him that he hadn’t even seen the mummy’s mouth move, and he frowned. “How are you even talking right—” 

“Um, Owen?” Bethany said. “Are you okay?”

“What?” Owen turned to look at his best friend, then back at the mummy. “Didn’t you hear—“ He cut himself off when he saw the disbelieving, maybe even concerned looks on his friends’ faces. He swallowed hard, forcing a smile. “Sorry . . . yeah! Yeah, I’m okay. I just thought . . . I just thought I heard . . .” He met Kara’s eyes, and she quickly looked away. “. . . Something.” 

Charm grunted, and the rest of them continued walking to the exit of the cave. As the path before them became easier to see, Owen tried to ignore the worried glances Kiel and Gwen kept giving him, who were probably the only ones that weren’t going to ignore him for the rest of the night. Everyone thought it was his fault; it was obvious. He wished there was something he could do to make them all feel better. 

Silently, he contemplated everything that had just happened only seconds ago. Had he really been the only person to hear the mummy say that? If that was true — which it most likely was — then Owen was in big trouble. Somehow, the mummy had spoken to him, and _only_ him. It’d been giving him a message. 

Other thoughts sprung into his head. Was the mummy still going to go after them? Would it go after _him_? He didn’t think it could, since they’d put it in it’s worst fear, and all. It hadn’t been able to move at all after that, and hadn’t spoken until they were leaving the cavern. 

And what had it meant by a boy planting the stone there? It didn’t make any sense! Obviously, the mummy was making up a lie to confuse him. Fowen had said that the stone had been there throughout the whole book. Even the mummy had claimed the stone was his. Why wouldn’t that be true? 

Owen already had the whole thing with Nobody and his friends’ feelings to worry about! He couldn’t take more worrying or danger right now. He just _couldn’t_. It was too much for him to handle at the moment. All he wanted to do was go home, read a book, and let someone else save the world. Leave all the heroics to the _actual_ heroes, like Kiel or Kara or Charm. 

What help was he if he couldn’t just barely save his friends? Yeah, he’d somehow been able to save them. But with Gwen’s _help_! Without her, Owen would’ve been stuck in his worst fear right now. He shivered at the thought of that happening. Now that the mummy had spoken to him, he wondered if that outcome was still possible. 

But then again, they’d defeated the mummy and had put it into it’s own fear. It wasn’t about to follow them, so he wasn’t worried about that part . . . unless it _could_ somehow escape. But why had it been able to speak only to Owen? It was a mystery to him, but seeing the looks on his friends faces made him realize that he shouldn’t tell them. 

They’d just suffered because of what Owen had done; taking the stone. Half of them were angry, upset, confused, or all of the above, so the last thing they needed was _more_ stress, which Owen would _again_ be causing if he told them what had happened. 

They’d never get a chance to relax, which they definitely needed to do after the emotionally-exhausting experience they’d had. Plus, they’d think the idea was crazy. Owen already didn’t really believe what the mummy had told him, so there was no point in telling them, either! 

It felt strange to keep this to himself, since he was so used to being an open book and sharing everything with his friends. But this was different than just keeping a secret. He didn’t even understand how it happened, and he didn’t know what the mummy had meant by a boy putting the stone there. How was it even possible for this to happen, when the mummy shouldn’t have been able to communicate with Owen? 

He snuck a glance back at the mummy, letting out a breath. It was still locked up, just like it had been several minutes ago. So somehow, it had telepathically contacted him. Was that something to be worried about? Probably. But the mummy couldn’t move, so there was no way it could run after them. 

And more importantly, Owen was beyond tired. They all needed sleep, and right now, all he wanted was to be in his comfortable, familiar library. But even as they exited the cave and were greeted by chirping birds and flowery smells and welcoming sunshine, Owen couldn’t get the mummy’s message out of his head.

_What boy?_

* * *

Thousands of miles away, Nobody ripped open a page in midair and stepped through a story. Specifically, Kara Dox’s.

He entered what seemed to be an old hospital, passing many rooms that had equipment inside. Each room was empty. None of what was inside was what he’d come here for, so he kept walking. It wasn’t until he came across a waiting room that he stopped in his tracks, spotting the boy right away.

Calmly, Nobody crossed the room and bent over Fowen, Owen’s fictional twin. Although the boy annoyed him, he’d proved himself to be useful a couple times when he’d needed someone to do a job for him. This had been another of those times. Using Fowen to deliver a message to Owen and Bethany — along with their friends — had been a smart decision.

“Nobody?” Fowen whispered, his eyes widening in horror. He was sitting on the floor, holding a hand up to his bleeding nose, at the spot where he’d been punched by Charm. “What are you—“

“Stay still,” Nobody said, and put his hands on the boy’s shoulders. Instantly, millions of words came flying out of nowhere, heading straight for Fowen. Fowen tried to dodge, but as the words sunk into his skin, recognition appeared in his eyes.

The faceless man let go of Fowen, who grinned. “It worked! It seemed that erasing my memory of our meetings worked out in our favor. They totally bought it. Even Bethany. They thought we were working together, and then I denied it even when under the truth spell, so there was no way they would think that I wasn’t trying to help them.”

“It was a good accomplishment. You convinced them to go to that cave, which we needed them to do,” Nobody agreed, but then, his tone turned cold. “You’ve done your part, but I don’t need you anymore, Fowen.” 

“What?!” Fowen exclaimed, anger flitting across his face. “I _helped_ you! I got them to that cave so they’d be too weak to fight back when we ambush them! You were going to let me destroy Owen — like I’ve been waiting to!” 

Nobody found himself getting irritated. “There’s something you haven’t yet understood. I was _never_ going to let you do anything besides planting the magical stone in the cave, and telling them where they should go. I was _especially_ never going to let you fight Owen or the others, because I have my _own_ plan. And my plan does not involve _you_.”

Then, before Fowen could say anything else, Nobody grabbed him by the shirt and ripped open another page in midair with his other hand. Stepping through, he came to the edge of a forest, where the pure possibility was moving fast, almost upon them.

“What are you doing?!” Fowen shouted furiously. “I was going to help you! You can’t do this to me! I need to be the hero and get rid of Owen! I can still do that for you!” 

“You will disappear either way, Fowen. I’m just giving you a head start.” Then Nobody gave the boy a light shove, and smiled as he watched Fowen disappear into the pure possibility wave, gone forever. 

He ripped open another page, to the last place he’d need to go for his plan. Everything was falling perfectly into place. It was time. 

* * *

_“You surround me on every side. Your love is my armor, I fear no evil. Darkness runs from your light_ _. . .”_


	41. We’re The Same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids run into some new complications after their escape from the cave. Bethany struggles to adjust after her fear sequence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello chapter 41 is here!! thank you again to everyone who reads this and supports my fanfic, and wouldn’t still be writing this long of a fic if it weren’t for you guys
> 
> side note, I just started college a week ago so I’ve been overwhelmed and busy and that’s the reason I haven’t been able to get this chapter out as fast. I’m still gonna keep writing but I’ll still definitely be busy with school, so just know that I won’t be as active as I used to!

**_Dusk Till Dawn (by Zayn ft. Sia)  
  
_**

_“But you'll never be alone. I'll be with you from dusk till dawn . . .”_

* * *

_  
_It was official: they were one-hundred percent lost.

Ever since they’d escaped from the cave, Bethany and her friends had been walking aimlessly through the woods. It wasn’t the first time she’d been lost in a book, having no clue what direction to turn. That was how it felt sometimes when she jumped into _Alice in Wonderland_ , since you could get easily lost and confused in there.

Although camping had never been Bethany’s thing, it reminded her somewhat of the path her, Owen, and Kiel would take to get to the library, back on the real world. There was a shortcut through the woods, and the path was clear, making it rare when she tripped over anything. This wasn’t the case here. With it starting to become dark, she found herself tripping more over sticks and rocks. 

“Can you try again?” Owen asked. 

Sighing, Bethany stood from the log she’d been sitting on. She then leaped into the air, willing her body to pass through the pages of the book. The only problem was: it didn’t work. It hadn’t been working, ever since they’d first left the cave. 

“Why. Is. This. _Happening_?! It’s still not _working_ ,” she said, jumping again and again for good measure. “Just like it wasn’t five minutes ago, just like it wasn’t ten minutes ago, just like it wasn’t—“

Owen watched from where he was standing, not being helpful at all. His face was scrunched with worry. He’d asked her to try jumping out of the book maybe every ten minutes, and every time she tried, it didn’t work. She didn’t know why he kept asking. It wasn’t going to work anytime soon.

Panic rose inside her, but it was nothing compared to the fear what she’d felt earlier when this had first started happening. Looking for something to blame it on, she’d blamed it on her lack of energy. And she could’ve been completely right. Not that there was any proof that that was true.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kiel said, hopping up from where he’d been sitting on the grass. He grabbed Bethany by the hands, forcing her to stop jumping. “It’ll work later, Beth.” He smiled. “Probably when you’re less tired.”

Groaning, Bethany tore her hands from his and turned away, not noticing the hurt look on his face. The pain was still fresh inside of her, and it had lingered since she’d gotten out of her fear sequence. She couldn’t handle seeing Kiel look at her like that. Why did he have to be so nice and helpful? What was his _problem?_ She didn’t need his help! 

And that included Owen and Gwen, who she’d pushed away when they’d tried comforting her. Bethany couldn’t accept their help. They wouldn’t be able to do anything to fix her powers. Only she could, and she didn’t understand how to fix this or why her powers weren’t working now.

The only other place they hadn’t worked in was Jupiter City, when she and Owen had climbed through the portal in Murray Chase’s basement. That hadn’t turned out to be a good thing, because at the end, she couldn’t jump out, leaving Nobody with the chance to separate her fictional and nonfictional halves. So you could imagine her discomfort now. 

What Bethany had gone through today couldn’t be changed. She had seen all of her friends leave her, and she’d seen her family leave her. But to see they were actually all okay? That they still loved her and cared about her? It was too much. She would’ve expected to be relieved — and she _was,_ sort of — but most of all she just felt _angry_. 

All of them were trying to move past it, but Bethany couldn’t. How could she after what happened in there? She’d lost everyone she loved. Literally _everyone_. Who’s to say that wouldn’t happen again? In the back of her head, a voice kept telling her to stop pushing her friends away, but she couldn’t help it. It was an automatic defense mechanism for her, especially when she was upset. 

Gwen had tried to engage her in conversation, but Bethany only gave her one-word answers. She’d avoided opening up to Owen or Kiel or Orion about her problems, too. They would only try to ask her about what happened and she wasn’t in the mood to talk. She noticed that no one else seemed to be in the talking mood either, which was perfectly fine with her. 

The one good thing that had come out of this was that they had the stone, which was what they’d come here for. They’d use it to find Nobody, destroy him, and save the entire fictional world before it got wiped away by the pure possibility. She was glad they hadn’t lost _that_ , but wished they hadn’t had to go through so much pain just to get it. 

Bethany glanced up to see that the sun was dipping towards the horizon, turning the sky into beautiful hues of pinks, oranges, and yellows. Nighttime was coming faster than she’d expected, turning the tree branches into dark silhouettes against the sunset. She saw dark clouds from a distance, signifying that a thunderstorm could be on it’s way. 

One thing they’d all agreed on was not to go back to the summer camp. If they went back there, they’d have to separate into groups again, and Bethany knew that none of them wanted to do that after the crazy day they’d all had. Despite wanting to be alone, or she didn’t want to be separated from any of her friends again, either.

So instead of going to the summer camp, they set out to find somewhere else to stay for the night. It was only taking a while because for one, they were walking, and for another, all of them were various levels of tired. Bethany had no clue at all if they’d find somewhere to go, since this was a book about a summer camp and there probably _wouldn’t_ be anything here besides that. 

They’d stopped a few times to see if Bethany could jump out of the book, but just like every time, she was unable to. She found herself getting increasingly frustrated with every try, and soon enough she’d yell at someone. Why wasn’t it working? It was kind of getting annoying. More than kind of. 

Bethany’s eyes landed on Kara, who was struggling to climb to her feet. After the battle with the mummy, her injury seemed to have worsened. She’d had a lot of trouble with walking, and seemed to constantly be in pain. That was another reason they’d tried jumping out of the book. None of them knew what Kara’s condition meant, or how to fix it. 

And that worried Bethany, among other things. Although Kara claimed that she was okay, Bethany knew it was the exact opposite. If they were able to jump out of the book, she and Owen could’ve looked for books in the library that would help her out, in case the mummy had inflicted some kind of curse on Kara. There were thousands of books in there. At least one of them would have a cure for her. 

But Bethany’s powers weren’t working, so going to the library wasn’t an option. Kiel had also tried using magic to fix Kara’s leg, but the spell book had seemed confused, as if it didn’t know which spell to turn to. Maybe it was because it didn’t know which specific spell would help, since the injury was foreign to them. 

They’d have to find some other way to fix it. And somehow, they’d have to find it in a book about _summer camps_ , of all things. It was their only choice, except Bethany wasn’t sure _how_ they could find a cure for Kara here. They’d have to try of course, but how would they find one? And where? 

The nurse at the summer camp might be able to fix a scrape or a cut, but could she fix a potential curse on someone’s leg? Probably not. 

“Here, I’ll help you,” Bethany said, leaning down and grabbing Kara by the arms, pulling her to her feet.

“Thanks,” Kara said, her eyes slightly unfocused from the pain. She winced as her leg came in contact with the ground, and Bethany glanced down to see a large black spot surrounding Kara’s ankle. Just looking at it made Bethany shiver. 

“Is your leg any better?”

“Nope! Still looks like there’s a weird black thing around my leg.” Kara made a face, looking like she was trying to not take it too seriously. “Trust me, if I had my time bracelet still this would be a _lot_ easier. I could transport you guys somewhere. Save you all the walking.”

“I think the walking is worse for _you_ ,” Bethany pointed out.

Kara winced again, and she shrugged. “I’ll manage! It’s not gonna _kill_ me.”

“Whether it’s going to or not, we’ll get you help soon,” Bethany promised. Neither of them knew if _that_ was true, but she didn’t want to say otherwise. They’d do everything they could to tackle Kara’s problem, and hopefully, they’d find a way to help her.

“Yeah,” Kiel said, suddenly at Bethany’s side. “And if my spell book finally cooperates and magic won’t work on your leg, there’s no reason to freak out.“ He winked.

 _Great_. That sounded _exactly_ like a reason to freak out. Bethany rolled her eyes. “Right, but we can’t guarantee that your spell book will cooperate at all.”

“Of course it will! Sometime. It just needs time to process what Kara’s injury is, and then it’ll work.” 

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah. Or I’ll just try talking to it some more. It always listens to me. Because I’m—“

“If you start bragging about how amazing you are, I’m going to strangle you.”

“It’s not nice to threaten people, Beth.” He winked again, and she groaned. 

“It’s not nice to _annoy_ people, either. Which is what you’re doing right now. To me.”

He gave her an annoyed look. “Actually, I was trying to help Kara.” 

Bethany scoffed, her cheeks red. “So was I!”

“Guys,” Kara said, looking back and forth between Kiel and Bethany, looking a bit uncomfortable by their arguing. “There’s no rush. I’m okay for now. _Really_. I’ve almost gotten eaten by dinosaurs, and I’ve been stuck in solitary confinement for three weeks. This is like, the easiest thing I’ve had to deal with.”

“Really?” Bethany asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Yeah.”

“Hey, I’ve gotten eaten by dragons,” Kiel said. “They’re dinosaurs, but with wings.”

“Well . . . not _exactly_ like dinosaurs.” Kara half-smiled. “There’s the whole fire-breathing part. But yeah.” 

“Well, we’ll get you help as soon as we can, anyway,” Bethany said. “As long as we stop asking people to jump out of books when they clearly _can’t.”_ She threw Owen an annoyed look, who’d been watching their conversation. “We’ve wasted a ton of time already with that.” 

Owen gave her a hurt look. “That’s our only way out of here, Bethany.” 

“You think I don’t know that?” she asked, her anger rising. “Of course I do, but it’s _not_ working. So can you _please_ stop asking me to try jumping out of the book like you’re expecting it’ll work every five minutes?” She hadn’t meant it to come out that way, but it had. It was too late to take it back. 

His mouth hung open. Then, he nodded, looking to the ground. “Yeah . . . I’ll stop.” 

All conversation from the rest of the group went silent — not that there was much conversation to begin with — and her friends looked from her to Owen. She saw Kiel shaking his head at her in disapproval. Even Gwen was frowning. Bethany instantly felt bad for lashing out at Owen; he’d gone through a lot today, even giving up his time powers to save _her_. He didn’t deserve that. 

But Bethany wasn’t thinking straight right now. She hadn’t been able to stop herself from yelling, even if it meant her best friend would get his feelings hurt. And she was in no mood to talk about her problems, or more specifically, what she’d seen while in her worst fear. Maybe she would be later, but right now, that was the last thing she ever wanted to do.

“. . . Sorry,” she muttered, not looking Owen’s way. If she did, she’d see the look on his face and feel even more guilty.

Always trying to be the peacekeeper, Gwen said, “Okay! I know what we went through was hard. I know you’re scared about what happened, but we got through it together.” She smiled. “And we can keep getting through the hard stuff together. As a team! We shouldn’t be bringing each other down. We should be lifting each other _up_.” 

Bethany already felt some of the stress drifting out of her as she listened to Gwen. Gwen was right. Despite their little group being divided right now, despite _everything_ , they were like a family. But also, despite Gwen’s words of positivity, she wasn’t finding it easy to look on the bright side. Her sour mood couldn’t be changed _that_ easily. 

No one else spoke, except for Kiel. “Yeah,” he said. “It’s good to stop worrying about what happened. Try focusing more on the positive, you know?”

Gwen smiled gratefully at him. 

“Easy for you to say,” Bethany said. “You don’t worry about anything.” Kiel glared at her, and she glared right back before quickly looking away. She wasn’t used to him being so annoyed with her. Then again, she was just as annoyed with _him_ and arguing with him wasn’t anything new. It was basically their normal. 

After a few seconds of no one speaking — the tension thick in the air — Orion cleared his throat, motioning for everyone else to stand up. “Let’s keep moving. We have a lot more walking to do.”

And just like that, their group was back to not talking again. 

They started walking forwards, and Kiel and Gwen volunteered to help Kara with walking. Everyone was silent, lost in their own thoughts. The only thing Bethany could hear was the crunching of leaves and grass. A few times, she would glance at Owen, wanting to apologize for being mean to him. But she didn’t want to with everyone else around. 

Plus, she was probably too annoyed to apologize.

The occasional drop of rain had started to fall, hitting Bethany’s head every few minutes. If they didn’t already have a reason to hurry, they did now. Even though Bethany liked it when it rained (an unpopular opinion), none of them wanted to get caught in a rainstorm in the middle of a forest. Luckily, it was nothing more than a couple raindrops so far, so it probably wouldn’t get heavier until later.

Bethany purposely ignored Kiel — as he wouldn’t stop giving her looks and it was getting kind of annoying — and chose to glare at the grass. Maybe if she was silent for the rest of the trip, people would stop talking to her. Except for well, Kara and Gwen, who at the moment, were the only people she could currently talk to without yelling. 

She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She wondered how much longer it’d take before they found a safe place to go. Minutes? Hours? Kara was right: her time bracelet really _would’ve_ been useful. So would Bethany’s powers if they were working, but unfortunately, they weren’t.

Her mind wandered back to her friends. She knew it wasn’t a good idea to yell at Owen; it'd just come out that way. If he was in her situation, just having gone through her worst fear, he probably would’ve done the same thing. Except he didn’t; he was letting her take her frustrations out on him, which just made her feel bad. 

Getting out of her fear sequence and seeing her friends around her had been like a dream. Literally, she thought she was dreaming. That is, until they all explained to her what had happened, and she realized that everything she’d gone through _had_ been the dream. Her father wasn’t _with_ her anymore. 

For a few minutes, he had been. And then he wasn’t. Maybe that was the worst realization; that there was a chance Bethany might not ever be with him again. She wasn’t going to accept that, though. After all the years of searching, she wasn’t going to give up on him. Him being separated from her wasn’t going to change that, ever. 

Bethany just wished she could hear his voice again. Out of anything to cheer her up, that would be it. Or really, just the sight of him would make her feel happier. That was all it would take, and then she’d forget all her problems with her friends. If he were here, he’d tell her some crazy story about a fight that he’d lost, just to make her feel better about her own situation. 

Or he would hug her, telling Bethany that she could cry all she wanted. And then she would, and he’d say something to make her laugh. She’d wipe her tears away, declaring that she already felt better. Her father would smile, maybe offering that they go look at the stars or jump into some books.

One thing she’d always known about Owen was that he was always daydreaming. For her, she didn’t remember the last time she’d daydreamed, or if she was even capable of doing it. She was always paying attention and never got lost in her own world. How could anyone daydream if they looked at life realistically? 

But Bethany must’ve _actually_ been daydreaming for once, because she got so distracted imagining a fake scenario with her father that she completely missed it when it happened.

In front of her, Charm stopped abruptly, making Bethany almost run into her. Bethany spread her arms out to keep from falling into her, taking a step back. “Uh, why’d you stop?”

Then she saw it, and she did a double take. Sitting in front of them, right in the middle of the woods, was a cabin. There was one window, where she could see a light shining from the inside. Even more surprising, there was a yellow school bus parked next to the cabin, dust covering every window. Besides that, there was nothing there for miles.

 _Of course_ , Bethany thought. Why was she surprised? Books always put random houses in the middle of the woods, like in Hansel and Gretal. It was a thing. Hopefully there weren’t any witches inside, but since they’d seen a real-life mummy just an hour ago, it wouldn’t be surprising if some other random creature showed up. 

Owen pointed a finger at it. “Is . . . anyone else seeing a cabin, or is it just me?”

“I am too!” Kara said, sounding surprised. “I wasn’t expecting that. Who lives in the middle of the woods?”

“Me,” Kiel said. 

“Okay, but what _normal_ person lives in the woods? And why is there a school bus?” 

That stumped all of them. Bethany frowned. The whole thing was weird, and the cabin gave off a horror movie vibe. Depending on what was in that cabin, there was a chance they shouldn’t be going in there. Anyone could be living there, from a possible serial killer to a family on a camping trip. The possibilities were endless! 

Bethany would’ve preferred it if they found somewhere deserted, since she didn’t want to drawl unwanted attention to herself and her friends. This was way too dangerous. Ugh. That was another reason why jumping out of the book would be super helpful right now. If they were able to get to the library, there’d be no reason to worry. 

Her mind whirled as she stared at the mysterious cabin. Maybe the light was on, but no one was actually home? Nah, that probably wasn’t likely. Someone had to be here. It was just weird that there wasn’t a car parked anywhere. There was only a school bus, which looked like it hadn’t been used in years. 

But then again, they’d been walking for an hour, exhausted and hungry and feeling all sorts of emotions. They needed _somewhere_ to go, and this was the only place they’d found so far. Even more importantly, Kara also needed help. Something was happening to her, and none of them were able to help her for now. 

A grin spread across Gwen’s face. “This is great! I knew we’d find somewhere, and we _did_! Come on!” She started to walk forwards, but Bethany quickly latched onto Gwen’s hand, pulling her back before she could do anything. 

It wasn’t a bad trait, but Gwen could be _too_ trusting sometimes and Bethany knew they’d have to be careful here. She didn’t know anything about this book. Even Owen, who usually had a ton of information about books, knew almost nothing about it. It made them vulnerable. She didn’t want to be reckless when it could be putting her friends at risk. Again. 

“Wait,” Bethany said, stopping her. “What are you doing? We have no idea who lives here, or if they’ll help us.” She glanced nervously at the cabin. “We can’t just . . . walk in.”

“Of course we can!” Gwen didn’t look afraid, and something about the look on her face soothed Bethany’s agitation slightly. “It’s going to be alright, you’ll see! We can just go knock on their door and tell them what happened. I’m sure they’ll be nice enough to help us.” 

“Not everyone is nice,” Bethany said, shaking her head. “You saw the mummy—“

“Bethany.” Gwen squeezed her hand, awakening butterflies in Bethany’s stomach. Her face flushed. It made her forgot about who she’d lost in her fear sequence, at least for a second. “It’s going to work out. Whoever lives here owns a lovely cabin in the woods. I’m sure they won’t be mean.”

“You’re sure?” Orion said, more of a statement than a question. “Really? I say we shouldn’t go inside. We’ll all be doomed if it turns out badly.”

“Only with _that_ attitude you will,” Kiel said. “Guys, nothing can get worse than it already has. This is the only place we’ve seen for miles. And while I’m sure I can keep walking for a while longer, since I’m impressive like that, we should take the opportunity we have.”

As much as Bethany didn’t want to admit it given the circumstances and how annoyed she was with him, Kiel made a good point. They hadn’t found anywhere else to go, and it’d make no sense if they just kept walking. At least here, they could take a risk asking someone they didn’t know for help. If the person was nice and offered to help them, they’d have somewhere to stay. Problem solved. 

“That’s true,” Owen said, nodding along. “We don't even know if there will be anything else here, in this world. We should do Gwen’s idea: asking whoever lives here for help! Maybe they’ll have something that’ll help Kara?” 

Kara nodded, not looking his way at all, which seemed weird to Bethany. “Yeah, they could.” Her voice was quieter than it normally was, probably from all the pain she was having.

“They will,” Gwen encouraged. “I know it!” 

Charm turned to look at the cabin. “I guess, logically, we should go inside. It doesn’t appear to be a threat. But on the other hand, it would be better to find somewhere _without_ anyone around.” 

Bethany rolled her eyes. “Since when would _you_ care about who’s in there? You have ray guns. Did you forget about those?” 

Charm glared at her. “My ray guns are almost _out_ of lasers, so no, I don’t want to waste them.”

“Then — whatever. Who cares?”

“ _I_ care. So, since I have ten times more brain cells than the rest of you, I vote we find somewhere more suitable to stay. Without anyone else there. Unless it starts raining — which would be _very_ irritating — _nothing_ is going to make me go inside that tiny wooden house.”

At that moment, thunder boomed, making all of them jump. The sky broke open, and sheets of rain came pouring down from the dark clouds. That was how all seven of them ended up on the front porch of the cabin, water dripping from their hair and clothes. The rain had felt surprisingly cold for the hot temperature they’d been in, and now Bethany couldn’t stop shivering.

“I _hate_ rain,” Charm growled, trying to brush water off of her robotic arm. “Always messes up my robotic parts.”

“Good thing we conveniently found this cabin,” Kara said, craning her head to look at the roof above them. 

“Yeah, only took _five_ hours,” Bethany said, letting out a breath. 

Owen looked at them. “So! Do you think someone’s in there? Should we just knock, or—“ 

But Gwen was already knocking on the door, her knuckles rapping lightly against the wooden frame. Bethany was almost sure that whoever was inside wouldn’t hear it over the storm, but she had to hope they would. The door was locked, too, so someone would have to let them in from the inside. Unless Kiel used his abilities as a thief to pick the lock, but Bethany didn’t want to break into someone’s home if they didn’t have to.

She watched as Gwen stepped back, waiting patiently for someone to answer. A lot more patiently than Bethany would be. Unlike the rest of them, Gwen was probably the only one who wasn’t agitated or annoyed. She’d accepted what had happened and had moved on, focusing more on helping her friends and lifting their spirits. 

Kiel had been doing the same thing all afternoon, with trying to do what was best for everyone else. That was such a fictional hero thing, to be selfless in spite of everything else. Bethany wished she could be more like that, just accepting whatever came to her instead of stewing over what she couldn’t change.

She shared a glance with her friends around her, then looked back at the closed door. They waited in silence, shifting their feet and rubbing their arms. The cabin was small enough that by now, someone should’ve come to the door already. Maybe the person — or people — on the other end hadn’t heard Gwen’s knock. 

“They’re not answering,” Bethany said, feeling impatient. “We’ve given them, like, a full minute. That’s enough time for them to open the door!” 

“Maybe they aren’t home?” Kiel suggested.

“It’s raining and they live in the middle of the woods,” Orion stated. “Where else would they be?”

Owen only shook his head. “Nowhere.”

Kiel scratched his head. “Then maybe they don’t like strangers.”

“Oh, come on,” Bethany said. “That’s a stupid reason not to answer the door. It must be something else.” 

“They could just have bad hearing,” Kara said, pushing strands of wet hair out of her face. “It’s raining pretty heavily out here.” 

“I’ll try again,” Bethany said. Just for good measure, she stepped forward and slapped the door as loudly as she could with her palm. “Hello? Anyone in there?” 

After about thirty seconds more of waiting, she could just barely pick up footsteps from the inside of the cabin, which gradually got louder. The door opened abruptly, and everyone’s eyes snapped to the person in the doorway. A tall man with brown hair tentatively poked his head out, staring at them with an unreadable expression. Maybe it was confusion. Or surprise. 

Clearly, he hadn’t been expecting seven kids to show up on his front porch, covered from head to toe in dirt, scrapes, and cuts. Not to mention, they were wearing Scouts uniforms, were dripping wet from the rain, and looked like they hadn’t slept in a week. Any normal person would be shocked to see that. 

“Hello!” Gwen gave him a wide smile, clasping her hands in front of her. “Sorry to bother you, sir, but we—“ 

“Again?” He sighed, rubbing his eyes. He looked like he’d just woken up from a nap. “Other groups of Scouts already came here _five_ times in the past week. And they were _way_ too cheerful. Never thought you’d come during a rainstorm. I guess you’re dedicated.” He let his hand fall from the door. “I thought I made it clear that I don’t want your thin mints, kids. I don’t like cookies.” 

Gwen tilted her head in confusion, still smiling. “Wait, thin mints?”

“Yeah,” the man said. “You guys selling those today?”

Gwen turned back to their friends. “What are thin mints? They sound really interesting!” No one answered. They were all too busy gaping at the tall man in the doorway. 

“Huh?” Bethany whispered, then quickly shook her head. “No, we’ve been knocking for a while. Maybe you didn’t hear us over the storm . . . but we’re not here to sell you cookies.” She glanced at Kara before looking back at him. “Our friend is hurt. Can you help us?”

The man’s gaze wandered to each of their faces before landing on Kara. He caught sight of her leg, and his expression changed to one of recognition. “I know that mark!” 

Not expecting that at all, Bethany blurted out, “What?” 

“You _do_?” Owen asked, his eyes widening.

“Yes.” The man nodded. “ _Yes_ , I do. And I can help you.” He leaned over and grasped Kara’s hand, taking her by surprise. “I’ve only seen this once, and I’m very sorry you have to carry this burden alone.”

“What?” Kara asked, looking afraid. “What does it mean?”

“You’ve been touched by the mummy.” They all gasped. “And I assume you haven’t told your friends how bad it’s been getting, have you?”

Owen looked at Kara, concern flitting across his features. “Told us what?” he asked softly, sounding surprised. Everyone else just looked confused.

Kara glanced down at her leg, then shook her head. “No . . . I didn’t want to worry them. We’ve had the _craziest_ day.” 

The man’s face softened. “Well, you’ve come to the right place. I know how to help you. I’ll explain everything about it inside, as long as you tell me what you were doing in that cave.” He let go of Kara’s hand, stepping back into his house. “I’ll give you a minute to talk it over. If you decide to stay, come on in. If not, good luck.” 

Then he closed the door, leaving them shivering on his front porch. Bethany exchanged a nervous look with Owen, and she momentarily forgot their fight from before. She could tell he wasn’t too sure about this either. There were so many things she wasn’t sure about in this book. 

After what they’d gone through, how could they trust some random guy that lived in a cabin in the middle of the woods? It wasn’t easy to do that right after what had happened. But . . . it _was_ their only choice. And it sounded like an option they’d have to take, for them and for Kara. 

Immediately, Charm turned to Kara with an angry expression. “What do you mean it’s been getting worse?”

“Yeah, why didn’t you say anything?” Kiel asked, and at the same time, thunder rumbled from just behind them. “We could’ve kept trying to use magic on it.” 

Kara started to fidget with her wrist, which Bethany realized was a habit she’d had when her time bracelet was still on it. Then she leaned down and pulled up her pant leg, and that was when Bethany stopped breathing. Instead of just a black spot around her ankle, it had been moving up the rest of her leg, now reaching just below her knee.

Kara took a deep breath. “I didn’t know what was happening . . . so that’s why I didn’t tell you about it! I wasn’t going to tell you unless I had to. It’s just something I’ve never experienced before, and I wasn’t about to worry you guys, you know?” 

“You don’t have to feel like you need to hide anything from us,” Gwen said, placing her hand on Kara’s arm. “We’re your friends.” She smiled. “We might not understand what’s happening to you, but we’ll still try to help you.”

“Yeah,” Owen said, half-heartedly smiling at Kara. “I’m sorry. This is on me, too. If I’d read more about mummies and curses, I’d know how to help—“

“It’s okay!” Kara told him, a smile on her tired face. She looked away, back at the door. “We have someone to help us, now.” 

“Oh, right.” Owen started to walk to the door, but Bethany grabbed him by his backpack and pulled him back. 

“Not yet!” she hissed. “He seems nice enough, but can we trust him?” 

He frowned. “I think we have to.” 

“He seems like he knows how to help Kara,” Kiel said. “I don’t understand why we _shouldn’t_ trust him.”

Bethany couldn’t help being annoyed all over again. “Maybe because we don’t know anything about him? And it could turn out to be a trick? For all we know, he could turn out to be a crazy murderer.” 

“Then we’ll get to know him. If anything bad happens, I’ll use magic to fix it. Piece of pie.”

“Don’t you mean cake?” Kara said. “And I think we gotta go in there, even if he’s a crazy murderer.” 

“What?” Charm demanded. “Why?” 

“He sounds like he knows what he’s talking about.” She shrugged. “And honestly, after everything the universe has thrown at me, someone actually _helping_ me is pretty rare. I think we could use his help. And maybe . . .” She glanced at Owen. “Maybe he knows something that we don’t about the stone.” 

“I’m hearing a lot of ‘maybes’,” Orion observed.

“I think we should go with him, too,” Kiel said. “We don't have anywhere else to go.” 

“Yeah, we don’t,” Owen said. He swallowed hard. “I think . . . . I think we can trust him! He doesn’t seem like a bad person at all. And he said he knows what’s wrong with Kara. She needs to get better somehow!” 

“Seriously?” Charm scoffed. “Of course _you_ would think we should trust him, when _all_ of us know how badly you messed up things earlier. No way am I trusting _your_ judgement, Owen. Not again. Who cares how much you know about books? That knowledge isn’t very helpful.”

“Sorry.” Owen’s face reddened. 

“Hey, Owen knows what he’s talking about,” Kiel defended. “He’s not messing _anything_ up. He has really good points, and I think he’s right. Don’t you want Kara to get better?”

“Of course,” Charm snapped. “But we can’t be stupid about this. There’s a forty percent chance that this man is lying about knowing Kara’s problem, and he doesn’t want to help us at all.” 

“You’re not very comforting,” Owen muttered.

“Does our situation seem comfortable?” Charm challenged. “I’m trying to be realistic.”

“I can’t believe I’m actually agreeing with Charm on something, but she’s right about one thing,” Bethany said. “We have to stay cautious. But he’s someone who knows why this is happening. Not us. _W_ _e_ don’t know how to help Kara. He _does_.” 

“Alright, fine.” Charm sighed loudly. “ _Fine_. We’ll go inside, but if that man tries anything, I’m ray-gunning him. Are we all in agreement that we should go inside?” 

All of them nodded. Orion started to knock on the door, but before he’d even had the chance to knock twice, the door opened. The man stared down at them expectantly, and Bethany said, “We decided to stay with you.” She held his gaze. “As long as you can help Kara.” 

The man nodded several times. “I can. I’ll start helping her right away, and I’ll explain everything about it inside. It’s a _long_ story, and all of you look pretty cold from standing out in the rain for so long.” 

Lighting flashed all around them, and thunder boomed louder than ever. The man waved a hand for them to go inside. “Now, you kids must be hungry. Who wants sandwiches?” 

* * *

Apparently when the man had said he had sandwiches, he meant that it was the only item of food that he owned. Instead of the cabinets being stocked with snacks, like Bethany’s normally was back at home, they were filled with vials and medicine bottles. Because of that, she assumed he was some kind of a doctor. He wasn’t. 

She didn’t get to look inside the tiny fridge that sat in the corner of the room, but when all the man pulled out was bread, peanut butter, and jelly, she couldn’t deny that her mouth began to water. It reminded her of all the times she’d sat in the cafeteria, eating a lunch that her mom had packed her. Sandwiches had been something she used to have a lot. 

When was the last time she’d eaten today? It had to have been this morning, but she’d been starving ever since getting out of her fear sequence. Being in there had drained all her energy, and sometimes, the next best thing to being alone was having some comfort food. Either way, she couldn’t have protested to eating the food if she wanted to. It was great to have _anything_ to eat. 

And at least the man didn’t have a hobby of eating spiders, or something gross like that. Yesterday, Bethany had learned that Kara had eaten spiders before, and had been pretty horrified at the discovery. Apparently her time traveling friend did some crazy, Kiel-like stuff. 

Still, any food the man offered her was what Bethany would take. She was _really_ that hungry. Although it was totally against her own rules, she didn’t care as much as she should’ve that she was eating food from a man she’d never met before. She was just thankful it was something as normal as a sandwich, or else she’d have second thoughts about eating what strangers gave her. 

While they dug into their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (except for Owen, who was allergic to peanuts and could sadly only eat the jelly and bread), the man filled them in about himself. He didn’t start right away with how he knew about the mummy, which kind of annoyed Bethany, but he also didn’t ask questions about them. He explained how he was an archeologist, which was how he’d come to know about the cave. 

She was glad at least that he wasn’t too nosy about what _they_ were doing. He seemed more focused on talking about himself, but hadn’t even bothered to mention his name. Or maybe he’d forgotten. They’d only been talking for maybe a couple minutes, but by the time the man finally got around to explaining what he knew, Bethany was about ready to burst.

“You must be wondering how I know what’s happening to your friend here,” the man said, and that made everyone perk up instantly. Even Orion did — he normally never seemed to care about anyone, although Bethany knew that wasn’t totally true. Maybe mostly true, but he’d shown it in small, subtle ways over the years she’d known him. 

“Yeah, I’m wondering a lot of things,” Bethany said. Collecting herself, she took another bite of her sandwich and asked the question that’d been running through her mind. “For one, who _are_ you?”

“Are you . . . Indiana _Jones_?” Owen asked, pausing for a moment to look up. The jelly was falling off of his bread, but he didn’t seem to notice as he was busy staring, transfixed, at the man. 

Had he really just said that? Bethany looked over at her best friend, unable to wipe the scowl off of her face. Sometimes he really _was_ too obsessed with books and movies. Sure, Toby was an archeologist. There were plenty of archeologists in the real world. But there was no way this guy could be Indiana Jones! 

Even though Bethany hadn’t really seen the movies or read the books, she knew they couldn’t be the same person. From what she knew about his appearance, they didn’t look much alike! At least, they wore different clothes, as Indiana Jones usually wore leather jackets and this man was completely jacket-less. And plus, using a famous character and writing them into an entirely different story? That’d be copyright! 

“Now you’ve done it,” Kara said, who was sitting next to Bethany. She pointing a thumb at Owen. “You’ve officially blown his mind.”

“No, my name is Toby,” the man said, looking confused. “Sorry. Thought I’d already introduced myself. Who’s Indiana Jones?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Bethany said in a tone more harshly than she intended. “ _Why_ do you know about the mummy? And how?”

"What exactly is happening to Kara?” Kiel asked.

“To explain what’s going on, I’d better start at the beginning,” Toby said, folding his hands in his lap. He didn’t seem overwhelmed by their questions, and his patience was making Bethany more restless. 

He took a deep breath. “About six years ago, I discovered that cave and went inside. I like to find artifacts and was hoping to see some cave drawings, but instead I found a mummy. The same mummy that did that to you.” He gestured at Kara, who blinked in surprise.

“Back then, I was a lot younger and a lot stupider,” he continued. 

“Sounds like someone I know,” Charm said under her breath, throwing Kiel a look. The boy magician chuckled. 

“So I went ahead and tried investigating the mummy, since I wanted to see what time in history it was made, and who it was made _for_.” 

“I would’ve done that!” Kara said, acting a bit more like her old self again. “I love history myself, so ancient artifacts are kind of my favorite thing.”

“Is that why you went into that cave?”

They looked at each other, their eyes widening. Bethany hadn’t expected him to ask that. She glanced at Owen, who still had the magical stone in his shirt pocket. It was glowing a faint green, slightly visible even through his pocket. His eyes locked with her’s, and Bethany shook her head. Better not to tell him. 

Bethany didn’t like trusting strangers in general, and didn’t know why they should trust Toby — a man they’d just met — with information about the stone. Then they’d have to explain they were using it to find Nobody and save the fictional world, and that wouldn’t make any sense. She instantly caught herself making up a believable lie in her head, even before she knew she was doing it. 

Then she backtracked. 

Maybe they _should_ tell him the truth? Maybe telling him that they’d gone to the cave for the stone would make sense, because it had been there for the entirety of the book . . . however long that was. They could just say they’d heard about the magical stone from somewhere, and wanted to try finding it. That sounded good.

“Um . . .” Owen fidgeted in his seat. “We didn’t go there because of that. We actually went in there to find something.”

“A stone,” Bethany said, wiping her clammy hands over her pants. “We heard about it during . . . Scouts training.”

“A magical stone,” Gwen added. 

Toby furrowed his brows. “You heard about a magical stone during Scouts training, so you went to look for it? Did you find it?” 

Owen nodded, taking the stone out of his pocket to show the man. It was noticeably glowing in the dim light of the room, and Bethany wouldn't have needed any background knowledge about the stone to know it was magical. She personally hadn’t seen any stones that looked similar to it before.

“It has the ability to grant any wish,” Orion said lowly, speaking for the first time since they’d come inside. 

“I see.” Toby stared at the stone for a few seconds, mesmerized at the sight of it. Then Owen put it back into his pocket, and Toby looked back at them. “Interesting. Honestly, I’ve never seen or heard of that stone being in that cave. Last time I went, there was nothing like it there.”

Bethany could’ve sworn she saw Owen gulp. “What do you mean?” he asked, his voice rising in pitch. “Did someone put it there after you left?”

“No,” Charm said. “We all know that this stone has been there for a long time. He must’ve missed it.”

“That’s possible. The cave _was_ very big,” Toby admitted. “So, that’s why you went into the cave, then. For the stone. Look, I get it. I was a kid once too. I used to do all kinds of adventurous things with my friends when I was young. I just have one question: why did you take it? Why not leave it?” 

Bethany looked at her friends before looking back at him. She shrugged, trying not to sound as nervous as she was. “Because we’re just . . . good samaritans. We’re using it to help some people. Make the world a better place. That kind of thing.” And that wasn’t a lie at all. They really _were_ using it for the greater good; for the purpose of saving the fictional world! 

Toby smiled. “That’s good to hear. I’m sure if any evil person got their hands on it, they’d use it for much worse things. Just make sure to use it responsibility.”

Kiel winked at him. “No need to tell me! I’m _always_ responsible.”

Bethany was fairly sure that no one at the table believed _that_. Not even Toby, who’d just met Kiel. She could probably count on all ten of her fingers of all the times he’d said that, too. 

“I should continue my story. Where was I?” Toby paused. “Oh, right. At some point, the mummy came to life. Before I even knew what was happening, it grabbed my arm. I don’t remember much after that, except that I managed to break free and escape from the cave. The next thing I knew, that same black mark formed on my arm. And first it was small, just around my wrist. But then it kept growing, and getting bigger.”

Kara leaned forwards, putting both hands on the table like she was preparing for a football match. “How’d you make it stop?”

“I couldn’t.” 

“What?!” all of them shouted in unison.

“For a _long time_ , I couldn’t. Just a few weeks,” Toby quickly added, which didn’t make Bethany feel too much better. She glanced at Kara, who looked more worried than Bethany had ever seen her.

“ _Weeks_?” Owen cried.

“Yes, but that was because I didn’t have the antidote for it. I didn’t know anyone that could help me, but I found some ways to delay the progress of the curse by going to doctors and keeping myself as healthy as possible.” 

“You said there’s a curse,” Bethany said, raising her eyebrows. “So there’s a curse on Kara, now?” 

“Yeah!” Owen nodded, looking at her. “It makes sense, now that we have more context about the mark on Kara’s leg. You know how there are always curses happening in Indiana Jones movies? Almost every Egyptian movie or book has some kind of curse . . . even though this only involves a mummy.” 

“We already got _enough_ of a curse when we went through what we went through!” Bethany hissed. “Why is there a second one?” 

“What’s the curse going to do?” Kara asked Toby. 

“Kara, maybe you don’t want to—“ Owen began, but Kara cut him off.

“No, I have to hear it. It’s better than not knowing. If I don’t get healed, what happens to me?”

Toby sighed. “If you don’t get cured within the next few days, you would . . . die.” 

Bethany’s hand flew to her mouth. “What?”

Everyone else was too shocked to speak. She felt like a weight was sitting on her chest as his words sunk in. This whole day just felt like one bad thing after another, and all Bethany could think about was the possibility of her friend dying. This was worse than any of them had believed.

“That’s, um, wow,” Kara said finally, blinking a few times. “No way. It can’t kill me!” 

“I’m sorry, but there’s a chance that it can,” Toby said. “I came extremely close to dying, myself. But you’ll get cured, so you won’t have to worry about that.” 

“You mentioned an antidote,” Kiel blurted out. “Where is it?” 

Toby stood up, walking over to a cabinet and taking out a few small jars. Their eyes followed him across the room. “Right over here. The good news is, I eventually _was_ able to make an antidote for the curse. I still kept the ingredients in case I ever had to make it again, which I do now.”

Gwen‘s face lit up. “That’s perfect!” 

Orion narrowed his eyes, skeptical as always. “But it could also be a trick. How do we know this will cure her?”

Toby glanced back at him, holding a handful of jars in his hands. “It cured me of the curse. It should cure her, too.” 

He placed the jars on the kitchen table, and Bethany could see some strange-looking ingredients inside. She leaned closer to get a better look. None of the jars had labels on them, but she didn’t really recognize any of the ingredients that were inside. It mostly looked like liquid to her, aside from one of the jars, which she was pretty sure had blueberries, of all things, inside them.

“This doesn’t look like an antidote to me,” Charm said, crinkling her nose. “How is any of this going to work? They’re just random ingredients. This looks like a bad science experiment, and I’ve seen plenty of those.” 

“Don’t take that to heart,” Kiel told Toby. “She’s only saying that because she doesn’t trust this kind of thing. I say go for it!”

“But only if it _really_ works,” Owen said quickly. “I mean, you’re sure it works, right?” 

“I’m sure, kid. I guess we’ll have to stay hopeful that it’ll work a second time.”

Owen nodded, forcing a smile. Then, Toby took out a syringe and started opening the vials. Acting quickly, he collected a sample from every jar into the syringe, emptying each one into a small bowl. Once all the ingredients were inside, he closed the lids of the vials back up, took out a spoon, and started mixing the ingredients together.

“This is just like what my mom does when she bakes!” Owen said, staring at the process with wonder. “Aside from the weird ingredients. Usually it’s just flour and other stuff. I don’t remember what else she puts in there.” 

“I hope you never have to bake me anything,” Orion muttered, and Bethany allowed herself a tiny smile. 

It was more than a little weird to see Orion wearing Boy Scout clothes instead of his usual mask and costume, and under less troubling circumstances, she would’ve made fun of him for it. Maybe she would later, if she was in a better mood. She noticed that he kept reaching up to his face, as if to adjust a mask that wasn’t there anymore. 

She continued watching until the rest of the ingredients were all blended together, forming a thick, liquid-like substance that was a dark blue color. She crinkled her nose. It smelled slightly foul, even from where she was sitting. She didn’t want to imagine how it must taste, since Kara was the unfortunate one that had to drink it. 

“Let’s get you over here,” Toby said, helping Kara up and guiding her to a couch. Bethany and her friends jumped out of their seats, following them. Kara winced with every step, her face very pale and sweaty, but she managed to make it to the couch, leaning back against a pillow and letting her feet dangle over the couch.

He poured the contents of the bowl into the cup, then handed it to Kara. “Make sure to drink all of this.”

Kara placed both hands around the cup, slowly breathing in and out. She stared down at the drink. “I’ll try my best.” 

“If you throw up, don’t even _try_ doing it on me,” Orion warned, but before he’d even finished his sentence, Kara was already gulping it down. Bethany cringed, unable to block the foul smell from her nose. She watched as the pink-haired girl kept drinking, until finally, she slammed it down, looking disgusted.

All of them crowded closer around her, until Toby said, “Give her some space!”, and they hastily backed away to give her room. Bethany kept her distance in case her friend happened to throw up, but she never did.

Kara shuddered, making a strange noise at the back of her throat. She wiped a hand over her forehead. “Okay, yep, that was the worst thing I’ve ever had. Worse than spiders!”

Bethany made a face, getting a mental picture of how a spider would taste. It wasn’t nice to think about. “Ew. How can anything be worse than spiders?”

“Trust me, this _is_.” She shuddered again, but looked a little less grossed out then before. Bethany’s eyes traveled to Kara’s leg, which still looked like it must've been painful. It had the same black mark on it from before. Just looking at Kara, though, Bethany could tell there was a bit more color on her cheeks. The antidote had to be working! 

“Do you feel better?” Owen asked.

Kara nodded, but abruptly sucked in a breath. She immediately cried out and grabbed hold of her leg, wincing more. “What’s — what’s going on?!”

“Kara!” He gasped, rushing closer to her side. “A-Are you okay? Is your leg worse?” 

“What is it?” Bethany demanded, her eyes widening. “What happened?” 

But Kara wasn’t responding. Her face twisted into one of intense pain, and Bethany looked down to see that the black spot in her leg was starting to fade away, but very slowly. All the while, Kara continued to groan from the pain, her eyes squeezed shut and her eyebrows scrunched together. 

Gwen quickly went to sit next to Kara, and was rubbing her back comfortingly. “Hang in there! It’s going to be okay!” 

“Kara, _tell_ us what’s wrong,” Charm was saying, but everyone was talking all at once that Bethany didn’t think they’d know if Kara responded. Bethany shared a worried look with Gwen, having no idea what to do. What _could_ they do? Was the antidote even working, or was the curse getting worse? 

Owen turned to Toby. “Is she okay? What’s happening to her? Why is she in so much pain? Isn’t she supposed to get better?!” 

“This is a side effect of the antidote!” Toby said over the noise. “You need to stay calm. Right now, the antidotes trying to fight the curse that’s still in her system. I’m sorry, but it’ll probably take a while longer for the antidote to fully kick in. Maybe several hours. There’s no way to stop the pain right now.” 

“But can you do anything to help her?” Owen pleaded, and Bethany had never heard so much fear in his voice. 

His eyebrows were scrunched together, and he kept looking helplessly back at Kara, like he wanted to do something. It wasn’t just him, though. None of them knew what to do, except probably for Toby, since he knew the what effects of the antidote were like. Kara didn’t even look like she was hearing what they were saying, which made Bethany more afraid. 

Toby stared at Kara with a pained expression. “Not at the moment, I’m sorry—“ 

“You took the antidote too! You _have_ to know what to do! Please, _please_! What if she dies?”

“She’s not going to _die_ ,” Orion said, but even he looked worried. “She’s just in pain.”

“Yeah, a _lot_ of pain,” Bethany said. “We have to help her!” 

“I can put her under a sleeping spell,” Kiel offered, taking out his wand-knives.

“Yeah, do that!” Owen nodded vigorously. “Anything!”

Kiel mumbled a spell, pointing both tips of his wand-knives at Kara. Kara’s hands dropped to her sides, her eyelids growing heavy. Her expression looked a lot more peaceful as Gwen gently guided her to lay on a pillow, and soon enough, she was snoring softly, fast asleep.

“How did you do that?” Toby whispered, looking a mix of shocked and horrified as he stared down at Kiel’s wand-knives. 

“Oops. Forgot he didn’t know I was a magician.” Kiel then cast a forget spell on the man, who’s eyes glazed over for a second. Then he blinked, and looked down at Kara with a confused smile.

“Oh, she fell asleep? That was fast. Good. By the time she wakes up, the antidote should already have healed a lot of it. That reminds me, you should all get some rest.” Toby backed away. “I’ll get blankets for you all.” 

He walked away, going off to get blankets in a separate room. There were a chorus of “thank you’s” from Owen, Gwen, Kiel, Bethany and Kara. Orion muttered something about “being glad that Kara hadn’t thrown up on him”, and that was it. Charm said nothing, but Bethany thought she saw relief flicker in her eyes. 

She wondered if Charm and Kara were truly friends now, or maybe she’d just misread the conversation she’d heard from them last night. Bethany’s own friendship with Charm had started off incredibly rocky before they’d found commonality, so she wouldn’t be surprised if Charm and Kara took some time to become good friends.

After the man walked away, there was silence, and their little group started to go off in their own directions. She didn’t doubt that everyone wanted to rest now that things were good again. Bethany found that although she felt so grateful for Toby’s help, and beyond relieved that Kara was going to be okay soon, all she wanted right now was to be alone. 

“I’m . . . gonna go for a walk,” was all Bethany said before she spun around on her heels and marched to the door. 

“Wait, Bethany!” Gwen shouted, running up to her as she flung the door open. “I’ll come with you!”

“No,” Bethany told her firmly. “I’m gonna go alone.”

With that, she looked away from Gwen and closed the door behind her, not saying another word after that. Bethany hesitated, her own rules ringing loud and clear in the back of her mind. She couldn’t just walk off by herself. If there was danger, she used to be able to jump out of the book, and she’d be safe. But she couldn’t do that anymore.

No, she didn’t care about the rules or the danger right now. She just wanted to be alone, and she’d do what it took to get that. Furrowing her brows, she stormed down the porch steps and started running at top speed through the woods, moving so fast that her face stung. No one stopped or followed her. 

Somewhere in the distance, lightning flashed. The world outside was dark, the sky filled with black clouds that seemed to merge across the sky, blotting out the moon and stars. Thunder rumbled after what seemed like every few seconds. A heavy rain immediately doused her hair and clothes, chilling her body. 

Bethany felt tears building up in her eyes, which she’d been holding back all afternoon. They kept falling down her face in a stream, and she angrily wiped them away. She wished she could just jump out of the book, lock herself in her room, and scream into her pillow for the rest of the night like she usually did when she was upset. 

Oh, right. She _couldn’t_ do that because she couldn’t actually jump out of the book! And if she somehow managed to, there was no room to go back to because of the fictional invasion in her hometown. Thinking of that made her think of her mom, who must’ve been so worried about her sudden disappearance. That made her get more choked up. 

Good thing Gwen hadn’t come with her. Bethany felt stupid about crying right now. She didn’t want her friends to see her doing this, especially after she’d had been mean to everyone. Especially after losing them, and then pushing them away again. She was mad at herself for still doing that (even while she _knowing_ it was wrong!). 

Since the grass was so wet, mud kept getting on the bottom of her pants and shoes, but she didn’t care. She kept running, going on and on until the cabin was only a small light in the distance. She didn’t turn back. She knew she should be more careful not to go so far away, but it didn’t bother her so much, since she could still see where the cabin was from here.

Once Bethany was far enough away, she stopped, gasping for air. She realized just how cold she was, shivering and drenched to the skin from the rain. But at the moment, standing out in the rain was better than hearing her friends’ voices. All she wanted now was to be by herself and try forgetting what had happened. 

A part of her was aware that being alone wouldn’t help what had happened, since her own worst fear _was_ being alone. But a lot of times when she was as upset as she was, she needed moments like this. To be alone. To distance herself. For the majority of her life, that was how she’d always dealt with things.

Bethany sighed. Drops of rain kept hitting her face relentlessly, and she had to keep trying to rub the water off of her forehead, even though that didn’t do much to help. What was she doing? This wasn’t helping. What _would’ve_ helped was if they’d never listened to Fowen in the first place. Why had she foolishly trusted that his plan wouldn’t go as bad as it had? 

Everything was so much more complicated now. It shouldn’t have to be, but it was. She didn’t know when she’d be ready to go back into the cabin, or if she‘d ever be able to have a conversation with her friends about what she’d seen. The thing was, she didn’t want to talk at all about it. Or about anything, for the rest of the night.

Except that plan never was able to work out, because a voice from behind her called out, “Hey, you okay?”

* * *

As soon as he saw Bethany leave, Kiel knew something was wrong. It was obvious to him, ever since they’d gotten out of the cave. He’d known it all afternoon, and had made several attempts to get through to her. But to no surprise, it turned into an argument, just like how it always did when Bethany was upset.

So even though a voice in the back of his head told him to stay inside and give her the space she needed, Kiel ignored it and went out to find her anyway. No one else was storming off into the woods by themselves. Why was she? She should be with someone, and well, Kiel decided that since no one else was about to do it, he’d slip out and look for her.

After making sure his friends were okay, Kiel left the cabin and started walking through the woods. Ever since getting out of the cave, he’d found it easier to suppress his emotions, despite how traumatic going through his worst fear had been. As time went on, he found it easier to let it go. Bethany and Owen no longer forgot who he was, and that had been what snapped Kiel out of his short period of sadness. 

He felt really bad for Owen, and didn’t blame any of what had happened on him. He’d taken the stone without knowing they’d be put into their worst fears, which had backfired. But Kiel figured he’d have a talk later with Owen about it — to reassure him he hadn’t done anything wrong — once things settled down and everyone was a little less on edge. For now, he only hoped that Owen wasn’t blaming himself too much for it. 

As he went down the steps and out into the outside world, rain fell down his face and dampened his hair, making it fall into his eyes. It was much colder compared to the air earlier, which had been a hotter temperature than he was used to. Kiel shuddered but kept going, trying to follow what he assumed were Bethany’s footprints. Unless he was following someone _else’s_ footprints, which would be kind of unhelpful right now.

Kiel kept going, holding a hand above his eyes in an effort to keep the rain out of them. “Bethany!” he shouted as loudly as he could, straining to see in the dark. “Where are you?”

The rain was pouring down even harder now, so much that it was hard to walk quickly. He squinted, swatting a tree branch out of his way as he trudged down the forest path. Was he going the right way at all? Kiel liked to believe he was skilled in everything, including finding his friends, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever find Bethany out in this rainstorm.

But as he cut through more of the trees, he noticed a figure up ahead. They were standing still, barely moving. At first, Kiel didn’t even recognize her because it was so dark, and the rain made it hard to see. As he got closer, though, he could tell it was her. 

Taking a deep breath, he called out, “Hey, you okay?”

Bethany turned around, and her expression confirmed everything he’d been thinking. He wasn’t the best at reading emotions, but anyone who knew her well would be able to tell that she was a mess. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. “What are you doing here?” 

Kiel thought about winking, then went against it as he knew how that could irritate her sometimes. It wouldn’t be a good idea here, and he wanted to cheer her up and understand what was bothering her. He walked closer to her, gently touching her arm. “I wanted to see if you were okay.” 

Bethany looked away from him, shoving away from his touch. She furrowed her brows. “I’m _fine_.” 

“Yeah, I can see that,” he said jokingly, trying to ease the thick tension in the air. Except it wasn’t working like it normally did, because she just looked mad at him. 

“I just want to be alone, okay?” she snapped. “Just — just leave me alone!” 

“Can we please not argue more than we already have been?”

“Can you leave me alone?” Bethany demanded. 

“Whoa.” Kiel put both hands up. “I realize neither of us are exactly in the best mood here, but that’s no reason to lash out at me. Or everyone else.” 

“Right.” She shot him an annoyed look.

“Hey, we all went through the same thing,” he said, trying to stay patient. “The last thing you should be doing is standing out here all by yourself. And it’s raining! At the very least, you should be around everyone else. The company will make you feel better.”

“ _No_ , it won’t. Can you just leave me alone right now?”

“Why should I?”

“Because I—“ She huffed, turning to face him. “BECAUSE IT’S NONE OF YOUR _BUSINESS_!” She pushed him hard then, sending him stumbling backwards despite being taller than her. Kiel’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t expected her sudden outburst at all. 

“Hey—!”

“What part of ‘I want to be alone’ don’t you understand?” Bethany continued to yell. “Go away, okay? Go bother someone else!” 

He stared at her. “Beth, _why_ are you so mad?”

“Why are you pretending like you care?” 

“ _What_?” Kiel was so confused, not having a clue of what she was talking about. “You’re my best friend! I’ll always care about you! It’s _you_ who’s yelling at everyone for no reason.” 

“No reason?” 

“Yeah, and — and I don’t get it, because I’ve been patient with you all day. Why won’t you let me help you? That’s all I’m trying to do! I want you to be happy.” 

“ _Happy_?” she repeated incredulously. “We had to go through our worst fears! How am I _supposed_ to feel okay? Nothing’s okay!” She sighed, and that was when Kiel realized what had gotten her so angry. “You might’ve had no problem dealing with your worst fear, but I _did.”_

That made him frown. “You think I didn’t have a problem with it?” 

“Yeah, and I get it. It’s easy for you not to worry,” Bethany said, her voice bitter. “You’ve never had to.” 

“I’ve never had to worry?” Kiel stared at her. “What about when I lived on the streets for the first years of my life? The food was scarce. I had to worry about taking care of myself.” 

“Well, you clearly don’t worry anymore. And you obviously aren’t as effected by our worst fear as I am. Mine would have to have been a lot worse than yours.” She then looked at him and cringed, as if realizing what she’d just said. “Okay, that came out—“ 

“You think I wasn’t effected by it?” Kiel demanded. “Just because I’m good at hiding how I feel doesn’t mean I wasn’t hurt by it. How is your fear worse than mine?”

“It’s _not_. I was just, well it seemed like you weren’t as—“ 

“You don’t get it!” he said, surprising himself when his voice rose with anger. “Of course it effected me. It effected _everyone_. And I worry sometimes, too! Why is it such a big deal that I don’t do it often? Beth, I was _scared_ for you today.” He blinked, looking away. “I thought I was never going to see you again!”

“What?” she whispered. 

“Yeah.” Kiel crossed his arms. “Owen risked a lot to get you free. We all did. And even after that, it didn’t work, and I wasn’t sure if I’d even hear your voice ever again. Then you got free, and you can’t imagine how thankful I was that _you_ were okay.” He met her eyes, his face softening. “Guess all I received was yelling, mostly.”

Bethany‘s face reddened. “I’m . . . I’m sorry, Kiel. I was just . . .” She sighed. “After being through my worst fear and everything, I didn’t know what to do. I felt so _angry_ , you know? I’m sorry I was rude to you. You didn’t deserve that.”

“Neither did Owen.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I have to apologize to him, too. But I guess after going through everything, and — and . . .” She swallowed hard. “And seeing m-my father—“ She cut herself off, and Kiel saw her getting choked up. 

Just like that, all of his anger melted away. He took a step closer to her, his eyes widening. “You saw him? You saw . . . your dad?” 

She nodded, looking uncomfortable. “Yes,” she said, a little too quietly. “When I was living out my worst fear . . . I saw him. But it wasn’t only him I saw. I also saw my mom, and Owen, and Gwen and . . . you. It . . . it was _horrible_.” 

They held each other’s gazes. Kiel felt a pang of sympathy. He wanted to hug her, but didn’t know if she still wanted space or not. “Yeah. It seemed so real, huh? Can I ask what happened?” He smiled a little. “More importantly, was I being good-looking and awesome in this fear sequence of yours?”

“I definitely didn’t notice,” Bethany said, rolling her eyes. “But, um, it was hard. Really hard. I’ve never been through anything as scary as that.” 

“I know what you mean,” he said. “I got through it, but I had thought that I had it handled. And I had at first! But it turned out that I didn’t. So many things were out of my control. I‘m not used to that.”

“Me neither.” She took a deep breath, and it wasn’t for a little while before she gathered her words. “It was all too much. My . . . my biggest fear was, um, losing people I love. Maybe that’s why I yelled at you and acted like a jerk.” She looked ashamed. “I lost everyone in there. You, Owen, Gwen, and my family. I-I didn’t know how to stop it from happening, and I don’t know . . . well, I guess I’m just scared, now, that maybe—“ 

As Kiel listened, he felt shocked. And that shock turned to understanding and pity. So that was why Bethany had been pushing everyone away, and it was why she’d been angry. He knew her well enough that she must’ve not wanted to talk about it. They didn’t often talk to each other about such personal things, so Kiel felt a little glad that Bethany had chosen to open up to him about it. 

That wasn’t the only reason for his shock, though. His own fear sequence, which he’d pushed far in the back of his mind in an effort to move on from it, had much to do with the same thing. Everyone forgetting him had also led to him losing Owen and Bethany, his two closest friends. It was similar to Bethany’s fear sequence, since she’d lost her loved ones, too. 

“It’ll happen again?” he finished. 

“Yeah.” 

“I know that it won’t,” Kiel promised. “Owen and Gwen? Maybe.” He winked, pointing a thumb at himself. “But me? I’m practically invincible and super cool and awesome, so nothing can _ever_ take Kiel Gnomenfoot down! You’ll never get rid of me.” 

That made her smile. “You’d better be right. Except not about the Gwen and Owen thing.”

“Yeah, they wouldn’t do that either,” he said, smiling back. “You have to trust me on that. They’re your best friends, Bethany. And so am I. That fear — it’s just in your head. It’s never going to happen.”

Bethany silently took in his words, seeming to have calmed down a lot more. Kiel placed a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t move away from him this time, which he considered a success. “Here, let’s get out of the rain. It might be a free shower, but honestly, I’m getting kinda cold.” 

She chuckled, clearly shivering as much as he was. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” 

The rain seemed to get even heavier as the two of them hurried back through the woods, towards the cabin. It took them a while before they finally clambered up the front porch steps. Once shielded from the rain, they sat down on the steps. Kiel shivered, rubbing his hands over his arms, which had goosebumps all over them. 

“What was your worst fear?” Bethany asked, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. She was still shaking. 

He smirked. “I thought you said yesterday that I wasn’t afraid of anything. Which I’m not, by the way. I mean, I really didn’t _think_ I was until I had to go through that.”

“Oh come on.” She gave him a look. “I told you mine! What’s yours?”

He looked away, feeling embarrassed that he even _had_ a worst fear at all. He was a hero, and heroes shouldn’t have worst fears. He shrugged, trying not to play it off as a big deal. “I guess you could say it was similar to yours. Mine was, um, being . . .”

“Being what?”

“You sure you’re ready to hear it?”

“ _Yes_. I’m not going to judge you.” She smiled. “Like you said, we all went through the same thing.”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay.” He leaned back on his hands, biting his lip. He might as well get it over with, and if he was being honest, the only person he’d share his worst fear with was Bethany. Not Owen, who despite being his best friend, put Kiel on a pedestal, and Kiel didn’t like admitting he was afraid of anything. 

“My fear was being forgotten,” he blurted out. “No one remembered me. Not you, not Owen. No one remembered who I, Kiel Gnomenfoot, was.”

“Oh.” Her voice went quiet. “Kiel, I’m . . . sorry. I know how much you love your fans—“

“It’s okay!” He chuckled. “Really. It’s in the past, and I’m okay now that it’s over. Much better. My fans still love me, so that’s good.” He looked at her. “But don’t tell Owen, okay? I don’t want him to know, or else he’d feel worse.”

“Yeah,” she said. “I definitely won’t.” 

“Thanks.” He smiled, and for a second neither of them said anything, the rain filling in their silence. “I’m going to make a suggestion that you probably won’t want to hear.”

There was a questioning look in Bethany’s eyes that he knew all too well. “And what’s that?” she asked. 

“I say that you should embrace your fear like I did.” 

“What?” She raised her eyebrows. “That’s not an option. How would you expect me to do that?” 

“Oh, Beth . . . you know how.” He grinned. “By being more fictional, perhaps?”

Bethany groaned, but she laughed anyway. “Not this again! You and your bad advice!”

“It’s not bad advice!” he protested, biting back a smile. “Remember how much it helped you before? Just stop thinking. Start _doing_. That’s when you get out of your head, and you aren’t as afraid. I want you to embrace your fears all the way, even when it’s just a small one.” 

He tapped her shoulder. “Like, see, ready? We’ll test it out, so you can learn to embrace your fear of losing people.” 

“Kiel—“

He took out his wand-knife and pretended to stab himself in the arm, then dramatically fell back onto the floor, closing his eyes. “Oh no! I’m bleeding out! You’re gonna lose me!”

Bethany tried covering his mouth with her hand, laughing as she shook her head. “Kiel! Come on, this isn’t funny! You’re not taking this seriously!” 

“Exactly!” He caught her hand in his, pushing it away from his mouth. “Embrace your fear! The less serious you take it, the less afraid you’ll be.” For emphasis, he tried hitting his head against the floorboards and actually _did_ cry out in pain, since he’d hit his head a little _too_ hard.

“That sounded realistic,” Bethany said, sounding amused.

“Because it was,” he told her. “Ah, the pain is too much! I’m about to die!” He wriggled around some more, then went limp, trying to be entirely still. Then he opened his eyes and sat back up, turning to face her. “Did I do it right?”

She hit him on the arm. “No!”

“Why not?”

Bethany gave him a look. “That wasn’t even close to how a real-life situation would be.”

“But you _did_ lose me,” he pointed out, winking at her.

She chuckled. “I still think you need a lot of work on your acting skills. Be less dramatic. And maybe add some fake blood.”

Kiel gave her a mischievous grin. “Or _real_ blood—“

Her eyes widened. “Kiel, don’t even _think_ about that!” 

“I’m just kidding,” he assured her. “And if I ever _did_ die — which I probably won’t, since I’m like, impossible to beat — it would have to be something really epic and dangerous.” His eyes lit up. “Ooh, eaten by dragons. That’s pretty fun. What an exciting death that would be! Much better than dying of boredom, I’d have to say.” He made a face. “That would’ve happened to me if I stayed in nonfictional school forever.” 

“Yeah,” she said. “School’s the _worst_. I’m glad I can jump into books to escape from it. If I didn’t have my powers, I don’t know _what_ my life would’ve been like.” 

“ _I_ know! You wouldn’t have met me, so your life obviously would’ve been a lot more boring.”

She raised her eyebrows. “But it also would’ve been _safer_. We wouldn’t have to stop Nobody or go on a dangerous quest. Not to mention all the times we’ve almost died in the past, I don’t know, two days.” 

“Eh, who cares about safety? Danger and adventure is what makes life exciting! It’s the best part of life. I’d be bored all the time if I didn’t do anything dangerous at least once a day.” 

Bethany grinned at that. “Yeah, but there’s still dangerous stuff out there in the real — um — nonfictional world. Not _just_ in the fictional world.” 

He winked. “But you’d miss out on the really _exciting_ stuff! You’d never get to be eaten by a dragon in the nonfictional world. There’s nothing like it. _Literally_ nothing. It really gets your heart beating! But I have to say, those cart-thingys that take you up and down hills are a close tie.”

“. . . You mean a roller coaster? 

“Oh, yeah.” Kiel let out a light-hearted laugh. “Rollercoasters.” 

“Anyway . . .” Bethany said, a wide grin on her face. She trailed off from whatever she’d been about to say. For the few seconds, he was only able to hear the sound of the rain stampeding on the roof.   
  


A natural smile curved onto Kiel’s lips, the type that felt so much like _him,_ and really, Bethany was the only person who could bring that out of him. He realized with a start that they were only inches away from each other, and that his heart was racing at an abnormal pace. Bethany was so close, closer than he ever remembered seeing her. 

Bethany’s grin slowly faded under his gaze, her breath catching in her throat. Kiel’s eyes flitted back and forth between her’s, never breaking contact. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen her look at him that way before. It felt like maybe there had always been something buried deep underneath the surface, but neither of them had ever tried digging it out.

Bethany was just so unlike anyone he’d ever known, being so brave yet filled with rules and worries. It always felt rewarding to him when he could calm her down or make her laugh. However, it seemed that her tendency to be nervous had rubbed off of him, because his palms were sweaty, and his mouth felt unusually dry. It was strange . . . considering he didn’t remember feeling nervous around any of his friends before, not even Charm. 

Kiel didn’t _do_ nervous . . . at least he _tried_ not to. He was good at hiding any feelings of doubt or fear from anyone, especially to avoid disappointing his fans and friends. He wanted to be a good role model, because what would his fans think if they knew how he really felt? They’d feel betrayed. A hero wasn't meant to have those feelings! 

But strangely enough, this type of nervousness was different than what he’d ever experienced. It was only something he felt around Bethany. It felt like a fire was burning from the top of his head right down to the tips of his toes, like something incredibly thrilling was about to happen. 

The weird part was that he usually felt this way when having fun while in danger, but the feeling felt even more exuberant now. An unexpected shiver went down his spine, and he felt the same thrill in his stomach that he received from jumping off of cliffs or performing a spell. He always felt that same spark of excitement when he looked at Bethany. 

He took in all of the details of her face, absolutely mesmerized. He wasn’t sure why, but nothing could make him look away. She seemed to be having the same problem, because she couldn’t exactly look away, either. It was strange to Kiel, like both of them were in a trance. It was the longest time they’d held each other’s gazes without feeling the need to break contact.   
  


For the first time, Kiel wondered how Bethany would react if he leaned towards her. Just for the thrill of it, to see what might happen. That was how most decisions in his life were made: on irrepressible impulsiveness. He never really thought things through before he did them, which was what made him so different from Bethany and any of his other friends. 

Sometimes, he concluded, actions were better than words. So he started to lean forward. 

It happened before he even knew he was doing it, and he found himself getting closer and closer to her face. Everything else faded away as a strange calmness washed over him. Bethany didn’t move. She just kept staring at him, and he was dimly aware of the fact that her eyes were closing and so were his and he had absolutely no idea what he was about to do. 

He kept moving in closer, not even thinking at all. His mind was entirely blank, but an invisible force kept pushing him closer. The tips of their noses brushed against each other’s, and shockwaves rippled down Kiel’s spine. It felt better than magic. His heart was beating harder than ever, and still, he kept leaning in, inwardly knowing that this was somehow more scary than anything he’d tried doing before. 

But then, before anything could happen, a loud noise startled them from their trance. Kiel’s brain finally caught up with the rest of him, and he slowly drifted away from her. Bethany stared at him wordlessly for a few seconds, her expression dazed. Kiel’s expression must’ve mirrored her’s, because he couldn’t even wink or grin like he usually did when trying to act impressive. 

Nothing had happened, and yet, Kiel felt jittery from the possibility that something _could’ve_ happened. It must've been the first time he’d held back from doing something risky, and he blamed that mostly on the loud noise that interrupted them. That had to be the only reason why whatever was about to happen _hadn’t_ happened. It couldn’t be because of _his_ nervousness. 

Blinking a few times, Kiel let out a small, breathless chuckle. The spell was gone. Bethany quickly looked away, and so did he, his face growing warm. He was glad it was dark out, or else she’d see just how red his cheeks must’ve been getting. It was very rare for him to get embarrassed, so he wouldn’t want to portray any of that to Bethany. 

His heart fluttering, Kiel pushed himself to his feet, forcing a wink to hide his embarrassment. What had just happened? They hadn’t almost . . . _kissed_ , had they? The idea made Kiel shiver. He’d never thought about doing that before, yet he wasn’t surprised that he’d taken action before even thinking about it first. 

He was _definitely_ thinking about it now.

“We should get back to the others,” Kiel said, glancing down at her. It seemed unfair that his heart was still beating rapidly in his chest, so loud that she could probably hear it. Jeez, why was his heart racing so much? He was Kiel Gnomenfoot. His heartbeat shouldn’t be allowed to give away his nerves! 

Bethany nodded, her own cheeks looking as red as her hair. Her lips twitched into a small, awkward smile, and he could tell that she must've been feeling the same way. “U-Um, yeah. I bet Owen fell or something.”

He had to laugh. “I wouldn’t be surprised.” 

A slightly awkward silence fell over the two as they stood up, biting back sheepish smiles that neither could see. Kiel didn’t look at Bethany, and he could tell she was trying not to look at him, either. They started towards the door, the pattering of the rain louder than ever in Kiel’s ears. For once, he was at a loss for words. 

And it might’ve been a gust of wind, or that Kiel tried avoiding some raindrops that dripped from a hole in the roof, or the fact that the floorboards weren’t entirely level, but for a second their hands brushed against each other, and Kiel instantly felt better.  
  


* * *

_  
“Baby, I'm right here. I'll hold you when things go wrong, I'll be with you from dusk till dawn . . .”_


	42. One Last Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen works out some internal problems, and the gang makes a discovery that changes the course of their journey.

**_Beautiful Mess (by_ _Kristian Kostov)_ **

_“When the world shakes us, trying to take us out of line. Fear of tomorrow. Feelings we borrow for a time . . .”_

* * *

For some reason, it was taking Owen a long time to fall asleep. 

It had been about an hour since everyone else had gone to sleep. Underneath the wooden roof of the cabin, the pounding of the rain seemed louder than ever, drowning out even the sounds of crickets. He flipped over onto his back for what must’ve been the dozenth time, wishing he could get some sleep already. Usually it never took him this long. 

He slowly breathed in through his nose, placing both of his hands on his stomach. He was laying in a hammock, which he had to admit, was a _really_ cool thing for Toby to have in his cabin. He’d never slept in a hammock before, and it made him excited. Well, only at first. Now he was missing his comfortable bed at home. 

The gentle rocking of the hammock should’ve drawn him to sleep, but when an hour passed and Owen _still_ wasn’t able to doze off, his excitement had worn off. There was only one hammock in the room, so everyone else was scattered around the floor in sleeping bags, and Kara hadn’t moved from the couch.

All of his friends had seemingly gone to sleep much faster than him. Why couldn’t Owen? Maybe it was because of the loudness of the rain, or because he was still feeling a great deal of shame about today. He felt like all of his friends were distancing themselves from him, and that hurt more than anything else in the world.

Owen hadn’t meant to make Bethany feel bad about her powers not working. He’d only been trying to help, but it seemed that she was mad at him too, because she had yelled at him. He’d had thousands of occurrences where Bethany was mad at him for messing up badly, but he could tell that her anger was deeper now. She must’ve been _really_ mad at him for what had happened earlier. 

Not only that, but Owen felt like he couldn’t do anything to help his friends. He helped in any way he could, which was to spout information from books, but every time he did it seemed like his friends didn’t listen. And he knew that was probably just an insecurity that he was having, but it really did seem that way when everyone was pushing him away. 

They all were still feeling bad from going through their worst fears. Owen understood it if they blamed him, because who wouldn’t? It seemed like every time he messed up, his friends blamed him. It happened constantly, except this time, it was a much bigger mess-up. Too big to easily come back from. 

It wasn’t hard to tell that his friends were upset with him. Even Kara, Owen could tell, had been kind of ignoring him all night. For a long time before bed, he’d glanced over at her, wanting to talk to her and laugh like they used to. But he didn’t know _how_. It felt like there was a barrier between him and his friends. Even when they were in the same room.

Owen couldn’t deny he was blaming himself a _lot_ for what had happened, and figured that everyone else was blaming him, too. That was another reason he took it to heart when no one tried talking to him, except for Gwen, who was the only person he’d talked to before bed. 

She’d given him a hug, assuring him that everyone just needed their alone time and would be back to normal soon. He’d hugged her back, trying his best to believe her. But it was hard to when some of his closest friends were ignoring him. Even Bethany and Kiel had been outside for the longest time, probably wanting space from Owen.

So he’d give them space. He’d give them time to feel better, but he wasn’t going to keep hoping that they’d forgive him so easily. He found himself wondering if he’d done anything wrong at _all_. They’d _had_ to take the stone so they could use it’s powers; that was why they’d gone to the cave. But it seemed like they looked past that and blamed Owen instead.

Even though he’d just been trying to help them.   
  


“Owen,” Owen heard a voice whisper, and recognized it instantly, even though he didn’t turn his head. It was Kiel, laying across from him on his sleeping bag. What was he doing still awake? “Do you wanna talk about it? Hey, Owen? Owen! I know you’re not asleep, your eyes are open.”

Owen was surprised to find himself getting a little irritated. He frowned, glancing over at his friend. “Kiel, I’m trying to sleep!” 

“Well, you’ve been awake for a while.” Kiel flipped over onto his side, leaning on his elbow. “Do you want to talk?”

“No,” Owen whispered. “I want to sleep.”

“I think we should talk.”

“I just said I want to sleep.”

“Let’s talk anyway.”

“Nope.” 

“ _Owen_.” 

“Can we do it tomorrow? Please?” 

“Why wait? You’re awake, _I’m_ awake—“

Not knowing what else to do, Owen exaggerated a yawn. “You know what? I’m feeling really tired all of the sudden. I think . . . I’m about . . . to fall asleep . . .” He closed his eyes and made his breathing more steady, but he should’ve known that wouldn’t have stopped Kiel. 

It was almost a full minute before Kiel said anything, and finally, he sighed. “After I gave up magic and had to relearn it again, I felt like I wasn’t really enjoying it as much as I used to.” This caused Owen’s eyes to open in surprise. He hadn’t expected his friend to say that. 

“I felt different, you know?” Kiel continued, and Owen listened, both because he was curious and because he didn’t have another choice. “I didn’t want to go back to my old life, listening to the Magister and fighting Dr. Verity. The quests with Charm were fun, but I never got to grow as a person and discover my true self until _after_ I met you and Bethany.”

“Maybe that had something to do with finding out my whole life has been written out for me, by Jonathan Porterhouse. And so, I still love magic, don’t get me wrong, but I know there’s more I can _be_. I don’t want to go back to my old life after I come back from here. I wanna find more options. I’m not exactly sure yet how I want to live my life.” He chuckled. “As long as I’m still having adventures, I guess.”

When Owen didn’t say anything, Kiel turned his gaze to the ground. “Anyway, when I was younger and living on the streets, I wasn’t really a hero. I mean, yeah, I was still _awesome_.” He winked, which made Owen smile a little. “And then I started living with the Magister, going on quests with Charm and finding the keys, and I became famous. I thought doing _that_ was what made me a hero. But it wasn’t. It’s all about standing up to the things that scare you, being brave and fighting for the greater good of others. That’s true confidence.” 

He scratched his head. “What I’m saying is: it takes a true hero to fight against the odds. To change and grow and learn. And you’ve done that. You may not think so, but you _are_ a hero, Owen. You showed that clearly today when you saved everyone, and I swear I’ve never seen you so confident in any other moment. You’ve grown to be a hero, just like I am! You have special talents. You have a great imagination—“   
  


“Imagination?” Owen gave him a weird look, crinkling his eyebrows. “What good is an imagination if I can’t see what’s right in front of my eyes? I couldn’t see that we were heading into a trap!”

“Because you _imagined_ it wouldn’t be a trap,” Kiel pointed out, grinning. “For starters, you can create worlds with it. As talented as I am, _I’ve_ never been able to do something like that.”

“You’re Kiel Gnomenfoot. You don’t _need_ to have an imagination when you’re great at everything else.” Owen sighed in annoyance. “My imagination won’t fix my mistakes. It’s not even a superpower, so how is it helpful? Because of me, everyone had to go through their worst fears. And we could’ve gotten _killed_ or something! I made that happen, Kiel. I was trying to do something helpful, a-all because I wanted everyone to be proud of me, and for what? Now everyone hates me, because they had to go through their worst fears because of _me_ taking the stone—“

Kiel sat up more, a frown on his face. “Hey, stop bashing yourself! Enough of that. _No_ _one_ hates you, Owen. No one hates you, alright? Just calm down.” 

“Calm down?” Owen repeated abruptly, sitting up too. “ _How_ can I do that? How am I supposed to calm down when I messed up so badly?” His voice got louder, and he quickly lowered it, feeling embarrassed. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry . . . I know I shouldn’t be shouting. Or complaining. I just wish this whole day hadn’t happened. That way everyone would stop . . .”

“Stop what?”

“Stop treating me like . . . garbage, I guess.”

“They’re not doing it intentionally,” Kiel said quietly. “The others . . . they’re just hurt since they had to go through their worst fears. They don’t mean to take it out on you. Except maybe Charm, because she’s _always_ that rude.” He laughed softly, and Owen smiled half-heartedly. “And I think you’re overanalyzing it, Owen. Everyone just has some problems to work out by themselves.” 

“Yeah, you’re right.” He sighed. “But I don’t know . . . I know they’re just mad at me for taking the stone. But you would’ve done it too, right? If it meant saving the world? I couldn’t give it up to the mummy. I feel so _bad_ , but it was too important for us to find Nobody!” 

“Hey, we came to the cave to _get_ the stone,” Kiel said. “ _Someone_ had to take it. It just happened to be you. None of us blame you for that. How could we? We needed it.” 

“I’m pretty sure someone blames me.”

“Like who?” 

“I don’t know!” Owen exclaimed. “Like . . . Kara. She’s been avoiding me all day. She, well, she saw me in her worst fear, so I guess that’s why. And Bethany was yelling at me earlier, and I just—“ Tears sprung into his eyes, and Owen’s breath hitched. “I feel so _bad_ , Kiel. They wouldn’t be so upset if this never had happened!”

“True, but it had to happen because we _needed_ the stone. That’s what being a hero is all about. Owen, you saved us and sacrificed your _time powers_ for Bethany. That’s the most selfless thing I've ever seen you do!”

Owen’s face reddened at the compliment, but it wasn’t that he was focused on. He blinked his tears away. “She’s still mad at me, isn’t she?” 

“No,” Kiel said. “She’s not mad at you. Well, I don’t _think_ she was. I talked to her for a while.”

“Is she . . . okay?”

He shrugged. “I hope so. I think talking to me helped, since, you know, I’m amazing at making people feel good about themselves.” He winked, and Owen giggled a bit, already feeling his mood shifting slightly. “And everyone else? They’ll come back from it. I know by tomorrow they’ll be less upset than they were today.”

“Are you _sure_ no one hates me after what happened?” Owen asked quietly. 

“Yeah, I’m sure. Everyone here is your friend. Some of them just want their space right now, but that doesn’t mean they hate or blame you. We can place the blame on the mummy.” He smiled and reached over, ruffling Owen’s hair and making it stick up in random directions. “ _You_ have to stop blaming yourself. That’s the first step.” 

“I’ll try,” Owen whispered, trying to flatten his hair down but failing. “Sorry.” 

Kiel winked at him. “And the _second_ step is to stop saying sorry so much.”

“I’m sorr—“ Owen cut himself off. He flashed Kiel an embarrassed smile. “Okay, sorry. Oops! Sorry, I keep saying — I’m sorry, I don’t mean to keep saying it. It’s a habit.” 

“We have a lot of work to do,” Kiel said, shaking his head with a grin. With a smile of his own, Owen laid back down onto the hammock, feeling the sensation of his body being rocked back and forth. The rain was loud and clear as it pounded on the roof. He closed his eyes, feeling more relaxed than he had all day. 

After his talk with Kiel, Owen already was feeling a lot better than he had been before. Like a weight had lifted from his shoulders, since he’d been holding his feelings inside all afternoon, believing he couldn’t talk to anyone about them. There was still a part of him that continued to believe his friends blamed him, but getting some insight from Kiel had actually started to change his mind about that. 

As he tried drifting off to sleep, Owen listed all the reasons why his friends shouldn’t blame him. Then he listed the reasons why they should, and found that that list was a lot easier to make.

Probably because he’d been thinking much of the same thing all day. 

He didn’t know what would happen tomorrow, but he had to try believing that Kiel was right. His friends shouldn’t blame him, because taking the stone had been their plan. And as soon as Kara got better, they could use it to find Nobody and defeat him. But now, Owen was starting to wonder if they’d had the wrong plan all along. 

His eyes flickered to the green stone on the floor next to his hammock, which glowed faintly in the darkness. His mind whirled. Something felt _off_ about this entire thing. It’d felt off to him ever since he’d received the message that the mummy had given him, his about a boy planting the stone instead of it being in the cave like Owen had thought.

There was also a chance that the mummy had been lying, but after listening to everything it had said, Owen could only think it must’ve been telling the truth. When manipulating Owen, the mummy had always told the truth, telling Owen things that he told _himself_. Nothing that the mummy said has been a lie, so maybe this wasn’t?

But then that would mean so many other things. That maybe the stone wasn’t what any of them — even Fowen — had thought. Why had Fowen known about the stone if a boy had planted a stone the day before?

Wait, a day before . . .

The “day before” was the same day when Owen and his friends had gone to the summer camp! The same day when . . . 

He shot up in bed so fast that he fell out of the hammock, landing hard on the wooden floor. _Oh no_. That was the same day that Fowen had told them his plan! How could he had known about the stone when on the same day, someone _else_ was planting it? How could he have known about something that hadn’t happened yet? 

A horrible feeling grew in the pit of Owen’s stomach, and that was when he knew who’d planted the stone. It could only be one person.

Fowen. 

Suddenly, everything made sense. Fowen had planted the stone in the cave, so he’d known all along about the mummy and what would happen to them. He’d _known_ they’d get hurt, and even more, he’d known they’d be put into their worst fears. _That_ was why he’d put the stone there! To make them feel pain. To weaken them. To make Owen blame _himself_. 

Now that Owen knew who’d done this, another thing came to mind. Fowen didn’t have any reason to help them. He’d tricked them with leading them into the cave, which meant that the stone could be another trick. The stone’s purpose must’ve never been to grant wishes; that was clear. 

It was never meant to do that, because Fowen must’ve been the one to plant the stone in the cave . . . which meant he never had wanted to help them. He would never give them the advantage of finding an easy way to defeat Nobody, because he _was_ working with Nobody. He had to be. The stone wasn’t there to help them, it was to _hurt_ them. 

But how? Owen thought hard, so many thoughts going through his head that he was sure it would explode. He thought about testing out the stone, just to make sure it _really_ didn’t grant wishes, but he already believed it didn’t. Either that, or it still would grant wishes, but would only lead them into another trap that they couldn’t get out of. 

His mind went back to earlier that afternoon, after they’d gotten out of the cave. That was when he leapt to his feet, his eyes huge. The one thing that had been constant ever since he’d had the stone with him was Bethany being unable to jump out of the book. There was no way that could happen normally. It had been gnawing at Owen ever since it started happening, as he’d been trying for hours to figure it out. 

If Fowen really _was_ working with Nobody like Owen thought, he knew that one of Nobody’s goals would be to take out Bethany. So he could split her into two halves, severing the link between the two worlds once again. So she would lack the advantage she normally had. It made all the sense in the world, and Owen felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. 

That was why she hadn’t been able to jump out of the book, and it was why her powers still hadn’t come back! With the stone near her, she couldn’t. The stone didn’t grant wishes. It did something worse. 

It drained Bethany’s _powers_.   
  


* * *

“Everyone, wake up!” Owen shouted, his voice cracking slightly. After his epiphany, there was absolutely _no way_ he could go back to sleep or keep what he’d figured out to himself. He didn’t care that it was the middle of the night. His friends needed to know _now_. 

However, his friends didn’t seem as eager as he was to receive the important news. A series of groans followed his shouting, as his friends didn’t seem very happy about being woken up. Some, like Orion, woke up instantly. Probably from his training as a superhero. As for everyone else, it took them a bit longer to wake up. 

Bethany sat up slowly, looking like she was barely awake. “Owen! Why the heck are you shouting?”

“I figured something out,” Owen said, reaching down and gingerly picking up the stone with a shaking hand. He was a lot more cautious around it now that he knew what it actually did. “And you’re not going to like it.”

As usual, Orion looked annoyed. “Couldn’t it wait until morning?”

“Nope,” Owen replied, hopping across Gwen’s feet to get to the wall. He flicked on the light switch, which caused a dim light to shine from above their heads. The sudden light flashed harshly across Owen’s eyes, and he winced, not liking the sudden switch from complete darkness to light. Everyone else sat up, blinking the sleep out of their eyes.

He noticed that Kara wasn’t among them, probably because she was still asleep on the couch in the other room. But out of fear that he might wake up Toby, who was in the room next door, Owen didn’t move to wake her. He didn’t want to risk their voices being heard.

“Okay,” he whispered, his gaze sweeping across his friends’ tired, confused faces. “This is going to sound weird, but you’ve gotta believe me. As we were leaving the cave, the mummy told me something about a boy. A boy who’d put the stone into the cave, telling the mummy to put all of us into our worst fears. It was a setup.” 

“What? How can that be possible?” Bethany demanded. “Fowen said—“

Owen shook his head. “Fowen was lying.”

“I knew it. He _was_ hiding something,” Orion agreed, sullen-faced.

“But I used my truth spell on him,” Kiel said. “Even if he’d tried lying, he wouldn’t be able to. Or else his brain would explode.”

“That’s because—“ Owen paused, completely stumped. “Um, I don’t know. I haven’t thought of that.” How could Fowen have lied when under the truth spell? That was the only thing that didn’t add up, even though everything else made sense to him. 

“Of course you haven’t,” Charm said sharply. “He must’ve found a way to lie, even when under the spell. He’s sneakier than I thought.” 

“Yeah.” Owen nodded, then looked at her in shock. “Wait, you’re _agreeing_ with me? You think Fowen’s lying?”

“Don’t count on it.” She glared at him for a moment, back to how she usually acted around him. Then she looked away. “But, uh, I do think he was lying. I didn’t trust that guy from the moment I met him. Never had.” 

Owen almost smiled, but quickly hid it with a cough. “So um, anyway, I think _he’s_ the one who put the stone in the cave. It makes so much sense!” He found himself getting more enthusiastic. “I mean, a _boy_ put the stone in the cave. That has to be Fowen! I think he’s been working with Nobody. Somehow, he was able to lie so we’d do what he wanted us to do.” 

“But Owen, why do you think Fowen’s the one that put the stone in the cave?” Gwen asked. “He seemed like he was genuinely trying to help us.” 

“That’s what we thought when we first met him,” Bethany said, furrowing her brows. “But it turned out he was just trying to steal Owen’s life. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s betrayed us.” 

“The mummy said that a boy gave it the stone yesterday,” Owen told Gwen. “That’s when I started thinking about how weird it all sounded. How could Fowen have known about the stone before it’d even been in the cave?”

“He wouldn’t have,” Orion growled. “Because _he_ put it in there when we were gone.” 

“That’s what I was thinking!” 

Kiel looked uncomfortable. “Owen, if what you’re saying is true, then Fowen planned everything from the start. If he’s the one that put the stone in there, then that means . . .”

“Right. He _wanted_ us to go in there. He wanted us to go to the cave and get the stone, because he knew we’d get put into our worst fears. And I figured something else out, too.” 

He showed them the stone in his hands. “Fowen wanted to hurt us, right? So why would he give us a stone that allows us to grant wishes? It would help us defeat Nobody, so that would go against everything he’s been doing! And then, I realized what it actually does . . .” He looked at Bethany, biting his lip. “I think it’s the reason you haven’t been able to jump out of the book.”

His friends went absolutely silent, staring with shock and poorly-masked fear at the stone in Owen’s hands. There was a moment where no one said anything, and Owen could actually hear his heart beating in his ears. Granted, it was going a mile a minute, but still. 

He glanced at all of them, waiting for someone to say something already. He hoped they would actually believe him, because earlier, it seemed that they weren’t listening to anything he said. Of course, Owen wasn’t _completely_ sure that the stone didn’t grant wishes, but he had a hunch that his theory was true. 

“Really?” Bethany finally asked, her voice faltering. She looked back up at Owen, finally tearing her eyes from the stone.

He held her gaze. “I’m not totally sure but um, I think so. It makes sense. Do you believe me?” 

“Yeah, I do.” She shook her head. “About the stone . . . I think it all makes sense. Sort of. I just can’t _believe_ Fowen would go that far! Well, I can, but I thought we were on the same side. And we thought he was helping us, just because of that stupid truth spell! We never should’ve trusted a word out of his mouth!” 

“Hey, don't blame the truth spell,” Kiel said. “My spell worked perfectly. It was all Fowen.”

“Uh-huh.” 

“But now that I think about it, there’s something I don’t get,” Kiel added slowly. “Why would Fowen not want you to jump out of the book? We’re staying here until we defeat Nobody. We can worry about jumping out later.” 

“Because that’s what happened last time,” Bethany said, her eyes wide with fear. “When me and Owen went to Jupiter City, my powers weren’t working. And because of that, Nobody could split me in half. That must be why Fowen gave us the stone!” She gulped. “Nobody wants to do that again, so he — he can destroy everything.” 

“He’ll have to get through _all_ of us if he even _thinks_ about doing that again,” Orion warned in a low voice.

“Yeah, he will!” Gwen spoke up, squeezing their redheaded friend’s arm.

Bethany smiled, but she still looked worried. “That’s what I’m afraid of. I don’t wanna risk that happening.” 

“It won’t,” Kiel vowed. “If Nobody tries doing that to you, he’ll get my fist in his face. And I’m a _great_ puncher.”

Charm rolled her eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Thanks, Kiel.” Bethany’s smile faded, and she looked back at the stone. “But we can’t let that be an option. Nobody can’t away with this. We need to fix this. _I_ need to fix this . . . and I guess that leaves us with no other choice.”

Owen didn’t like the sound of that. “What?”

They locked eyes. “We should destroy the stone.” 

“What’s going on?” a voice asked, and they all jumped. Owen slowly spun on his heels to see Kara standing in the doorway. There was a perplexed expression on her face. Owen grinned a little when he realized she was standing on both feet. He was happy to see that she didn’t look to be in as much pain as she had been before. That was an improvement from earlier. 

He was about to respond, but then, he caught sight of Toby entering the room as well. Owen’s grin faded. Everyone froze, and he curled his hand tighter around the stone. He opened and closed his mouth before blurting out, “We’ll tell you later!” 

“Oooookay?” That made Kara look more confused, but he stared pointedly at her before darting his eyes to Toby, trying to get the message across. Realization slowly dawned across her face, and she subtly nodded, a hint of something akin to mischief in her eyes.

“We heard you guys talking,” Toby said, oblivious to the wordless communication between Owen and Kara. “Is everything alright?”

“Yep, everything’s good!” Gwen said with a smile. “Thanks for checking up on us, though.” 

“You kids should get back to bed. It’s late. What are you all doing up?” 

“I, uh, had to go to the bathroom. And I accidentally woke everyone up,” Owen said, and out of the corner of his eye, he was pretty sure he saw Charm slapping her hand with her forehead. Yeah, he wasn’t the best liar. But he couldn’t think of a better reason that they’d all be awake in the middle of the night!

“In that case, the bathroom’s that way,” Toby said, pointing out of the room. “You should go back to sleep.”

“We’ll do that,” Kiel said with a wink. 

The others moved back to their spots on the floor, and Bethany’s words lingered in Owen’s head. Should they destroy the stone, after all they’d went through just to get it? Granted, none of them had known until now what the stone _actually_ did. And Owen didn’t want Bethany to get split in half again, so if they destroyed the stone, at least she wouldn’t be in so much danger.

Owen grabbed Bethany’s arm. “Are you sure we should destroy the stone?” He glanced over to make sure Toby wasn’t listening in on their conversation. He’d already left the room, while everyone else was settling into their sleeping bags. 

“Yeah,” Bethany whispered back. “We have to.” 

“This isn’t up for debate, is it?”

“Not really,” she said. “Why wouldn’t you want to destroy it if it’s taking my powers away?” 

“I do! I just — I don’t know for sure how easy it’ll be to get rid of the stone. What if it all goes wrong and ends up destroying everything in a ten mile radius? Other than that being a great way to die, I feel like there should be a less . . . _destructive_ way to destroy it.” 

“Yeah, I’m . . . worried about that too. We can try using Kiel’s magic to destroy it. Or Charm’s ray guns, or, I don’t know. Something. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.” She gently tugged her arm out of his grasp. 

Figure it out _tomorrow_? That was her response? “But—“

“We _will_.”

“I know!” 

She paused, staring at him in confusion. “Why do you think it won’t be easy to destroy? It’s not like we don’t have the resources to do it.” 

“Because finding the stone wasn’t easy, Bethany. It’s super powerful. And it can, like, grant wishes.” 

“Not anymore, it can’t!” Bethany whispered, giving him a pointed look. “Remember? It _can’t_ grant wishes. It can only wipe me of my powers. We destroy the stone, and Nobody can’t split me in half again. He won’t have that advantage over me.” 

Owen let out a breath. “Right. I just hope we can get it destroyed before anything worse happens.”

“Me too. Hopefully we won’t have to go through anything scarier than we have.” She swallowed hard. “Uh, Owen?”

“Yeah?”

“About that stuff I said earlier . . . I know that I hurt your feelings and I’m _really_ sorry.”

At first, he didn’t know what she was talking about. Today had been so long and eventful that it took him a moment to realize what she was referring to, which was when she’d yelled at him back in the forest. He started shaking his head. “You don’t have to apologize. You were upset—“ 

“No, I do! You were blaming yourself for what happened and I should’ve been less hard on you.” She looked down. “And just so you know, we thought we needed the stone. Nothing we went through was your fault. It was mine for not being more careful.” 

“Huh? But I took the stone. Doesn’t that make it my fault?” Owen could feel himself on the verge of a ramble, and clamped down on his tongue in an effort to resist continuing to talk.

Bethany gave him a confused look. “No. It was the mummy’s. And Fowen’s. And, well, Nobody’s. Do you seriously think you’re the one that caused everything?” She shook her head, smiling a little. “You aren’t, Owen. You’re my best friend. I’d never think that.” 

Owen felt a surge of gratitude, and he smiled widely. “I’m glad to hear that. _Really_ glad.” 

“Good, because I’m too exhausted to talk anymore. I really just want to sleep.” Bethany sat down on a heap of blankets on the floor, a makeshift sleeping bag. She glanced up at him, and out of nowhere, a smile appeared on her face. “We should start blaming everything on the villians instead of ourselves from now on.” 

“Yeah, I can’t argue with that!” he exclaimed under his breath, returning her smile. 

From the spot next to Bethany, Orion said, “Hey, can you guys shut up? Some people are trying to sleep.”

Whoops. He didn’t think they were being loud, but apparently they had been. Then again, there were six fifteen-year old’s crammed into a small room. As quietly as they talked, there still was a chance the others could hear them, despite the loud rainstorm still going on outside.

Owen blushed. “But we were whispering!”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t hear you,” Orion grumbled.

“Sorry.” 

“I’m beginning to see why you two are best friends. You’re both highly emotional.” 

“Shut up, Orion,” Bethany told him. Orion responded by hitting her in the face with his pillow. Groaning, she threw it back at him, looking annoyed when he easily caught it before it hit his face. 

“Done talking now?” Orion raised his eyebrows, tossing the pillow back underneath his head. 

“You are so aggravating!”

On his way to his sleeping bag, Kiel nudged Owen in the side, then sat down. “Siblings, huh?” 

Owen grinned in response. 

He wasn’t sure if being an only child was a blessing or a curse, but when he was younger he’d constantly wished he had a sibling. Sometimes, even now, he wondered what it would be like to have a brother or sister. Maybe that was why he’d spent all his time around books. In a way, _they_ were like his family.

He was about to head back to his hammock, but he paused and glanced at Kara, who was turning to leave. He noticed — with a pang of concern — that she was still limping as much as she had been earlier. Taking a deep breath, he ran after her. “Hey, do you need help?”

Kara looked over at him. At first, her expression was blank, but then her lips melted into a small smile. “Oh, sure. Thanks.” Smiling back, Owen wrapped his arm around her waist and she leaned heavily into him, wincing slightly as they moved over to the couch. He let go of her as soon as she was able to sit, glancing worriedly down at her leg.

“How’s your leg?” he asked, watching as she pulled a blanket over herself.

“It hurts,” Kara admitted. “It’s hurting less than it was earlier, though.”

“Is it supposed to be taking this long to heal?”

She shrugged. “I guess so. Toby said it’ll take a while. I hope it’ll be good by tomorrow.”

“Yeah, me too. It probably will be,” Owen said, hoping he was right. “At the very least, maybe you’ll have a really cool scar. Like Harry Potter’s.” 

He glanced down at her leg, where the black mark had shrunk considerably. What looked like black veins still ran up to her knee, though, which was a clear sign that the curse wasn’t out of her system yet. If he hadn’t known what the curse would do to her, Owen would’ve thought it looked cool and heroic. Which it did. 

“You’re right,” Kara said. “That _would_ be cool. I’ve never had a scar before. Some of my future selves have a few, but you know, they’ve had more time to gain them.”

“I bet yours would look a lot cooler than theirs, though,” Owen told her.

She grinned. “Yeah. My money’s on that.” 

He glanced back at the other room that his other friends were in, where the door was ajar. “Um, I’ll tell you everything later.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “We found out some important stuff about the stone.” 

“Wow. You did?” For some reason, that made Kara’s eyes light up. 

“Not _good_ stuff,” he added quickly, keeping his voice quiet to avoid anyone else yelling at him. “It’s the bad kind.” 

“Ah, well, I’ll look forward to it anyway. That’s mostly everything I’ve dealt with over the past three years.” Kara shifted her head on the pillow. “You should get some sleep, Owen. Don’t want to sleep in and miss the most important meal of the day, do you?” 

He couldn’t help grinning. “Do you think Toby will actually have something other than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast?”

“You never know! He might have pancake mix hidden away in one of his cabinets. That’s what I’m hoping for.”

“Yeah, me too. That would be cool. I like breakfast, too. But you already knew that.” He backed away, realizing that his face felt hot and he didn’t even know why. He felt the urge to talk to her about what had happened today, but he should be getting to bed. Both of them had barely enough energy, so he didn’t think it was the right time.

Kara stared at him, concerned. She sat up. “What’s wrong?”

Owen’s eyebrows shot upwards in surprise. “Nothing, nothing! What makes you think something’s wrong?” 

“Your face. I can tell you want to say something.”

“Oh!” How had she known? It seemed that she’d been able to read him better than he thought she could. “Kara . . . really, I can talk to you about this tomorrow.” 

“Well, I’m right here,” Kara reminded him. “You might as well talk to me now. In case tomorrow is as crazy as today was.” 

“Okay,” Owen muttered, mustering up his courage. Here it goes. “So . . . we haven’t really been talking lately and I . . . I just want to apologize. I get that you’re mad at me, or you were mad at me earlier—“ 

“What? I was never mad at you,” she said, sounding surprised. “Why would I be?”

“I don’t know.” He took a step closer to her, his eyes on the floor instead of her. “I just thought that maybe you were, since you were kind of . . . ignoring me earlier.” He crinkled his eyebrows. “And trust me, I get it. I mess everything up. I can’t even begin to say how sorry I am that you had to go through your worst fear. I know how _awful_ it must’ve been for you, and—“

She shook her head in protest. “Owen, it’s _okay_.” 

“No it’s not. You had to go through so much, and I’m sorry for all of it. Everything was supposed to work out but it didn’t.” 

“Hey, we all made it out fine.”

“Not you.”

She waved him off. “Eh, I’ll be okay. My leg’ll heal soon. I would be more worried if there wasn’t a chance it would heal. But I’m really sorry if I was ignoring you. I didn’t mean to. I just wanted some time to myself.” She sighed. “After what happened in my fear sequence, and with, you know, my injury, I guess I wanted some space. But I don’t blame you for getting put into my worst fear.” 

“Really?” He smiled hopefully. “Thanks. That’s — that’s _great_ to hear.” He sat down beside her before he even knew he was doing it, drawn to her like a magnet. He felt his heartbeat quickening in his chest. 

It seemed that no one was mad at him, unlike what he’d thought. At least, four of his friends weren’t. And that was enough to make Owen feel much better about the mistake he’d been blaming himself over and over for. Yes, they went through their worst fears, but it wasn’t him they hated for that. It was the people who’d intentionally caused it, like Fowen and the mummy. 

Kara smiled, and he realized that she hadn’t really done enough of that since the fight with the mummy. He was glad she was back to acting more like her regular self. “Owen, you’re the most important thing to me in the world! Why would I blame you for something that wasn’t even your fault? I can’t imagine doing that.” 

Owen found himself blushing deeply, and he was glad that it was dark enough that she couldn’t see. He couldn’t hold back the smile that crept onto his face. “ _I’m_ the most important thing to you?”

“Yeah, I thought you knew that?” 

“Oh, um, yeah!” he replied, if a bit awkwardly. “I did. I-I mean, you are to me too.”

His reply came out more of a stammer, barely able to get his words out the right way. He wished he could say something less lame, but it was kind of embarrassing to say out loud how much Kara meant to him when he’d never really told her. But the same went for all of his friends. They all meant the world to him. He couldn’t deny that. 

“But what about your family?” he asked, suddenly realizing he knew nothing about that. “Your parents? You’ve never talked about them. Aren’t they important to you too?” 

She went silent, making him wonder if he should never have asked about them. But then, she answered, not looking at him. “They’re gone now. That’s all that matters.”

“Because of when you started time traveling?”

“Yeah . . . let’s just say they weren’t very understanding when I started getting all of these time violations. And when it became clear that the future would be destroyed by _me . . .”_ She sighed, trailing off.

“I’m sorry,” Owen whispered. “I couldn’t imagine that happening with my mom. She’s always supported me, even when I got bad grades in math.” 

“What about your dad? He supports you too, right?” 

“Oh, he’s um . . .” He shook his head. “He’s not in my life anymore. I’ve never met him.”

“Sounds like you and Bethany have both got missing fathers.”

“Huh. I never thought of that way,” Owen said. “Except mine left intentionally. I think. I don’t know the story.”

“Maybe you should ask your mom! I’m sure she’d be open to telling you.”

He shrugged, not sure if he was ready for that conversation yet. “Maybe. I’ve never thought about asking her.”

“Really? Why not?”

He let out a sigh. “I guess I’m so used to it being just me and her. I must’ve asked her about him when I was younger, though. I don’t wanna make her upset by asking her. But, um, she seems fine without him. I don’t _need_ to know about him.” 

She slid her hand over to his, squeezing it in a way that made butterflies form in his stomach. “ _Everyone_ deserves to know.”

“So do you,” Owen whispered, trying very hard not to stare at their hands. “You should go back to see your parents.” The shocked look on her face made him raise his eyebrows. “I’m serious! The end of the world isn’t your fault anymore, remember? And when we fight Nobody and save the worlds, they’ll see that. They should be proud of you. And if they’re not, they’re wrong.” 

“You’re sweet,” Kara said, which made him blush. She looked thoughtful, tilting her chin upwards. “And you’ve given me an idea. Maybe I _will_ do that. But only if they don’t start hating me again.”

“How could they hate you, Kara?” he asked. “They’re your _parents.”_

“Well, of course they don’t _hate_ me but . . .” She shrugged. “Relationships are hard, you know?” 

“I know, they are . . . but they shouldn’t have to be.”

“You’re very right, Owen Conners.” Kara pulled her hand away from his. “On _that_ note, it’s good to hear _you_ don’t think I’m a crazy murderer or anything.” She knocked Owen lightly with her shoulder, and he had to try pretending that the physical contact hadn’t caused butterflies to erupt in his stomach. 

He had to laugh a little. “Well, at first I _did_ kind of think that.” 

“No way!” Her smile was full and bright. “That’s crazy, because I thought you were one too!”

“What?” He stared at her in surprise. “Really? You thought I — _me_?” 

Kara stared back at him for a moment, then laughed. “Of course not! You’re the least dangerous, most innocent-looking person I’ve ever known. Even for someone who was put into a time prison.” 

“Thanks?” Owen said slowly, not sure if that was a compliment or not. “And don’t you mean aside from Gwen?” 

“Yeah, aside from her. Oh, and you’re very gullible. Can’t leave that one out.”

“Ha-ha, very funny.” He rolled his eyes.   
  


“I know I am,” she said, smirking. 

There was a moment where something — something that Owen had no idea how to define — passed between them. He was smiling at her and Kara was returning his grin and it seemed as though neither one of them was rushing to break it. 

Then, a sudden wave of tiredness hit Owen, the events of today finally crashing over him. He felt his eyelids drooping. He stood up, yawning a few times. “I’m gonna go back to bed,” he murmured. “If that’s okay. But I can always stay up if you need me too?” 

“No, no, that’s okay. I should do that too.” She pulled the blanket over herself, yawning as she laid her head on the pillow. “Tell me everything tomorrow?” 

“Yeah, of course.” 

“Cool. I’d hate to be out of the loop. Who knows what we’ll be doing tomorrow, right?”

“Right!” he said, thinking back to their insanely dangerous plan to destroy the stone. After that, well, he hoped they would still be able to find Nobody. Or maybe, Nobody would find _them_ , if him and Fowen really were working together. That wasn’t a reassuring thought. They’d have to be ready for anything.

“I’m gonna go,” he added in a whisper. “Just, right over there.” He pointed awkwardly at the door where his friends were sleeping, wincing. “S-See you tomorrow!”

“See you.” She gave him a small grin. “Sweet dreams, Owen.”

“Yeah, thanks.” He couldn’t help smiling back. “You too.” 

As he started to head back over to the other room, dragging his feet across the floor, he almost jumped when he saw Toby sitting in the kitchen. When Owen passed by, Toby stood up. “I heard you were talking to Kara.”

Owen froze, his blood going cold. “What?”

“About her injury.” That made Owen relax more. “I know you’re concerned that it’s taking a while, but there’s no need to worry about that. The same thing happened for me. It might take a few more hours for her leg to heal all the way, but your girlfriend is going to be fine.”   
  


Owen’s face blanched. Heat rose to his cheeks. “ _What_? No, no! She’s not my girlfriend! What gave you that idea? She’s like, the farthest from that.” He grappled for the right words, his eyes darting anywhere but at the man. “S-She’s really awesome, but we’re just friends!” 

Well, that was embarrassing.

Toby’s eyebrows shot up, and he looked almost amused. “Right. My mistake.”

Owen didn't know if he was supposed to nod or say yes or say no, so he just stood there. His face slowly got redder and redder, his eyes wide. He didn’t trust himself to say anything, much too scared that he would accidentally take back what he’d said or say something equally as embarrassing. 

So instead, he turned around and ran straight into the wall.

“Whoa, kid! You okay?”

“I’m fine!” Owen managed to say. He jumped away from the wall like it was on fire, quickly balancing himself out. Embarrassed, he glanced back at Toby for a second before walking as calmly as he dared into the other room. It took every ounce of willpower not to sprint away. 

But as he climbed back into bed and attempted for the second time to go to sleep, he couldn’t stop thinking about what Toby had said. About him and Kara. He was still shell-shocked, as the realization hit him full in the face. The scary part of it all was this: the real truth was . . . everything Owen had said had been a lie.   
  


Everything, except denying the Kara-being-his-girlfriend part, because really, she wasn’t his girlfriend at all. Right then and there, his feelings towards Kara became crystal clear to him. He’d slowly been aware of his feelings towards her, aware that he was forming some weird type of crush on her that had only grown stronger ever since she disappeared from his life, only to reappear a few days ago. 

But now, Owen was pretty sure that maybe, just maybe, he might have a crush on her. Maybe a part of him even loved her. And that made him begin to panic. He had no idea what to think of that, because love _was_ a big word and he’d never had any references for it. He tended to avoid romance novels like the plague; they were too sappy and he really preferred fantasy novels, if he was telling the truth.

In general, there weren’t any romances he’d seen his mom have since his dad left them, so he’d never seen any other relationships besides that one. Owen had never known much about his dad, but he’d known that him and his mom had been in love once (kind of gross to think about!). A part of him had always wished that they’d stayed together, but if his mom was happier without Owen’s dad, that was fine with him. 

He’d always pictured love as something he wouldn’t feel until much later in his life. Well, he had love for his friends and family, and he loved _books_ , in the general sense. But he’d never imagined being _in love_ with anyone before, and that freaked him out more than destroying the stone did. He immediately tried denying it in every way that he could, but just the thought entering his mind made him realize how true it was. 

No, he didn't think he was _in_ love. It was a crush. Definitely a crush. But then again, how would he know if he loved someone, as opposed to just liking them a lot? The thing was: he didn't know. He didn't think he was at that stage of recognizing _love_ — nor had he ever been — but he did know that what he had with Kara was more than just infatuation, like he'd had with Charm.

He _liked_ liked Kara. Really liked her. It was the first time he admitted it, at least in his head. And it was crazy, because Kara was the first girl that he liked who he had a close relationship with. It was entirely a new experience for him, as he’d surely never been as close with Charm as he was now with Kara. Most of the girls he’d had crushes on thought he was too weird or nerdy, but for some reason, Kara didn’t. In fact, she was just as quirky. Somehow, despite how different their lives were, she seemed to understand him. 

They’d been through so much together, from when they’d met in the time prison until now. They’d lost each other more than once, and because of that, they’d grown even closer to each other. When he looked at Kara, he didn’t see someone who was perfect. He saw her for who she was; she hopefully saw him the same way. And maybe that’s what made it worse. 

Owen realized that it was so easy to deny his feelings because he didn’t _want_ to have them. Every crush he’d had was never reciprocated, ever. For the longest time, he’d had a huge crush on Charm, and that had never gotten anywhere. When he saw Charm again just a few days ago, he’d wanted so badly to hold onto his feelings, but they were already fading away.

But with Kara, it wasn’t just a random crush, like the hundreds of other crushes he’d gotten over the years. It was so much deeper than anything he’d ever felt before. And the reality of that? It scared him. Owen wasn’t used to living in reality. He was always living in a fantasy, imagining and daydreaming in his head. This _wasn't_ a fantasy or an idealization. He couldn’t imagine it away. 

So, he concluded, it was better to just keep this to himself, like he’d done when he had a crush on Charm. When that had happened, it’d lasted for a long time, and it wasn’t until recently that he’d realized those feelings were completely gone. He was pretty sure that no one had known when that was going on, except maybe Bethany or Kiel. 

All Owen knew was that he could never, ever tell Kara the truth. His feelings would go away eventually, right? He just didn’t know if he’d have the courage to tell her. He wanted her to know, but he’d never told anyone when he’d had a crush on them, let alone that he _loved_ them. It’d only be embarrassing for both of them, because if there was one thing he knew, it was that there was no way that Kara would ever feel how he did about her. 

And if she did, well, he’d have to be imagining things. 

* * *

By the time morning came around, it seemed just like any other summer day. The rain had stopped sometime along the night, the air heavy with moisture and clouds covering the entire sky. Birds sang and crickets chirped loudly, and could be heard even through the windows. After the day Bethany had had yesterday, it was a much more welcoming sight to wake up to.

As soon as all of them had woken up and eaten, they got to work. Bethany had to go over their plan again with her friends, making sure they all knew what they were going to do. She didn’t like the idea that they needed to destroy the stone, but she knew there wasn’t another option. It was the best thing they could do right now. 

Knowing what the stone did to her — that it took her powers away — only made her want to destroy it _more_. And she would do that. She _had_ to. They could figure out the rest of their plan after they’d gotten rid of the stone, as that would make her feel better about winning against Nobody. Most importantly, to show Fowen that they weren't going to be tricked _that_ easily. 

If they did see Fowen again, well, let’s just say that Bethany’s fist would be in his face. Not an exaggeration. Who cared if he looked exactly like her best friend Owen? He was evil! Plus, he’d tricked all of them so they’d go into their worst fears, which had been the scariest thing Bethany had ever gone through. 

It was just like how she’d felt when losing her father, except ten times worse. So needless to say, if Fowen did show up with Nobody, Bethany would want him to feel the same way that she had. And the first step to that? Showing the villians that they weren’t going to lose. Destroying the stone would do that, too. 

The seven of them gathered in the forest — a good distance away from Toby and his cabin — and started off by having Kiel cast spells on the stone. Bethany wasn’t sure how destructive the spell really needed to be to destroy it, but Kiel had made it clear that the one he’d be using would cause “an awesome explosion”. His words, not her’s.

Bethany and her friends — besides Kiel — were a few feet away, using trees and rocks for cover in case the stone caused an earthquake or something else destructive when the spell was cast on it. Bethany realized that destroying the stone might not be easy. If it was powerful enough to take her powers away, what could destroying it do?

“Brace yourselves!” Kiel shouted, and flashed Bethany an exaggerated wink from the other side of the clearing. She was so used to him throwing himself into danger that she wasn’t completely worried about him being this close to the stone. He’d been through more near-death experiences than probably all of them combined. 

A ball of fire left Kiel’s wand-knives, heading straight for the stone. Bethany held onto the tree, more worried for their safety than whether the stone would survive it. It was dangerous to be casting fire spells, especially in the middle of a forest. But Bethany had thought ahead for any worst case scenarios, so they’d come prepared.

She glanced over at Charm, Gwen, and Orion, who were holding buckets of water. Bethany also had one, just in case their plan backfired and the fire started to spread across the forest. If a fire _did_ start, she hoped they could move quick enough to put it out.

Many things happened very quickly. The spell collided into the stone, and an explosion followed instantly after, a fire even bigger than the one he’d cast erupting from it. Bethany gasped. Kiel scrambled backwards, almost getting knocked off his feet from the sudden explosion. A wave of heat simmered through Bethany, the fire burning into her eyes like the sun.

A few seconds after, the fire decreased in size, allowing her to see the damage. Bethany’s eyes grew wide. The explosion had caused the grass in the clearing to catch on fire! Charm and Orion and Gwen started forward with their buckets, tossing it onto different sections of the grass. As Bethany started to run forwards with her own bucket of water, she realized something else. Something worse.

Somehow, in the midst of everything that’d happened, a flame had caught onto one of the locks on Kiel’s hair. It was spreading fast, and judging how everyone else was focused on the fire on the grass, she didn’t think they noticed. Beginning to panic, Bethany ditched the idea of putting the grass out and ran straight for him. Without even thinking, she tossed the water at him, watching as it doused his face, hair, and shirt.

Kiel sputtered, wiping his face with both hands. “What was that for? Weren’t you supposed to use that on the fire?”

Bethany just smiled, panting slightly. “ _You_ were on fire.”

“I was?” His hand went to the top of his head, as if trying to look for the flame that wasn’t there. “Well, I have the say that was smart thinking, Beth.” He winked at her, then scowled as he tried wiping more water off of himself. “But seriously, you couldn’t have put it out some other way?”

“Sure. I could’ve, but I might not have saved you in time.” She patted him on the arm. “You’ll dry off!”

“Dry off? How long will _that_ take?”

“I don’t know. You’ll figure it out.” 

He looked like he wanted to say something, but then, Bethany heard someone gasp from behind them. Her and Kiel turned around in time to see that their friends had successfully put out the fire, and were standing in a circle. A sick feeling entered Bethany’s gut, and she pushed past Orion, trying to see what they were looking at.

“What are—“ Her eyes landed on it, and she forgot to finish her sentence. Within their little circle was mostly just singed grass, blackened from the fire. But more shocking was the perfectly intact stone at their feet, still gleaming a bright green underneath the morning sun. _No_. How could that be? 

“Okay, that happened,” Owen muttered. “How are we supposed to destroy it now?”

“I don’t know . . .” 

“If my calculations are correct, that explosion should’ve destroyed it,” Charm said.

“Your calculations must be wrong, then,” Orion countered, earning a glare from Charm.

“No, Charm’s right,” Kiel said, looking just as shocked as the rest of them. “That should’ve destroyed it!”

“Maybe it’s immune to fire?” Kara suggested, tilting her head as she looked down at the stone again.

“It’s not that,” Owen said. “Sometimes, like in superhero comics, weapons like these are made to be indestructible. They’re too powerful to be destroyed.”

Bethany frowned. “So that’s it, then? It can’t be destroyed? There has to be some other way. Wait a second . . .” Just then, an idea came to her. She stopped talking altogether, the gears in her brain turning.

“Beth?” Kiel waved a hand in front of her face. “Guys, I think her brain broke.”

“Shut up,” she said. “I have an idea. But it’ll be dangerous.”

“What is it?” Owen asked. 

“It’s time for plan B. I just remembered something that can destroy the stone. The pure possibility. If it can destroy _anything_ fictional . . .“ 

He winced. “That’s a very bad idea.” 

“Yeah, it is.” She nodded, grimacing. “So, should we do it?”

“If it helps you, then I think we should,” Gwen said, giving her a warm smile. “I think it’s a perfect idea. And we won’t be destroying any more grass!”

Bethany had to smile at her optimism. “I’m so with you on that.”

“Using Nobody’s creation against him,” Kiel said. “I like it!”

“You’ll like _any_ idea Bethany comes up with,” Charm said. She sighed. “But I guess I’m in, too. The plan seems good enough.”

“Going to probably the worst place we could possibly be at right now?” Owen said. “Isn’t that kind of against the rules you gave me?” 

“I make my _own_ rules,” Bethany said. “So no, not against the rules this time.” She looked over at Gwen. “Want to come?”

Gwen grinned. “Yes!” She scooped up the stone and pocketed it. “It’s hurting you,” she explained, when Bethany offered to carry it. “The least I could do is try keeping it away from you. You’re safer this way.” 

“Wait, you’re leaving now?” Kiel asked, sounding surprised.

“I guess so. No time like the present,” Bethany said. She grabbed her father’s sidekick by the arm. “Orion, come with me.” 

Orion, who had been silently brooding, turned his head at that. “Why exactly are we going to the _one_ place we might be in danger at?”

“We just need to make sure it gets destroyed,” she told him. “We don’t have to go anywhere close to the pure possibility wall. The pure possibility destroys everything fictional. I . . . hope it’ll destroy the stone, too.”

“We’re gonna need more than hope if you want to destroy that thing.”

“Exactly. We have the pure possibility to do that for us.”

Kara raised her eyebrows. “Hold up. So . . . we’re just going to wait for you guys to come back?” She gestured to Owen, Kiel, and Charm, who were standing beside her. 

Kiel glanced at Kara before looking back at Bethany. “Yeah, shouldn’t all of us go too?” 

“No,” Orion grumbled. “We don’t need many people to do this.” 

“But we really shouldn’t be splitting up,” Owen said. “Last time we split up—“

“I know, we shouldn’t be,” Bethany said. “But we’ll be careful. I promise. And we’ll come back to the cabin when we’re done.” 

“Fine, whatever,” Charm said, crossing her arms. “Just make sure you don’t come back until that thing is destroyed.”

“We won’t.”

As they turned to leave, Owen quickly walked over to Bethany, throwing his arms tightly around her. Although a bit surprised at the gesture, she weaved her arms around him too, closing her eyes. She knew just how dangerous this could be, and how bad of an idea it probably was. Owen could see that, better than anyone. He was obviously worried.

“I have to do this, Owen,” Bethany whispered when they pulled away from each other, taking in Owen’s concerned expression.

He sighed, letting go of her arms. “I know. But _please_ be careful, okay? Try to stay safe.”

She forced a smile. “I-I will. Don’t worry.” She glanced over to see Kiel walking over to them, and gave a single nod. “See you on the other side of the war.” 

“Yeah, see you.” Kiel smiled. “Good luck!” 

She smiled back, hoping he wouldn’t see her fear. Usually he could see right through her, so she guessed he did. “Same to you.”

Kiel stared at her for a moment, then pointed one of his wand-knives at her face. Bethany’s heart jumped. Before she could move or ask what he was doing, he’d already cast a spell, and Bethany felt a strange tingling sensation on her face. She reached up with both hands, but the sensation was already gone. 

“Kiel, what did you do to me?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes at the boy magician.

Owen gasped as he stared at Bethany, then turned to Kiel. “You never told me you could do that!”

“Do _what_?” 

Kiel winked. “Just adding a decoration.” His tone was slightly teasing, but the serious expression on his face caught her off guard. “You know, war paint looks good on you, book-girl. Makes you look like a warrior.”

Bethany felt heat rising to her cheeks. So that’s what he’d put on her? “War paint?”

“Trust me, it looks cool,” Owen assured her, leaving her to wonder what on earth it looked like. Too bad she’d never thought to bring a mirror with her. Next time there was a lake around, she’d try looking at her reflection. Ugh. Well, she hoped it wouldn’t rain again today. Magic or not, the paint would surely smudge on her face.

He then turned to Kiel. “Can you put some on me?”

Kiel chucked. “Sure.” As he started casting the same spell on Owen, Gwen and Orion came up beside them. 

“Whoa, you look awesome!” Gwen exclaimed, staring with wonder from Bethany to Owen. “What _is_ that? Is that an Earth tradition?” 

"Kind of,” Bethany said. “It's called war paint.”

"Wow! _War paint_. I've never heard of that before.”

"When you come visit us at Earth, you should try it,” Owen said with a smile.

"I'd love to!"

"Why wait?" Kiel said, now finished with Owen. "Might as well put it on everyone now." His lips stretched into a mischievous smile. "For battle purposes."

As Kara and Charm joined them as well, Kiel cast the same spell on everyone else, including himself. In the light of day, Bethany could see paint of different colors covering each of her friends' faces, some only on their cheeks while on others, such as Kara, lines of blue paint covered her forehead as well. Bethany couldn't help but smile, thinking this entire thing was a little over-the-top.

"I love it!" Gwen beamed, despite not being able to see it on her own face. "Now we're matching."

Charm rubbed her face with her hand, trying to wipe the war paint off. It was red, which contrasted well with her robotic eye. "This is ridiculous. I never said you could put this on me."

Kiel winked. "It's part of the fun."

Orion impatiently cleared his throat beside them, and Gwen looked at Bethany, asking, "Oh, are you ready to go?"

Bethany swallowed hard. _Was_ she ready? Was this the best idea? There was an excited gleam in Gwen’s eyes, telling Bethany she had nothing to actually be afraid of. As long as they didn’t come in contact with the pure possibility, they’d be okay. All they had to do was toss the stone through the wall, and that was that. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. That’s what scared her. 

“Yes,” Bethany said, trying to ignore her own apprehension. Telling herself that things would work out just fine, she waved goodbye to her other friends. Bethany, Gwen, and Orion turned around. They headed out on their journey, leaving their remaining friends behind them. They passed through the trees, and after a minute, their friends were completely gone from view. 

But what Bethany didn’t realize was that she was seeing three out of those four for the last time, and she didn’t even know it.  
  


* * *

_  
“When the colours turn grey, and the lights all fade to black again. We're in over our heads, but somehow we make it back again . . .”_


	43. Nothing Is Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bethany, Gwen, and Orion embark on their quest to destroy the stone.

**_Runnin’ (by_ ** **_Naughty Boy)_ **

_“Runnin', runnin', runnin'. Ain't runnin' from myself no more. Together we'll win it all . . .”_

* * *

It didn’t take long before Bethany, Gwen, and Orion found the pure possibility wall. It’d grown even larger over the past few days, stretching much closer to the vast forest than before. As usual, the white nothingness slowly was creeping forward, inch by inch, as it came closer and closer to reaching them.

They‘d come to a cliffside. From the direction they’d been walking in, it was the closest they could get to reaching the pure possibility. Despite the white nothingness right before them — which was swallowing up the last remains of the ocean below the cliff — Bethany thought the landscape was nothing short of beautiful. 

The wind was strong here, causing a force impactful enough that Bethany could’ve almost toppled over. A few drops of sea water peppered her face. Below their feet, the lush grass rippled, looking like an ocean on land. Her hair, which was woven into two braids, began loosening from the wind, causing red strands to fly into her face. 

For a moment, she turned her palms towards the wind, loving the feeling of it. Closing her eyes, it felt like she could do anything. If it weren’t for the pure possibility right in front of them, she would’ve enjoyed the moment a lot more. Standing on top of the cliff reminded her of the times Kiel had tried talking her into jumping off cliffs with him. Good thing she hadn’t been crazy enough to go along with it! 

For some reason, thinking of Kiel — that memory with him — gave her courage. She’d had to be courageous all the time lately, but it was getting harder to be that way, especially after going through her lowest point yesterday with her worst fear. Now that they were finally facing down the pure possibility, maybe it wouldn’t be so hard. Even though she wasn’t feeling very brave or optimistic right now.

Just like yesterday, dark clouds were gathering for unsettled weather, almost like an omen that something bad was about to happen. Everything about this place seemed more ominous now that Bethany knew what they were about to do. She suddenly realized just how far out they were, and the safety she’d previously felt back at the cabin faded away. 

The danger they were putting themselves in was huge, and it was possible that they would get hurt. Or worse: being this close to the pure possibility, Gwen and Orion could disappear. Bethany didn't want that to happen. It was insane to face the pure possibility, but weren’t insane ideas the ones that worked the best? Based on the stuff she’d seen Kiel do, Bethany hoped so. She’d thought of this plan on a whim, on a dash of impulsiveness, and now she just hoped it wouldn’t fail.

“This is it,” Bethany said, turning to look at Gwen, who stood at her right. “Gwen, do you have the stone ready?” 

Gwen nodded, revealing the bright green stone that she was holding. Just looking at it made Bethany feel uneasy. It was a reminder of how vulnerable she was now, with being unable to use her powers. Their plan would have to work. If it didn’t? Bethany didn’t know what else they could try. 

But then again, it was fictional. Their plan _would_ work, Bethany told herself repeatedly. The stone couldn’t be indestructible enough to _not_ turn into pure possibility! Nothing fictional could. For once, she was glad that the possibility wall existed. Without it, they probably would’ve still been back in the forest, trying yet failing to destroy the stone with Kiel’s spells.

“So, how are we getting it over there? Are we just going to throw it at the wall?” Gwen asked, walking to the very edge of the cliff. The pure possibility wall was close, but maybe not close enough for them to throw it that far.

“I guess so. That’s our only option and we definitely do _not_ want to come in contact with that wall. That’s the most important rule here.” Bethany squinted at the wall, trying to judge the distance in her head, but it was hard to from this far away. “Can we throw it far enough?”

“I can,” Orion said, appearing at Bethany’s other side with his arms crossed. He looked grouchy per usual, with a ever-present frown on his face. Out of the three of them, he was the least willing to come along, but since he didn’t want Bethany getting into trouble, he hadn’t turned back.

“In that case, I can too,” she said. 

_We went through the same training! If Orion can throw it that far, so can I!_ she thought. 

“No you can’t.”

Bethany sighed, trying but failing to not get annoyed. “ _I can,_ Orion. So much more than you.” 

Gwen suddenly grabbed Bethany’s arm, excited. “I have an idea! How about Orion throws the stone, while I fly around in case the stone misses the possibility wall, and—“ 

“I’ll use my shape-shifting powers to guide it over there,” Bethany jumped in, nodding. It sounded like a solid plan, much better than her and Orion fighting over who could throw it farther. That was the thing about Gwen. She could stop fights and see the big picture in a positive light: something Bethany wished she could do. 

Gwen handed the stone to Orion, who stared down at it, his eyes narrowed. “I can't believe we’re doing this. If this goes badly, do you know how—“

“Doomed we are?” Bethany interrupted, and Gwen giggled. She couldn’t help but grin a bit. “Yes, I do. We’ve been over this many times.” She glanced back at the pure possibility wall. “Now let’s _do_ this.” 

“There’s a solid chance this will fail, you know that?”

“And there’s a chance it won’t!” Gwen told him, pressing her finger on the jetpack’s throttle. Bethany watched as she flew into the air, her nerves growing as she saw Gwen getting closer and closer to the pure possibility wall. She stopped once she was still far enough away, though, and hovered in the air, right above the vast ocean below.

“Alright!” Bethany said, turning to Orion. “Can you throw it?” 

When Orion didn’t move, she added, “Come on, it’s the one time I need your help!”

Orion gave her a long look. “The one time?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t. You’ve needed my help exactly two hundred and thirty-two times.”

Bethany stared at him, not sure whether she was amazed or just annoyed. Probably both. “You’ve been counting?”

“I need to in case I ever have to hold it over your head . . . which I am now, by the way.”

She groaned. “This totally doesn’t relate to what we’re doing, but whatever. Come on.” Without waiting for an answer, she backed away before she started running towards the edge of the cliff. Her heart pounded out of fear, and the wind threatened to throw her back. But she pushed on. 

Right before she leapt off the cliff, she imagined herself as the wind. Free and powerful and strong, without anything keeping her from what she wanted. She imagined being able to push back against even the strongest forces, and as she did, she felt her body changing. She kept concentrating, imagining that she was turning into very same breeze that blew into her. 

And then, she did.

Suddenly, Bethany didn’t have a body anymore. She had the strangest sensation of being pushed from somewhere very high, but not falling, just floating with no gravity. It was like she’d become a soaring bird, and flying was as easy as breathing in oxygen. To her, it seemed like she’d been doing this all her life, and hadn’t known she could until this point.

She was twisting and turning, barreling right past Gwen before being sent back Orion’s way. She spiraled through the air, and absolutely nothing kept her from doing it. She found herself getting lost in the moment, filled with wonder and joy. She whipped through the edge of the forest, then came back, strong as ever, towards the cliffside again. She’d never felt so _free_.

All of Bethany’s worries were gone. Nothing tied her down anymore. For so long, she was filled with the pressures of her life, of stopping Nobody and finding her dad and keeping secrets from her mom. All of that faded away, and for a moment, she forgot that part of her life existed. And it felt _good_. She had the freedom to do anything in the world, and there was something so exciting and thrilling about that. 

Orion cleared his throat. “Bethany, I’m not sure where you are, but I’m going to throw it.” 

Bethany was snapped back to reality. It took her a few seconds to regain her senses, to remember what she was supposed to be doing. Every time she became more fictional, it was so easy to forget about what she should be focusing on that she actually _had_ forgotten. And it’d felt _wonderful_ , but she couldn’t just keep running from and forgetting her problems. She had to face them if she wanted to fix them. 

Orion brought his elbow back and threw the stone hard, sending it sailing off the cliff. The wind was fighting against it, sending it back the other way. Bethany quickly ducked down, breezing past Orion’s head and coming right behind the stone. The stone started to move forwards again, and she fought hard against the strong winds. 

Bethany willed herself to be even stronger, allowing the stone to be guided with more ease towards the pure possibility wall. She had to concentrate harder now, as it was so easy to let herself get lost into the wind. She was flying over the ocean, and even as she focused on moving the stone she couldn’t help but enjoy herself. Being the wind was hands-down the best thing she’d ever shape-shifted into.

She kept moving further, and the white nothingness rose up quickly to meet her. She guided the stone the rest of the way, stopping short before she could touch the pure possibility herself. Propelled by the strong wind, the stone flew straight into the pure possibility wall . . .

Only to come flying back out of it. The stone passed through her nonexistent body, every part of it still intact. Maybe it hadn’t gone far enough into the pure possibility wall? Bethany forced herself to go after it, quickly sending the stone back towards the pure possibility wall again. 

She sped up even more, using all the strength she had into getting the stone through the pure possibility wall. She wasn’t taking no for an answer. This time, she was _sure_ it would go through. The stone was caught in the wind, and it couldn’t _go_ anywhere else besides the direction she was moving it towards.

Bethany stopped following the stone once she was close enough to the pure possibility wall, not wanting to accidentally go inside the white nothingness. She watched the stone carefully. It was still going the right way, and it would only be about a second before it hit the wall. But once it did, it seemed to bounce right off, as if a force field was keeping it from going inside.

“Bethany! What’s happening?” Gwen asked, and Bethany turned to see her hovering in the air several feet away. Her eyes were darting across the area, like she was searching for Bethany. 

Bethany tried to respond, then realized she couldn’t. Not in this form, anyway. Instead, she looked down and searched for the stone. It would’ve taken her longer to look for it if she was still in her human form, but as the wind, it only took her a split-second to see where it was. It was heading towards the ocean again, falling slightly at an angle because of the strong winds fighting against it. 

Wanting to groan in frustration, Bethany zoomed down and caught it in her gust of wind. She pushed against the stone with everything she had, and whipped around to face the pure possibility for what she hoped would be the last time. Okay, this _needed_ to work. She had to think of something else. Some other way to get it inside there.

And then, it came to her. She was half-fictional, so even if she touched the pure possibility it wasn’t like she would disappear. Only fictional things could really fade away if they went inside the pure possibility. Maybe that was the way to get the stone to disappear? In the back of her head, a voice screamed at her that this whole idea was insane, but it was like that part of her brain was tuned out.

So, trusting her impulses, Bethany guided the stone straight into the pure possibility wall, this time passing through it herself. Without even realizing it, Bethany lost her grip on the stone. All the air left her lungs as she took in the scenery of what was inside the wall, which was absolutely nothing. 

The entire space was like a blank sheet of paper, like an unwritten story or a drawing that had yet to be started. It both captivated and horrified Bethany. She couldn’t tear her eyes away. Nothing, not even a trace of anything, was here. The objects and people that passed through here would never have existed. All of the fictional worlds were going to pass through here, and nothing would be left. 

For the first time, she considered something. Was this actually what Nobody wanted? For everything to turn to nothing? For all the worlds, which were filled with wonderful, compelling stories, to be gone? With everything gone like this, not a single person or thing would be left. Even for a villain, it seemed like a very lonely thing for Nobody to want. 

All of the sudden, Bethany found herself falling. A second ago she’d felt as light as well, air, but now it felt like something heavy was pulling her down. And then she blinked, and she could see the cloudy sky above her again. Above her, she could see her pale arms thrashing in the wind, and that was when she realized: her shapeshifting powers had given out. 

Bethany’s eyes widened, her stomach dropping. She was plummeting down, further and further at what seemed to be very quickly. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest. It wasn’t the fun kind of falling, like when she dropped off a rollercoaster and the butterflies rose in her stomach. No, she was falling a _long_ way, and once she hit the ocean? The impact would surely kill her. 

She tried thinking a way out of this, but the wind was roaring in her ears and she couldn’t concentrate. She couldn’t move or even breathe. Nothing helped. What could she do? She tried focusing on changing into one thing specifically, like an airplane or a kite or a balloon. The only problem was that she couldn’t decide, and she usually shape-shifted when she was a lot less _preoccupied_.

 _Kite it is_ , Bethany thought, choosing the one that seemed easiest at the time. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore everything around her, which was very hard to do. She tried to imagine herself changing into a kite, not focusing on the specifics of how it would look. 

Except when she concentrated on it, she found that nothing happened. Panic rose inside her, and her breaths came out faster. This was so bad! She didn’t understand what was happening. Why wasn’t this working? First her book-jumping powers, and now her shape-shifting ones weren’t working, either?

Then, she felt her fall being abruptly halted. Bethany’s eyes snapped open to see Gwen hovering over her. Her friend was holding her tightly by the hands, and seemed to be struggling a bit to hold her up.

“Gwen!” Bethany exclaimed, breathless and dizzy with relief. She grunted, tightening her grip on Gwen’s hands as the other girl started flying her back over to the cliff, where Orion was staring at them from afar. She couldn’t see his expression from here, but already assumed it’d be a look of disapproval.

“Are you okay?” Gwen asked, glancing down at Bethany again. “I got so worried when I saw you fall! What happened?”

“I-I— I . . .“ Bethany stammered. It was hard to think, and she was still struggling to catch her breath. She’d only fallen from a height like this a couple of times, maybe just twice, but it was still terrifying, especially when her shape-shifting powers weren’t working. 

“Bethany?” 

Seconds later, they touched back down on the cliffside, and Bethany collapsed to the ground. She felt weary for some reason. She buried both hands into the grass, almost nauseous from what had just happened. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins, and she couldn’t focus on anything quite yet.

Gwen kneeled down beside her, placing a hand on her back and rubbing it comfortingly. “Do you need anything?” 

She felt another presence at her side. It was Orion. “Bethany, _say something_ ,” he said lowly. _“_ Why did you fall? What happened out there?” He leaned closer to her. “ _Answer me._ ” 

“Don't pressure her,” Gwen said quietly. “She almost died. She‘s scared.” 

“Oh, you think I don’t know that?”

“I just think you need to be more . . . gentle with your words, Orion. She’s your sister.”

“Not technically.And I don’t need to be gentle with _anyone_.” 

Bethany continued to pant, barely hearing what her friends were saying as they continued to talk. She finally unclenched her hands and looked up, glad to find that her heartbeat was beating a little less rapidly than before. She still had the sensation that her stomach was dropping, and had to remind herself that she wasn’t in danger anymore. 

“I’m okay. But uh, something happened when I tried putting the stone through the possibility wall.” Bethany swallowed hard, her eyes flitting from Gwen to Orion. Her voice trembled. “It wasn’t going through, not until I went in with it.” 

“You what?” Orion snapped. “How stupid are you? Did you _want_ to die?”

Bethany wanted to punch him for calling her stupid, but didn’t have the energy. ”I‘m not stupid. Just listen! It wasn’t working when I just tried throwing it in there, and every time I tried it kept bouncing off, like there was a force field surrounding the pure possibility wall. And then as I passed through the wall, I think . . .” She rubbed her forehead. “I think that’s what made my powers go out. My shapeshifting powers. They don’t work now.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I tried to use them when I was falling,” Bethany said. “And it wasn’t working, so they must be gone now! I still don’t understand why.” 

“Because your shape-shifting powers are a fictional part of you!” Gwen said, and Bethany stared at her. “I think I know what the problem was. Why the stone wasn’t going into the wall at first, I mean.” 

“What is it?”

They all started to stand. “Maybe the stone needed a fictional person to go in there with it.” Gwen’s eyes lit up. “It must’ve still worked since you’re half-fictional.”

Bethany froze at the thought, her knees still wobbling slightly. “That’s . . . kind of scary to think about.”

“Yeah, but I’m really glad nothing worse happened to you. That would’ve been awful! If that’s all that happened, and we got the stone through, then we did it!”

Bethany started to grin. “Yeah, I guess we did, huh?”

Gwen leaned forward and hugged her. “All thanks to your powers!” 

Bethany laughed, closing her eyes as she hugged Gwen back. She nestled her head into her friend’s shoulder. She was still shaking from the fall, unable to stop. They pulled away a couple seconds later, but Bethany wouldn’t have minded if they’d hugged for much longer. It’d been a long time since anyone had hugged her. Well, anyone besides Owen, who’d probably hugged her six times in the past two days. 

“How does it feel?” Orion drawled out, looking at Bethany. 

“How does what feel?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. “Almost dying?”

“No.” His expression was serious as usual, but his tone was almost teasing, in his own way. “Now neither of the Twilight kids have powers.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Bethany rolled her eyes. “Hate to say it, Orion, but I still have my other powers!”

“Which aren’t real superhero powers.”

“Still, they’re powers. Something you don’t have.”

“But you can’t fight criminals with those.”

“Sure she can,” Gwen said. “Like with Nobody!”

Orion deadpanned. “But Nobody isn’t a criminal.”

“He kind of is, actually,” Bethany said. “With his whole pure possibility thing.”

There was a moment where they said nothing else, and Bethany turned her gaze to the trees. She didn’t even know how long they’d been gone. Maybe thirty minutes? Maybe more? It was impossible to know, but she knew that they should be getting back to their friends. They were probably wondering what was taking them so long.

She sighed, getting to her feet and smoothing a hand over her messy strands of hair. “We should probably head back. We’ve been gone a long time.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to tell them about our success!” Gwen grinned, and Bethany smiled back. “I hope they weren’t too worried about us.” 

As the other two stood up, Bethany glanced back at the pure possibility wall. The pure possibility was still there, but at least the stone was gone. It couldn’t hurt anyone anymore, and now Nobody couldn’t split her into two halves again. She still couldn’t believe that their plan had really worked. It felt like a weight was off of her shoulders. Nobody hadn’t gotten the best of her this time. 

Then, her smile fell away as she noticed something laying in the grass. It shouldn’t in an way be possible, and that was the reason she believed her eyes were deceiving her at first. She leaned closer, trying to figure out what was there, only for a glimpse of green to catch her eye. And it wasn’t coming from the grass. Her eyes grew wide. Just when she’d thought she had destroyed it, it was still intact? 

She opened her mouth to break the news to her friends, that the stone wasn’t destroyed yet, but then, she felt it. The ground shaking roughly beneath her feet. The ground started to crack open, and all of the hope building inside of Bethany faded away like the air being sucked out of a balloon. The three of them exchanged alarmed looks, and barely had the time to climb to their feet or get to safety before it happened. 

The ground beneath the teenagers’ feet fell away, and Bethany couldn’t tell if she had screamed or not. She couldn’t think. Just like that, they were plummeting downwards, the huge ocean waves and sharp rocks below rising up to greet them. In her panic, she happened to glance to her left, and a wave of fear hit her. 

Was it just her imagination, or had the pure possibility wall gotten _closer_?

There was no time to focus on that. Bethany looked back to the world below her and spread her arms out, trying to focus on turning into a bird, a kite, _anything_. Nothing was working. It seemed that her powers were gone for good, and Gwen’s theory was right. But this was the worst timing for them to not be working, especially while all three of them could very well not survive the fall. 

The wind pounded down on her arms, making it harder for her to hold them up. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Gwen using her jet pack to halt her fall. Bethany’s eyes widened. In the midst of the danger, she’d forgotten that Gwen could fly. But what would that mean for her and Orion?

“Hold on, I’m going to grab you guys!” Gwen shouted above the noise, latching her hand around Bethany’s wrist. Bethany’s fall was halted, and she fell like dead weight, clinging desperately to the one thing holding her up. She could tell Gwen was already struggling to hold her with one hand. How could she hold Orion too? 

“Wait, you can’t hold both of us up!” Bethany quickly shouted, but Gwen was already pulling them towards Orion. With her other hand, Gwen grabbed Orion by the hand. Immediately, they all started falling again.

“You think this is helping?!” Orion shouted.

“I’m trying my best!” Gwen said, pressing her finger again and again on the jetpack’s throttle. They abruptly rose upwards, only to fall back down again, twisting at an awkward angle. This kept happening for the next several minutes, with their fall being halted for a second, only to restart again.

“You have to try harder!” Bethany said once they shot upwards again, yet it was only a few inches. “We’re going to keep—“ Suddenly, they were plummeting downwards again, and even though Gwen did what she could to halt their fall, they couldn’t fully get airborne.

The churning ocean below was dark blue, and the sight of it rushing up so quickly made Bethany afraid. Gwen’s grip on her wrist was loosening, and before she knew it, they plunged into the water. Bethany flinched as the icy coldness of the ocean flooded into her body, making her paralyzed for a moment. She opened her eyes underwater, disoriented and shocked.

It was dark beneath the surface, and the waves were strong, sending her flailing backwards before she even knew what was happening. The water was pushing her in one direction, and Bethany narrowly avoided a sharp rock that she almost kicked with her leg. Her head was spinning, and her lungs began to burn. She forced herself to kick upwards, and gasped for air once she finally broke the surface.

Bethany tried shouting her friends’ names, but a huge wave came washing over her, sending her tumbling underneath the ocean again. The relentless water pushed her around, and she was spinning out of control, not sure what way was up or which way was down. Her heart was racing a mile a minute. She struggled to breathe, and her legs and arms felt like they were on fire. She fought to the surface again, then used what strength she had left to push herself away from the giant waves. 

In front of her, behind the rocks, she quickly spotted a beach with white sand and made her way towards it. Luckily, she didn’t have to swim far. The water continued to pull forcibly at her, but she grabbed hold of one of the rocks with both hands, pulling herself onto it. Another wave rolled over her, smaller than the ones further out but it was enough to fill her lungs with seawater.

Coughing hard, Bethany crawled onto the rock and shakily got to her feet. A third wave slapped her across the face, sending her sprawling again. She was suddenly back in the ice-cold water. Shivering violently, Bethany kicked out hard with both feet. Another wave slammed into her, and she fell directly into the rocks. She gasped. 

There was a sudden stinging pain on the right side of her forehead, but she didn’t have time to acknowledge that right now. Her lungs burned. Again, she tried going upwards to the surface, but the ocean was so strong, and her body felt so tired already. She was afraid. It felt like she would be stuck in the ocean forever, getting tossed around from one place to the next. She _had_ to get out of here somehow.

Bethany’s hand grasped one of the rocks in front of her, and she held on tightly. This time, she had a lot more difficulty pulling herself up. Climbing onto the rocks was her only choice, since there was no other way to get onto the beach. The rocks were surrounding it, and if she didn’t get clear of the waves, she’d be stuck out here for the rest of her life. 

As she yanked herself up, her arms burned so intensely that she had to stop for a moment. The water kept coming over her head, barely giving her enough time to catch her breath. Breathing hard, Bethany used every ounce of strength she had and finally managed to pull herself onto the rock, almost losing her grip many times in the process. 

The rocks were slippery as she dragged herself across them, but her body was so numb that she hardly noticed when she tripped. As she got further down the rocks, the waves stopped hitting her, and instead she got a few drops sprayed towards her every so often. Her knees bent, she maneuvered across the rocks, becoming glad when they soon got much less slippery.

After what seemed like ages, Bethany reached the shore and scrambled to her feet. Now on the beach, the warm air fell down on her, but it did little to make her feel any less frozen. Her body was shaking so hard that it was difficult to even breathe. She felt so relieved to be out of the ocean that she was tempted to just lay there on the beach. She almost did, but a much more important thing came to mind.

Her friends! Where were they? She scanned the area, her entire body shaking with fear. No, no, no. She didn’t see them anywhere. That scared her more than anything else. Were they still in the ocean? Could either of them swim? It had never occurred to her until now. She should never have brought them here. This was all her fault! 

“Orion!” Bethany shouted frantically, unable to keep the fear out of her voice. “Gwen! Hello?” _Please let them be okay!_

“We’re here!” Gwen responded, and Bethany let out a huge sigh of relief when she spotted her friend on the other side of the rocks. Orion was at her side as they navigated the rocks, slipping a bit until they came to Bethany’s side. Overwhelmed, Bethany grabbed Gwen’s hand tightly, stabling herself.

“A-Are you okay?” she asked them, her teeth chattering from the coldness that the ocean had brought. She looked from Gwen to Orion, surveying their faces. They both looked just as shocked as she did. 

Gwen nodded. “I am. Are you?” 

“I-I think so. A little.” 

“But — oh my gosh! Your forehead is bleeding!”

Bethany reached a hand up to her forehead, surprised when she felt blood there. She’d forgotten how her forehead had hit against the rocks when she fell into them. But although she was bleeding, it didn’t seem to be a lot of blood. Now that she noticed it was there, she also noticed how much it was stinging. 

“It’s nothing,” she lied, shrugging. “It doesn’t really hurt that much. It’s just from the rocks.” 

“Well, we’ll get that fixed once we get back to Toby’s cabin. I’m sure he has what you Earthers call ‘first-aid’.”

Bethany nodded, letting out a breath. “Okay. I’m just really glad we survived that. That was _terrifying_.” She shuddered. 

“How can you be glad?” Orion demanded. “We fell off a cliff, and you couldn’t get us up with your jetpack. How are we supposed to get back up?”

Bethany was about to suggest she use her powers to jump them out of the book, only to realize that that wouldn’t work, because the stone wasn’t destroyed yet. Ugh, why did things have to be so difficult for them? She was so sure that the stone was gone, but to see that it wasn’t was like a punch in the face. What would destroy it? It didn’t matter now, though. They needed to try getting out of here first. 

So instead, she said, “We’ll climb, obviously.”

“Really?” he challenged. “Look up.” 

She lifted her head and winced. She realized just then how far up the cliff was. It was so high that she couldn’t see the top from here. From what she could tell, there was no way any of them could climb to the top. It was way too far of a climb, and none of them were exactly expert rock climbers. The other thing that could help them was Gwen’s jet pack, but that only would work with one or two people. And Bethany wasn’t about to leave them with just that option. 

She glanced at her friends again, her breath hitching. “Uh, it looks like it’s really far up. And um . . . it looks like we need to get up there _now._ ” 

Her eyes landed on the pure possibility wall, and her friends followed her gaze. Bethany realized that she’d been right. The wall was so much closer than before, and it was somehow moving faster than it had been only minutes ago. It was getting closer and closer to the beach, and within minutes it seemed that the rest of the ocean would be gone. How could that be possible?

“That is a _very_ big problem,” Orion growled, pushing his wet hair out of his eyes. He glanced back at the cliffs, then back at them. “At this point, I don’t think climbing our way up is possible.” 

“Not climbing, maybe,” Gwen spoke up. “But flying might!”

“Gwen,” Bethany said. “We have to find another way. We can’t all get up there with your jetpack.” She watched, becoming more confused, as she saw Gwen removing her jetpack. “Wait . . . what are you doing?” 

“Trust me.” Gwen smiled, then quickly went behind Bethany and slid the jetpack over her shoulders. 

“No,” Bethany whispered, realization dawning on her. She tried pushing Gwen away, but was unable to, since Gwen was still holding onto her. “Gwen, w-what are you doing? Please don’t tell me you’re doing what I think you’re doing.” 

“You’re going to go on without me,” Gwen said, now adjusting the straps on Bethany’s shoulders so they’d be tighter. “Only two of us can get up there with the jetpack! It’ll make the trip a lot quicker. I wouldn’t want the pure possibility to catch all three of us.” 

Bethany glanced worriedly at Orion. “Can you give us a moment?” Despite not looking like he wanted to leave their sides, he walked a few feet away, leaving Bethany and Gwen alone. She turned back to her friend. “We can try to work this out, with the _three_ of us. We can do it.”

“I would love for that to be true, but we can’t.”

Bethany was shocked. She’d never heard Gwen say anything like that before. “You’ve never been anyone who’s given up!”

“I’m not giving up,” Gwen said in a tone that seemed much too calm. “But I know that the top of that cliff is very far up, and we wouldn’t make it if all three of us tried. Your powers aren’t working since you touched the pure possibility, and that means all we have is the jet pack. It can only carry two, so you and Orion need to go ahead. You can do it together!”

Bethany shook her head firmly. “No! I’m _not_ leaving you like this. _I’ll_ stay behind. You go.”

“We both know you need to get on top of that cliff more than anyone else,” Gwen said softly, her eyes locked on Bethany’s.

“I know, but . . .“ Bethany sighed deeply, her eyebrows scrunching together. “I don’t want to do this. I can’t, not without you—“

Gwen stepped closer to Bethany, reaching out and grabbing her by the hand. “Bethany, you have to do this. And you can, because you have a strong and _brave_ heart. You're braver than anyone I’ve met, and honestly? That’s not many people.” Gwen laughed a bit. “You say that I never give up?” She squeezed Bethany’s hand. “ _You_ taught me that.” 

Tears welled up in Bethany’s eyes, and despite everything that was happening, a small smile came to her lips. “I did?” 

“Yes!” Gwen smiled back, tears in her eyes as well. Except not a part of her looked sad. “You never gave up on finding your father or saving your friends. You bring so much light to others’ lives, much more than you realize. To me, you’re the Earth.”

Bethany didn’t know what to say. Her smile faded completely, her mouth trembling. No one had ever told her that before, that _she_ was their light. It was always the other way around, like how Kiel and Gwen were her beacons of hope. No one had even told her that she was their Earth, and she knew how important the Earth was the Gwen. Tears started to fall down her face, and she felt a painful twinge in her heart. 

Gwen stared at her, confused when she didn’t answer right away. She reached up and gently wiped the tears from Bethany’s cheeks with her hand. “Did I say something wrong?” 

“No.” Bethany shook her head, smiling. “You didn’t. That was just . . . the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you.”

“ _Of course_.” 

Bethany’s eyes glistened with tears as she focused on the last words Gwen had said, about being her ‘Earth’. “But wait, you really love Earth.” She swallowed. “Do you mean that . . . in your own way . . . y-you lo—“ 

“Hate to break up your talk,” Orion said, rushing to their side. There was a look of urgency in his eyes. “But look behind you.”

They all turned to see the ocean had faded completely away, and the pure possibility was rushing up to meet them. It was at the edge of the beach now. They were so close to it that if Bethany took a few steps closer, she’d already be inside the pure possibility wave. The three of them backed away, and Gwen lightly pushed Bethany and Orion further up the beach.

“Get going, okay?” Gwen said, looking directly into each of their eyes. She held Bethany’s gaze longer, her dark eyes warm and sincere. “I know _everything_ will work out.” 

“No, wait—“ Bethany began, panic rising in her, but Orion was already grabbing her around the waist, pulling her towards him. “Hey!” She thrashed around and slammed her foot hard onto his, trying to get him to let go.

For maybe the first time, Orion sounded distressed. “Stop fighting!”

“Let _go_ of me, Orion!” 

“I want you to go,” Gwen said, giving her a smile. She seemed calm and tranquil, as if there wasn’t a huge wall of white nothingness behind her. “I know goodbyes are never easy, but _nothing is forever_. I have a feeling this will all be worth it in the end. Remember what I told you?” 

Bethany stopped struggling for a moment, taking a shaky breath. Tears started to cascade down her eyelids and cheeks. “Yes, but . . . how can I _leave_ you?”

“It’s what friends are for,” Gwen said, a smile still on her face. She then nodded at Orion. “Take her, okay?”

“No! Stop! No, don’t!” Bethany protested, but Orion wrapped his arms tighter around her and pressed the throttle on the jetpack. They rose into the air, and Bethany kicked her legs, trying to get free. “STOP! NO! NO, LET ME GO! _L-LET ME GO_!” 

Her eyes were locked on Gwen. She began to cry harder as they sped up, zooming away from the beach. There was nothing she could do except watch her friend’s form get smaller and smaller. Bethany could not breathe. All she wanted was to get down there and sacrifice herself in Gwen’s place. Sadly, it wasn’t even an option that Bethany could take. 

Then, just as they reached the top of the cliff, Bethany saw the white nothingness pass over the rest of the beach. Her mouth dropped open, and her heart felt like it was breaking in half. Gwen was no longer there. It was like nothing had been there in the first place, but all Bethany could see was Gwen’s smiling face, and how she’d compared her to the Earth. Losing Gwen now was more painful than losing her in Bethany’s fear sequence. 

For a time, she just stared at the spot where Gwen had been. Bethany could hardly believe what had happened. Gwen was fictional, and she was pure possibility now, which was the worst thing that Nobody ever could've made. Bethany stared and stared, but she couldn’t see. She couldn’t think or even hear. All she felt was numbness, and an inexplicable wave of emotion passed over her. All she could do was feel and it hurt so, _so_ badly. 

“I . . .” Orion’s gruff voice came from behind her, and he sighed. “I don’t know what to say.” 

Bethany sniffled, whipping her head around to glare at him. The tears were still flooding down her face, and she didn’t care enough to wipe them away. “ _Don’t_ _talk to me right now!_ ”

She turned away from him, falling into a fit of silent, shaking sobs. Neither of them said anything else. If she was thinking straight, she would’ve been more embarrassed about crying in front of Orion. But she didn’t care, because she’d just lost Gwen. Gwen, who was such a wonderful friend to Bethany. She had been there for Bethany, and her optimism had taught Bethany so much. Gwen had brought her so much joy. But to know that she was gone? It broke her.

“Bethany,” Orion said, and Bethany ignored him, too lost in her thoughts to care. His voice got louder, more demanding. “Bethany, get up now.” 

“No,” she whispered, her eyes squeezed shut. 

“Get up!” Orion hissed, and grabbed her arm.

Furiously, Bethany retorted, “No! Leave me alo—“ 

He forcibly pulled her to her feet. “Stop acting like a baby for one second and _listen_ to me. We have to _go_. This is serious.” 

“W-Why?” 

Then Bethany saw where he was looking, and she saw why he’d been in such a hurry to leave. The pure possibility was closing in on them, already close enough to touch. She gasped, backing away too. Orion was right. They needed to go now, or else they’d be in even more trouble. Maybe not so much for her, but if the pure possibility reached Orion, he’d disappear like Gwen had. She didn’t want to lose two people this quickly.

“Let’s go,” Bethany agreed, and the two of them turned on their heels, heading for the forest. But then she realized something, and grabbed Orion’s arm. “Wait, I forgot something!”

“We have no _time_! What are you doing?!” 

She’d already started sprinting back towards the cliffside. Orion was calling after her, but she ignored him and ran to the spot they just were. Trying to act as quickly as she could, Bethany felt around on the ground, her eyes darting around the area. Then, her hand wrapped around the green stone, and she shoved it into her pocket before jumping to her feet.

Maybe the weirdest part was that the stone was cut in half, no longer whole. She hadn't seen the other half anywhere. Maybe that was what Gwen had been saying, about a fictional person needing to go inside with it. Since Bethany was only half-fictional, was that the reason only half of the stone was gone? There wasn't enough time to think through what that meant, but she assumed it was the reason.

”What was so important for you to get?” Orion yelled angrily when she ran back over to him. They were running again, trying to go even faster now that Bethany had needed to go back. The pure possibly was coming towards them a lot quicker now, spreading out over the cliffside.

“The stone!” Bethany said, panting. “I-It didn't get destroyed like we thought! I saw it on the ground!”

“ _What_?” 

“I was about to tell you earlier, but then we fell off of a freaking _cliff_!”

“So this whole mission was a waste of time?”

Bethany shot him a dirty look, strands of hair whipping across her face. “It was _not_ a waste. Gwen sacrificed herself to save us!” 

Orion’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “I didn’t mean that part . . . we’ll get justice for her. Let’s just focus on getting away from this wall.” 

They reached the edge of the forest, and Bethany leapt over a tree root in her haste to move faster. Orion was behind her now. Bethany didn’t stop running, and neither did he. But as fast as they were going, the pure possibly was only getting faster. They hadn’t made it far enough away before something even worse happened. 

Somehow, the winds shifted, blowing stronger than ever. It had come on so suddenly that it didn’t even seem to be a part of the weather, and instead seemed to be . . . something else. Then she looked over her shoulder, and her heart jumped out of her chest. It wasn’t the wind at all. It was the pure possibility that was pulling them, almost like a magnetic force.

Except the problem wasn't for Bethany; it was for Orion. Compared to her, the force of the pull seemed ten times bigger on him. Probably because he was fictional? She stopped running and stared, horrified. She’d never seen anything like it, not with the pure possibility wall, at least. 

What was going on? Why did it seem like the pure possibility had a mind of it’s own, when before, it had been moving at a slow pace? Here, it was pulling things towards it. Fictional things. 

And one of those things was Orion. 

In her confusion and fear, she barely had time to realize the truth of what was happening until it started to occur. The pull of the pure possibility was so intense that Orion’s feet started to leave the ground. He shouted for Bethany, and she gasped as she saw him being pulled into the air, where he was yanked by an invisible force right towards the pure possibility wall. 

“Orion!” Bethany yelled. 

She sprinted after him, fueled by determination. She managed to grab onto his hands, then tried with all her might to pull him back, digging her heels into the grass. The pull of the pure possibility felt as strong as a magnet, though, and it was incredibly hard to pull him away from it. Not that she would give up. She couldn’t lose Orion, too! 

“Let go of me, Bethany,” Orion ordered. “You _need_ to.”

“No I don’t!” she protested, shaking her head. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m _not_ letting you go.” She grunted, attempting to pull him towards her but the force pulling Orion back was too powerful. “ _Fight back_. We’re going to save Dad together—“

“No, _you’re_ going to save him,” Orion said, his green eyes narrowed. “Be realistic, Bethany. There’s _nothing_ I can do.”

“I seriously hate you sometimes.” Bethany took a shuddering breath. “I don’t care about being realistic. Let me save you _and_ him.” 

Her fingers began to slip from his arms, and she found herself panicking more, trying desperately to hold onto him, to stop him from leaving her. He was all the family she had left, and despite how much they annoyed each other, she‘d grown to really care about him. She couldn’t lose him like this. She’d already lost Gwen and her father, and now Orion, too? It felt like her worst fears were coming true. 

“You can’t save me, and you know it,” he said, and Bethany’s eyes darted back to his. “You don’t have the strength to pull me out.”

“Don’t say that.” A sob built up in her chest. “I can do it!”

“Bethany.” Maybe for the first time ever, Orion‘s hard gaze softened. “Listen to me, and _let_ me _go_. It’s the only thing to do.” 

“No! H-Hold on! I d-don’t want to lose you! You’re — you’re all the f-family I have!“ 

As stubborn as Bethany was, the pull of the pure possibility only became stronger. She gasped as her hands began slipping even more from Orion’s; there was nothing either of them could do to stop it. As if in slow motion, they lost their grip on each other, and Bethany’s heart stopped beating. Orion was suddenly flying backwards, both arms outstretched towards her, his eyes locked on her’s.

“ORION!” Bethany screamed. It was too late. She watched in horror as Orion passed through the wave of pure possibility, and just like that, another family member was lost to her forever. 

* * *

_“Where else can I go? Where else can I go? Chasin' you, chasin' you . . .”_


	44. Hopes and Fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Locked in Nobody’s prison, Christian thinks about his family. Owen and the others start to worry about their missing friends.

_**Walking The Wire (by Imagine Dragons)** _

_“Do you feel the same when I'm away from you? Do you know the line that I'd walk for you?”_   
  


* * *

Christian Sanderson opened his eyes to white nothingness. It was all he’d seen for the past . . . days, hours? There was no way to tell. Time stood still here. Nothing ever happened, and Christian was tired of it. The last thing he remembered was getting thrown in here by Nobody. He and Orion had tried looking for Bethany, and the next thing Christian knew, he was being held captive by Nobody. Again. 

There weren’t many things that scared Christian, but not knowing what might be happening to his family did. They could be hurt and he wouldn’t even know it. He wouldn’t know if they needed help, and if they did, there was no way to get to them. How could you escape a prison with no windows or doors?

Obviously, Nobody had put him here for a reason: to separate him from Bethany and Orion and Jupiter City. But there must’ve been something much bigger going on. Christian had been fighting against Nobody for years, and he knew that man wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted.

So what was it? Nobody had already separated Bethany, which had infuriated Christian as soon as it happened. He’d tried begging Nobody to restore her to how she used to be, as she’d lost her memories about the nonfictional world. Bethany even had forgotten about her nonfictional mother, who Christian dearly missed.

Shortly after Bethany got seperated, Christian tried finding a way to the nonfictional world, but every last portal seemed to be closed. There was no way to get back. All he wanted was to see his wife again, and to restore Bethany to her normal self. If he knew her normal self at all. Her fictional version was a wonderful person, but he knew it wasn’t fully her.

And that hurt Christian more than anything. but he tried his best to move on. He’d told Orion to do the same, and they acted like the Twilights had always been together. It was hard in the beginning, but not for long. Christian learned a lot about Bethany in the three years he got to know her.

He learned that she was so protective of everyone she cared about, something she must’ve gotten from both of her parents. He learned that she was way more mature than he gave her credit for. She was passionate and competitive and brave. And every time she sighed deeply or rolled her eyes, she reminded him more and more of Catherine.

And yet, there was still so much he was missing out on.

To fictional Bethany, it was like her dad had never left. She acted like they’d lived together all their lives, and she’d been training to be a superhero for many years. They weren’t real memories, but until they could find a way to get the whole version of her back, Christian had liked seeing her happy. It gave him a second chance with her, although he wished there was a way to restore her memories.

Then, he could really start over. He would apologize for causing Bethany and Catherine so much pain after he’d disappeared. They hadn’t deserved that. Especially Bethany, who’d only been four at the time. Seeing her now, a fifteen-year-old who had such strength within her, reminded him that she was already so grown up.

It was hard trying to be a dad for a girl he’d last seen when she was only four. 

Two teenagers living around the house were a lot to deal with, especially when Christian didn’t exactly know how to raise a much-older Bethany. Not that it was too hard to do, but he constantly wished Catherine was here, as she’d raised Bethany longer than he had. Sometimes, he didn’t know if he was doing it right.

He knew that Bethany and Orion could handle themselves, but he was worried about them. Orion was thankfully still in Jupiter City, but the same couldn’t be said for his daughter. It was the first time in years that he didn’t know where she was. Anytime he was separated from her caused his heart to hurt. Whether it was in the fictional or nonfictional world, the Sandersons had been separated too much over the past eleven years.

Why had Bethany disappeared out of nowhere? He knew that her fictional side was very impulsive and reckless, but she never had left without telling Christian where she was going first. She was pretty independent, so he trusted her to go off on her own without getting hurt. This time, he had no idea where she’d gone, why she’d gone, or if she was okay.

Had Nobody hurt her? Had she been kidnapped by him, too? Christian didn’t know. He hadn’t even seen Nobody since he’d been thrown into this strange, white void. He hadn’t seen anyone at all. But if Nobody kidnapped her, why would he want to hurt Bethany again? He’d already gotten what he wanted, with splitting Bethany in half and separating the worlds. Christian had just failed to stop him.

There was also Orion to be concerned about. Christian cared deeply about his sidekick, and had begun to think of him as his own son. He had no doubt that that boy would be trying to find him; he was very determined when he wanted to be. But Christian knew from experience that no one ever found this place unless Nobody put you there. Plus, he didn’t want Orion to get hurt while trying to find him. Nobody wasn’t someone he wanted any of his kids to deal with.

If anything, Christian would rather have Orion find Bethany first, so they could have each other. Knowing that would’ve eased Christian’s worries, but he still didn’t have a clue of where Bethany was. He wasn’t sure if she was in Jupiter City at all. She could be in incredible danger, especially if Nobody had something to do with it. Christian was her father, and he wasn’t even able to help her. What kind of parent was he if he couldn’t save his daughter from danger? He should‘ve been there for her all along.

Christian stared blankly at the white nothingness, waiting for something to happen. There was nothing to look at, nothing to do except worry about his family . . . and wonder what Nobody was really up to. There had to be a reason why Nobody had kidnapped Christian, yet Nobody was waiting a considerably long time to show up and explain himself. Christian needed to get out of here and find his family.

Suddenly, a door appeared out of nowhere. Christian was sure he’d never seen it before, because if he had, he definitely would’ve used it to escape. He thought maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, after all he was seeing was white nothingness. But then, the door swung open with a creak. A person stepped through it, someone without any facial features.

Nobody.

Long ago, he would never have thought twice about Nobody, as he used to be a common henchman. But Nobody had grown so much more villainous from then on, and had caused so much harm to not only Christian’s family, but to the people of Jupiter City, too. He’d even traumatized poor Mason Black, the author of the Dox Twilight comics. And there were probably more! Nobody often hurt others — most importantly Christian’s family — to get what he needed, and Christian had had enough of it.

Nobody nodded at him. “Hello, Christian.”

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but imprisoning me won’t solve _anything_ ,” Christian said, breathing evenly. He tried his best to stay calm. “We can work this out. You don’t have to keep me here, whatever the reason. You don’t have to do any of this.”

“Don’t think you have the authority to tell me what to do. Remember, you’re in my prison now,” Nobody said coldly, closing the door behind him. 

The door disappeared as soon as he closed it, and Christian slumped a little. That door was his only way out. The only other option was for Nobody to take Christian out of here himself, and Christian didn’t think that would be happening with the way things were going.

“What do you want with me?” Christian furrowed his brows, desperate to leave. He paused, and a rush of anger filled him as he demanded, “Did you do something to my daughter? If you hurt her again, I swear—“

“Oh, I didn’t do anything to her,” Nobody said. “It’s actually what she’s done to herself. You see, her two halves are rejoined again.”

Christian’s mouth fell open, and he would’ve smiled if the news were said under better conditions. “She’s — she’s back to normal?” That made him feel better already. “You won’t win now. You’ll never destroy the worlds with her whole.”

“That’s precisely my point,” Nobody said. “No, I wouldn’t win unless I was able to split her in half again.”

Christian glared at him. “Don’t think about doing that. You’ve threatened my daughter too many times. Splitting her in half won’t work a second time!” 

Nobody stared at him, then chuckled. He turned away, beginning to pace around the endless void. “It already has. You’ve missed a lot in the days you’ve been cooped up in here. Or should I say . . . weeks? Time passes much slower in Jupiter City.”

“What are you talking about? What have you done to her?”

“I have done nothing except capture the only remaining family member she’ll have left. And once the pure possibility reaches us, you’ll be gone too.”

Only family member she had left? Horror filled Christian at the thought, and he ran to Nobody, grabbing him by the arms. “What have you done?! Did you hurt Orion? Catherine?!”

“We both know I can’t hurt Catherine. Not from here,” Nobody said, forcibly pushing Christian off of him.

Christian felt breathless. “And Orion? Did you hurt him too? Tell me, Nobody!”

“He was with your daughter,” Nobody said, and Christian released a small breath. They were together, just like he had hoped they would be. They’d found each other. That was a relief to hear, but he was afraid of what had happened to Orion.

“And?”

“It’s a long story,” Nobody said slowly. “But they were trying to destroy something. A stone. They stupidly went to the pure possibility to try destroying it. Bethany was so desperate to stop me that she didn’t think of the consequences.” He seemed to smile. “You can imagine the rest. Or should I tell you? Bethany failed, and she’s completely alone now. I didn’t intend for this to happen, Christian. It was her own fault.”

“No . . .” Christian’s mouth fell open. Orion must’ve touched the pure possibility, and that meant he . . . he was gone? Christian couldn’t imagine it. He didn’t want to imagine it. His snarky, brooding sidekick —a boy who he thought of as his very own son — was gone. He loved Orion. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to say goodbye to him.

He thought of how hard that must’ve been for Bethany. She had been there when all of that happened to Orion. It seemed that the two of them were always having some kind of rivalry or competition. But Christian knew they cared about each other more than either of them let on. In the time they’d lived together, they had become siblings. And to lose Orion . . . Christian could only imagine how upset Bethany must be. 

He should’ve stopped this from happening. He should’ve been able to do _something_. This wasn’t right. It wasn’t meant to go this way. His kids weren’t the ones who should be suffering. It should be Nobody who was feeling pain, not the other way around. Not only did his children not deserve this, but the entire fictional population didn’t either!

“No!” he repeated. 

He felt the strange, overwhelming urge to hit something. Maybe even cry if he felt like it, but right now he didn’t have it in him to cry. Adrenaline flooding his veins, Christian lunged forward, attempting to push Nobody over. Nobody just stared at him for a moment, then disappeared right before Christian could grab him. 

Propelled by his momentum, Christian fell to the floor. Breathing heavily, he glanced over his shoulder to see Nobody standing behind him. As always, there was no emotion on Nobody’s face. Not even a sign that he was sorry about what he’d done. Christian didn’t know if it was possible to hate someone so much, but apparently it was. This man had ruined his life for years and years . . . and he still didn’t seem ready to stop.

“You’re a _monster_ ,” Christian growled. “You’ve taken everything from me!”

“I’ve only done what is necessary,” Nobody said, clenching his fists. “I’m being the hero that our world needs. We need freedom from the nonfictionals!”

“Not at the expense of my daughter’s _life_. Not so my so— Orion can be taken from me! I can’t even see my _wife_ again!” 

“You don’t get it, Christian. You never have. This is what _always_ had to happen. Bethany must be separated for my plan to work, and everyone else will turn into pure possibility soon enough. There is no other way than that! I will _not_ be controlled anymore!”

“You’ll _pay_ for what you did,” Christian said angrily, starting to get to his feet. 

Nobody narrowed his eyes. “Will I? You can’t do anything to me. Not in here. The fictional and nonfictional worlds _must_ be separate. Through your daughter, you’ve linked the worlds even _closer_ together. Don’t you see? Our world must be free!”

Christian shook his head. “You’re wrong. Them being connected is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” 

“That’s because you’ve always been the hero in your story,” Nobody said. “You’ve always gotten what you wanted. You’ll never understand what it’s like to be controlled, because you _wanted_ the life you had. I, on the other hand, _never_ want to be controlled. I’ll do whatever it takes to get that.” He turned away from Christian. “Enough of this. There’s something I need to do.” 

Before Christian could say anything, Nobody stuck his hand out in front of him. As he moved his arm forward, his entire hand began to disappear, as if it was passing through a wall that Christian couldn’t see. Once Nobody’s arm had disappeared halfway, he pulled at something. 

Nobody backed away, and as he pulled his arm out of the nothingness, there was another hand attached to it. Nobody continued to take a few steps backward. As he did, the hand extended to an arm, which extended to legs, a torso, and a face. Just like that, another man was standing in the white void. An old, kind-looking man with a long white beard and flowing robes. 

Christian didn’t have much knowledge about fantasy books, but this man looked like he‘d emerged straight from one of them. Not only were his robes an indicator, but there was a magical aura about him. Maybe he was a magician of some sort, similar to that boy who Bethany talked so highly about? Although the old man looked harmless, a bad feeling entered Christian at the sight of him. He didn’t know why.

The man looked at Nobody with irritation before his gaze settled on Christian. “What’s this about?”

Nobody turned to the man. “Remember that girl you despise so much, the one that took your apprentice from you? This is her father.”

Christian stared, shaking slightly. “You know my daughter?”

“Know her?” The man seemed to grow irritated. “Yes, I’m afraid I do. She stuck me in a math book a few years ago and _severed_ my relationship with my apprentice.” 

Christian almost cracked a smile at that. Sticking someone in a math book, especially someone that seemed like a villain? That sounded like Bethany, all right. 

“I’m sure you deserved it,” Christian told the man.

The old man’s eyes flashed with anger. “How dare you! I see where your daughter gets her arrogance. She destroyed everything in my life! Taking my apprentice from me, who willingly chose _her_ over me—“ 

Christian could only guess that the apprentice the man was talking about must’ve been that boy magician . . . what was his name? Kiel? Yes, _Kiel_. Christian had heard good things about that boy. He’d also heard many complaints about him from Bethany, calling him “annoying” and “obnoxious”. Just from the stories he’d heard, he had a feeling that Bethany and Kiel must've been close.

It honestly reminded him of how Catherine used to act around Christian when they were younger. Back when they had first met, she’d called him crazy _and_ obnoxious. She’d even threatened to call the cops on him, and funnily enough, Christian had fallen for Catherine much sooner than she had for him. 

Remembering Catherine made him feel a twinge in his heart. He missed her a lot. But now wasn’t the time to think about her.

“Yes, you’ve complained about that several times now,” Nobody interrupted. “I’ve come up with the perfect way for both of us to get what we want, Magister. For you to get Kiel back, and for me to get what _I_ want. Bethany is alone, and right now, she’s at her weakest state. Find her, and bring her to me. Tell her that her father is waiting for her. And don’t come back until you have her.”

The Magister nodded.

“No!” Christian shouted desperately. “Don’t hurt Bethany! She’s gone through enough pain because of you!” 

“I never said anything about hurting her, Christian,” Nobody said, looking at him one last time. “But if she doesn’t cooperate, if it _comes_ to that, then I may not have another option. I’m sure that once you’re mentioned, she’ll stop everything to come find you. After all, that’s what she’s been doing since she was four.” 

He and the Magister then vanished into thin air, leaving Christian alone. Alone in the quiet prison, where there was nothing to do and no one to save. He was a superhero. He should be stopping the villains and rescuing the people he loved. Here, he couldn't be that hero. He had to put his faith into his daughter and pray that she would get through this. That she wouldn’t let Nobody get to her. She was strong, definitely stronger than Christian was at her age. He didn’t know _where_ she’d gotten that strength from. 

At times when he’d lost those he loved, he had given into the pain and fear. He’d become the Dark. He’d become a villain, and had lost sight of everything that made him _him_. He could have fought harder against Nobody, and so, he hoped that Bethany would. He wanted her to have hope, not fear. It was the best thing to do in a situation like that, no matter how horrible losing Orion must have been for her. 

Hope was a hard thing to have in times like these, and Christian prayed that she would have it. Even a glimmer of it was better than nothing at all.

* * *

“They’ll be fine,” Kiel said for what seemed like the hundredth time. He was standing by the door, a few feet away from Owen. His bare arms were crossed over his chest (which was a strange sight to see, because not only was Owen not used to seeing Kiel in any other color besides black, but he was _also_ used to Kiel only wearing long sleeves). 

Every now and then, Kiel would look out the window, looking a bit distracted. Then, he’d reassure Owen — and whoever else was in the room at the time — that their friends would be fine. It reminded Owen of the time that they’d lost their memories and had tried to find Bethany before she drowned. This was different though, because neither of them knew if their friends were coming back anytime soon.

Owen had been sitting, then pacing, then sitting again. Now he was back to pacing. It’d been maybe four hours since Bethany, Gwen, and Orion had left, and Owen was worried. It was a realistic amount of time to be gone, given everything they were doing, but still! Why were they gone for so long?

He couldn’t shake off the bad feeling he had, knowing that three of his friends were doing something incredibly dangerous. Something bad could be happening to them. Or maybe it was the opposite. It wasn’t very likely, but maybe they were just having a great adventure, while Owen was stuck waiting for them to come back.

“I know,” Owen replied quietly, staring at the floor below him. It was the first thing he’d said since his friends had left. It wasn’t like him to not be talkative, especially when he was nervous, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the kind of danger his friends would be in.

“Owen, can you sit still for like, ten seconds?”

He finally stopped pacing and turned to Kiel, who looked worried. An uncharacteristic emotion for Kiel, but it was an emotion that Owen realized his friend had more often than he let on. And if Kiel was worried, then Owen knew he had a good reason to be, too. Their friends could be in danger, but Owen had no idea if that true. 

It was a shame that his cell phone didn’t work in the fictional world. He’d tried a couple times in the past and nothing would make it work correctly. If it did, he could call Bethany and see how she was doing. That way if she needed backup (which she probably didn’t, especially because Orion was with her), he and the others could reach her in time. 

Everything would be solved if phones worked in the fictional world. Seriously, _everything_. 

“I’m worried about them,” Owen said. “They’re in trouble. I _know_ it. We should’ve gone after them while we still had the chance. We could’ve followed them without them knowing we were there, and if something bad happened at least we could’ve jumped in and helped! I just have this feeling that something really bad is happening!”

“You’re just thinking the worst,” Kiel said, uncrossing his arms. “I’m sure they already have the stone destroyed by now. Maybe they’re even on their way back.”

“Maybe.” Owen sighed, back to pacing again. “I just hate not knowing what’s going on, you know?”

“I know.”

“And I wish I was out there helping them destroy it, not sitting in here. I don’t feel useful at all!” 

“I feel a little that way, too.” Kiel started juggling a wand-knife from hand to hand. “I’m just saying, Bethany should’ve asked me to go with her. Don’t they know better than to leave me behind? Of all people, she should know that I’m the best person for the job. I really _wanted_ to destroy the stone! It would’ve been fun to explode something again.” 

“It’s my fault we took the stone at all,” Owen said, only half-listening to what Kiel had said. “It was my decision to listen to Fowen’s plan, and I took the stone, which led to Bethany losing her powers and making up that plan and taking Gwen and Orion with her. I know that if I hadn't just taken that stone we wouldn’t be in this situation at all—“

“Hey, don’t start that up again.” Kiel grabbed Owen’s shoulder, which made him stop pacing. “I thought you were done blaming yourself for that.”

Owen sighed again, meeting Kiel’s eyes. “I know. I am. I’m just worried. And _bored_ of waiting.”

“They‘ll be okay,” Kiel told him sincerely, taking his hand off Owen’s shoulder. “We know their plan will work. Nothing bad is going to happen.” He winked. “Not until we _know_ something bad will happen.”

Owen nodded, though he didn’t really believe Kiel. Every time his friends separated something bad always ended up happening. That wasn’t just him be pessimistic. It was just a very fictional, book-like thing to happen, to move the story along and make it more dramatic. And from what he’d seen from this book and from the pure possibility, both included danger.

He could only hope his friends were okay. That was all he could do right now, even though he really wished he could be out there, helping them destroy the stone. He could tell that Kara and Charm also weren’t too happy about being cooped up here. Charm had even complained openly about it, while Kara had quickly appeared to be bored of waiting around.

He felt the exact same way they did. It didn’t seem fair that they had to wait for things to happen. It must’ve been killing Kiel especially to not be in the midst of danger. Despite Kiel’s assurances that their friends would be okay, Owen knew he would’ve preferred to be out there instead of in here. And if Bethany got hurt, Owen knew just how upset Kiel could get. He’d seen that back when they were in Doyle’s book.

“Are you worried about Bethany?” Owen asked. He saw Kiel’s face drop the slightest bit, confirming his thoughts.

“She can take care of herself,” Kiel said. “But with her not having her powers . . .” He shook his head slightly. “I don’t want her to get hurt. I want her to be safe, that’s all.” 

Owen started to smile before he even knew he was doing it. “I know. Me too.” 

Kiel raised an eyebrow. “Why are you smiling like that?”

“Kiel . . .” Owen began, suddenly realizing this was his one opportunity to ask this question. “I have a question for you. Answer honestly, okay?” Kiel nodded. “Do you like Bethany?”

The boy magician stared at Owen, looking surprised for a moment. Then, he chuckled, as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Like her? Of course I do. She’s very likable. Even after all the times she’s been mean to me.” 

Owen’s grin faded. “. . . Wait, no, I meant _like_ liking her. Not just liking her as a friend. Liking her as more than that. Unless that’s what you meant?”

Kiel looked confused. “I-I don’t understand.”

“It’s okay for you to tell me.”

“No, I’m _confused_. You want to know if we’re friends?” Kiel stated. Owen began shaking his head, but Kiel kept going. “Why would you think we aren't friends? Obviously I like her.”

“But that’s not what I mea—“ 

“So uh, what was it that we were talking about before?” Kiel said almost too casually, like Owen had never brought it up. “Oh, right. How worried you were about our friends.”

Why wouldn’t Kiel answer him? He was already ninety-percent sure what the answer was. He was pretty sure that Kiel had liked Bethany for three years at this point. It wasn’t like he _needed_ to know, but Kiel was his best friend, and they were old enough now to tell each other these things. It wasn’t like anyone else was in the room. Even Toby had left, as he’d run out to do some errands.

“Come on, can you give me _any_ answer?” Owen pleaded.

Kiel slowly shook his head with a slight smile. “But I already answered you. What else do you want me to say?” 

“I actually meant it in a different way.“ 

Kiel crinkled his eyebrows. “What way?” 

“Well . . . since Bethany’s been gone you‘ve been doing that thing where you look really lost-in-thought and you don’t talk as much. And your hands open and close a lot, too.” Owen pointed down to Kiel’s hands, and sure enough, they _were_ opening and closing! He had read on some fan website that that’s what Kiel did when he was nervous or scared. 

Kiel glanced down at his hands, laughing a little. “What do my hands have to do with any of this?”

“Um . . . what I mean is that you’re worried about her.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“I don’t know,” Owen muttered, before thinking of one last thing to say. “I just think you like her. You _always_ stare at her like you want to marry her.” 

“What?” Kiel blinked, giving Owen an odd look. “Why would I want to marry anyone? I’m way too young for that, Owen. And I’ll look like Dr. Verity when I’m older. Who’d want to marry _that_?” 

“It’s not — it’s an expression,” Owen said. “I wasn’t saying you should marry anyone! That would be really weird.”

Jeez, it was even harder to get through to Kiel than it was to Bethany! He _wanted_ to know the answer, but maybe these things were meant to be unsaid. After all, if someone had tried asking him about his crush on Kara, he would be embarrassed to say it out loud. 

He just didn’t understand why a confident hero like Kiel had skirted around the question. Was it possible that Owen had misread everything? Or was Kiel just confused about what Owen was asking? Maybe Kiel _didn’t_ actually have a crush on Bethany. Maybe Owen _was_ imagining things. Now, he just felt guilty for even asking Kiel the question at all. 

Owen took a breath. “Kiel . . .” He lowered his voice to a whisper, his eyes locked on Kiel’s. “Do you have a crush on Bethany? That’s what I’ve been trying to ask you.” 

Kiel’s expression changed to one of realization, the confusion melting away from his features. A few seconds passed by where Kiel said nothing, looking almost lost-in-thought. He parted his lips to say something, but he was too late to answer.

“Why are you talking about marriages?” Kara’s amused voice suddenly rang out.

Both boys whirled around to see her opening the door of the cabin, Charm right behind her. They’d been outside for a while. It was weird for Owen to think that Kara and Charm had actually started becoming friends, when just two days ago, Charm had really seemed to hate Kara. He was glad for the sudden change, but it _was_ random. 

“Because—“ Owen started to say, but Kiel interrupted him. 

“Oh good, you’re here,” Kiel exclaimed, striding towards the girls. “I was beginning to think you were never coming inside.” He glanced out the window. “Did you see Beth?” He quickly added, “And uh, Orion and Gwen?”

“No,” Charm said, sounding much less enthusiastic. “They would’ve followed us inside if they _were_ here.” She swept her gaze around the room. “It’s been too long. Bethany was stupid to come up with a plan like that.”

Kiel shook his head, instantly replying, “She’s smart.” 

“Not to destroy the stone with pure possibility. That’s what’s making the worlds disappear, remember?” 

“But shouldn’t they be here by now?” Kara asked. “I thought they were just going to throw the stone into the pure possibility.”

“Yeah, that’s their plan,” Owen agreed. “But all of our plans have been going badly lately. And we all know how dangerous the pure possibility is when fictionals are around it.” 

Kiel frowned. “I don’t think the pure possibility is as dangerous as you’re saying it is, Owen. I mean, yes, it’s been destroying the worlds. But it’s been moving so slowly. We still have time. And Bethany said so herself that they won’t come in any contact with it.”

It seemed like he was trying to convince himself of it, because judging from the look in Kiel’s eyes, Owen knew that he was just as concerned as the rest of them. He knew Kiel probably better than anyone else in the room. He’d read his stories, seeing his thoughts written out on the pages. If there was one thing that unsettled Kiel the most, it was being unable to protect his friends. Maybe this was his way of coping with that.

“I know,” Owen said. “But plans can go wrong easily!” He sighed. “The only good thing I can think of is that they’re in a group of three.”

“Group of three?” Kiel looked confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Whoops! Owen had actually forgotten that none of his friends knew the book references he was talking about.

“In Percy Jackson, a group of three is the best amount to have in a group,” Owen explained, happy to be of some use. “Threes are really important when going on a quest, to make sure no one gets lost. In the fourth book there was a group of four, and of course things went wrong becau—“ 

Charm quirked an eyebrow. “Are you seriously kidding me? There is no way that makes any logical sense.”

“It makes _some_ sense,” Kara quipped. “And that’s coming from someone who’s immune to paradoxes.”

“Paradoxes are a lot more confusing.” Owen muttered. He glanced around at his friends. “Just . . . just trust me on that, okay? Nothing bad can happen when you’re in a group of three. Except . . .” He groaned. “Right, this might not apply here! Maybe a group of three _is_ bad.” 

Kara nudged him with her shoulder. “I think you’re overthinking a _lot_ about this groups of three stuff,” she said, which made him blush. “Why does the amount of people matter so much?”

“It doesn’t. Really, it doesn’t. It probably doesn’t even apply here.” 

“Even _if_ it did, they’re going to the same location as the pure possibility,” Charm said. “I tried studying it for years. I’d be surprised if they come back in one piece.”

His eyes widened. “So you think they’re in trouble?”

“Yes,” she answered automatically, and he gave her a look that said _not helping_. 

“I think so, too!” Kara said, nodding along. “It’s weird that they’ve been gone so long. If I had my time bracelet I could easily find them, but . . .” She smiled. “Guess we’ll have to cross _that_ off the agenda.”

Owen smiled, then turned his head thoughtfully towards the floor. “I wish we had a way of knowing where they were or how they were doing . . .” Then, an idea came to him. He looked at Charm. “Wait! You tracked _me_ down when you were looking for us in the forest. Can you do that for them?”

Charm stared at him blankly. “That was only because Kiel’s heart is inside you. I can’t track _them_ down.”

“Oh.” 

Owen deflated, feeling like an idiot for even asking. He’d forgotten that Charm could only track him, since he had the robotic heart she’d given him. It felt like it’d only been a couple of months since that had happened, and he had to remind himself that it’d actually been _years_. Even now, it was still something that was easy for him to forget. And hard for him to accept. 

So maybe they _were_ out of options for finding their friends. that couldn’t be the end, though. Owen had a feeling that something bad was happening to his friends. Maybe it was just because they were going to the same spot as the pure possibility, but they’d also been gone for way too long. Long enough that it worried Owen. He just wanted to make sure they were okay. 

“But maybe _I_ can,” Kiel blurted out. “My magic can help find them, if I use my—“

Owen gasped. “Location spell!” 

“Exactly!” Kiel smiled. He seemed more like his old self again, now that they were going to find their friends. “As long as it works better than it did last time.” 

He took his wand-knives out of their sheaths and began reciting the location spell. As he held his wand-knives out in front of him, a bright ball of light emerged from the tip. The four of them held their breath, their eyes locked on the ball. Unlike the last time they used the location spell, when it’d exploded into millions of light particles, the ball soared into the air and started zipping towards the door.

“Come on!” Kiel shouted. 

He raced after it, Owen hot on his heels. They threw open the door and ran outside, their footsteps loud on the wooden stairs. For a moment, Owen lost track of where the ball had gone. He squinted his eyes. Even though it was cloudy out and should be less difficult to see, detecting a magical ball of light was harder when he was outside. It was bright out, with the sun peaking out from behind some dark clouds.

“I don’t see it!” Owen exclaimed, halting his run to look around for the ball. The others came to a stop too, their heads swiveling around.

“There.” Charm pointed in a specific direction with her human arm. When Owen looked over, he saw that her robotic eye had just finished scanning their surroundings. A super helpful tool when they were already in a fairly bright forest. 

As he peered closer, Owen could tell that the ball of light _was_ there. It was heading towards the trees, high enough that it could blend in easily with it’s surroundings if Charm hadn’t noticed it. It was a good thing they had Charm with them. With her being half-robotic and being able to detect things that other people couldn’t, they would have no problem following Kiel’s location spell the rest of the way.

“I’m sure I could’ve found it,” Kiel said, patting Charm’s shoulder as he hurried past her.

Charm rolled her eyes. “Not likely.”

Owen shared an amused smile with Kara before they all ran after Kiel and the location spell. He felt a spark of hope growing inside his chest. Maybe everything would be okay. It probably wouldn’t work out a hundred percent, but with Kiel, Kara, and Charm with him, Owen doubted they’d fail to help their friends. He tried telling himself their rescue mission would go great . . . as long as their friends actually _needed_ rescuing. 

It didn’t take long for him to feel worried again. Owen had seen this play out hundreds of times, with one of his friends being in danger and him being unable to help. This time, he _was_ able to. But would he be able to stop something bad from happening? He wasn’t much of a hero now that he didn’t have his time powers anymore, but Kiel and Kara and Charm were. That had to mean they’d save their friends, right? 

Trees started to surround them at all sides, and from here, Owen couldn’t even see where the pure possibility was. It would take them a while before they reached it. Well, that wasn’t good. If their friends were in danger, Owen didn’t want to be too late by the time they got there. 

And what if they _were_ too late? What if something bad happened to them? Owen had no idea if they were okay or not. Only something bad could’ve happened from this, since his friends hadn’t returned and it’d already been a couple hours. If only Bethany had let them all go as a group. Then, they wouldn’t have to do a rescue mission. They didn’t even know if their friends _needed_ rescuing, either.

_Better to rescue them now_ , Owen thought. If everything turned out to be okay once they got there, they would’ve worried all for nothing. Bethany would probably be annoyed at them for their unneeded rescue mission, but it wouldn’t matter to Owen. At least he’d know that they’d gotten to their friends before anything bad happened to them. He’d just feel relieved that they were okay. 

Kara’s words floated around in his head. A group of three or not, they were taking way too long to do something that _should_ be easy. Bethany’s plan was to throw the stone into the pure possibility. That would’ve only taken a few seconds, right? That is, once they actually _got_ to the location of the pure possibility. With the amount of trees around, Owen couldn’t see the pure possibility anywhere ahead of them. 

How far had their friends gone? 

* * *

It felt like everything was going in slow motion. The world had gone silent, so silent that it made Bethany feel like she was going crazy. She stared at the wall of pure possibility that had just swallowed up her friends. Through her tears, she scanned the nothingness, looking for something — someone — that wasn’t there. It was over. It was all over. 

The pure possibility was getting closer with every second, and something in Bethany’s brain clicked. She needed to run. There was nothing else to do besides that. She couldn’t stay. But in her imagination, she took down the pure possibility wall, freeing her friends. She would have saved them. They would be okay again. 

But the reality of it was rarely so simple. 

The next thirty minutes went by in a blur. She barely remembered what she was supposed to be doing, or where she should be going. It was a long time before she realized she wasn’t at the cliffside anymore. When she came back into focus, she was kneeling on the forest floor. She was hunched over, unknowingly digging her fingers into the dewy grass.

She was back in the woods, but it wasn’t a part that she recognized. It didn’t even occur to her to head back to Toby’s cabin, because that was the last thing on her mind right now. She’d run fast and far, not even caring where she was going. Not caring if the pure possibility followed her. All she knew was that she had to get away from there. She had to focus on getting herself to safety, or else she’d focus on . . . other things.

Other things, like Gwen and Orion.

At the thought of them, Bethany sucked in a sharp breath. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about them. Maybe that was why it was hard to focus on anything else. It wasn’t just because they were gone. It was because there was no way for her to get them back. 

In her head, all she saw was them being dragged away from her by the pure possibility. Their goodbyes hung in the air, never leaving her ears. She could still hear Gwen referring to her as the “Earth”. She could still feel the warmth of Orion’s fingers, which she clutched as tightly as she could before everything fell apart. 

This was all her fault! She should’ve never brought them here. She should’ve gone alone. Yes, it would’ve been more dangerous, but her friends wouldn’t be _gone_. She could have done this alone, and maybe the stone would be destroyed. Or maybe she’d still be on that beach, not having Gwen’s jetpack to save her.

The wind picked up, blowing her braided hair and clothes. It was so strong that it howled through the trees, causing the branches of the trees to shake. Somewhere in the back of her head, Bethany remembered that the trees could _literally_ move. But if one did, she guessed that she wouldn’t even notice. She hadn’t noticed much of anything since the incident. 

Bethany sat there in the dirt, feeling as though all the life had drained from her being. Her head rested on her knees as she stared into nothing. A frown was plastered onto her face. The wind was surprisingly chilling despite the heat from the sun, but she felt nothing. She just felt _numb_. 

She thought of the plans she’d made with Gwen, to take her to the nonfictional world and show her some of Earth’s traditions. She thought of all their hugs, their laughs and even their saddest moments, when Gwen had comforted Bethany when they’d thought Kiel had died.

She thought of Orion, and how they were just starting to become closer. He’d always been a hard person to understand, and he often annoyed and frustrated her. But living with him, _knowing_ him, made her wonder if having a brother wouldn’t be all that bad. She thought of their superhero missions, their pointless fights, the one and only time they’d hugged . . . all of it. Her heart broke.

Bethany never expected to lose her entire family. Her mom was in an entirely different world, the only brother figure she’d ever had was gone, and she wasn’t sure if she’d see her dad again. For the first time, she wondered if she’d see any of them again. It was impossible to be optimistic right now. If Gwen was here, she’d say something to cheer Bethany up. But Gwen wasn’t here. No one was here. 

Bethany was alone, just like she’d always been. Maybe being alone was something she had to get used to. After all those years of not having friends and dropping everything else to look for her father, she thought she’d be used to the loneliness. But not this kind. She couldn’t describe the way she felt, but the intensity of the feeling was strong. 

She had to fix this. She’d tried fixing it and it had gotten worse, and now she just wanted to make Nobody and Fowen pay. Their actions had led to this. They _deserved_ what Bethany was feeling. Yet right now, she was so tired of fighting. All her life she’d been fighting. How could she when her friends were gone?

After a while of only staring at the ground, Bethany looked up through her tears. Anger flooded her mind, and she pushed herself off the ground. With fifteen — nearly sixteen — years of pain built up inside of her, she took the magical stone out of her pocket. All of this . . . all of it was because of the stone.

_I could’ve saved them_ , Bethany thought. _If I had been able to destroy the stone and jump out of the book, Gwen and Orion would still be here!_

But they weren’t here. Because of the stone. It had taken her powers and her friends away, had put all of them through their worst fears, and brought Nobody a step closer to winning. It wasn’t fair. _None_ of this was fair. Her friends didn’t deserve any of this! Bethany wanted to punch something. But seeing as there was nothing to punch besides trees, she did the next best thing. 

Screaming in anger, she threw the stone as hard as she could. It hit the ground a few feet away from her, burying itself into the grass. Grunting, she kicked her foot into a tree. Then she picked up a stick and snapped it in half. She picked up a large rock, screaming again as she lifted it over her head and threw it hard at the ground.

Tears slipped out of her eyes. Her voice hoarse from all the screaming, Bethany slumped against a tree and stopped moving. Exhausted from the effort — from _everything_ — she slumped to the ground, her breaths frantic. Squeezing her eyes shut, she dug her hands into the dirt and sobbed. She couldn’t see the stone anymore, but she didn’t care. The more she looked at it, the guiltier she felt. 

This was never supposed to happen. Not when a few hours ago, Bethany was confident they’d win. But now, she’d lost hope. She’d dealt with situations like this before, she reminded herself. But losing her dad when she was four — when she didn’t fully understand what was happening at the time — was very different from now.

She fully understood what had happened to her friends. They weren’t lost in a book, like her father had been. She couldn’t look for them, telling herself that they’d be in the books she jumped into. They were pure possibility now. If Nobody won, that moment with them might be the last one she’d ever get. She might not see them again. 

Wearily opening her eyes, Bethany glanced up. In the sky, she spotted birds flapping their wings. They looked so free, just as free as she’d felt a short while ago, when she had shape-shifted into the wind. For the first time all afternoon, her broken heart ached with something other than sadness. After everything she’d been through, after all the misfortunes and losses, it was a sign that there was still hope in the world.

She shuddered. It suddenly occurred to her that she should get back to her other friends. The thought wasn’t as comforting as it should’ve been. Having to break the news that Gwen and Orion were gone? The idea of it made Bethany want to run further away, so she’d never have the confrontation.

She already knew what Owen would say. And Kiel . . . Bethany shook her head. She couldn’t take so much guilt in one day. She didn’t need them telling her what she shouldn’t have done. She already knew she should never have done it. It wasn’t like she could’ve known that would happen, but maybe that was the problem. She kept dragging her friends into danger with her, and people got hurt along the way. 

After all, she was better off alone.

Nothing made Bethany want to go back to the cabin, but she would have to return eventually. She hadn’t seen her other friends in hours, so they must’ve been worried. But what were they supposed to do, once she told them that the pure possibility was moving in fast? Not just that, but the stone wasn’t even destroyed. How could she tell them all of it?

Straightening her shoulders, Bethany somehow found the strength to push herself to her feet. She sniffled, aggressively wiping the tears from her eyes. She had to go back; she didn’t have a choice. Her feet felt heavy as they came in contact with the ground. This wasn’t the time to handle things by herself. She couldn’t keep running from her problems; the talk she had last night with Kiel made her realize that.

Soon enough, she’d see him again. Thinking of that was enough to make her feel slightly better. Only slightly. Out of any of her friends, Kiel had been the only one to run after her when she was at her lowest point. And in the rain, no less. He’d been able to get her through her pain in a way that no one else could. 

She knew he would’ve gone on the quest with her in a instant, if she had asked. But after last night, something seemed to shift with him. She didn’t quite know what the feeling she had around him was. For once, Bethany was starting to feel like she _understood_ Kiel. Despite their mostly pointless bickering, she was starting to feel as close with him as she was with Owen. 

A part of her was glad she hadn’t asked him to go. That would be one more friend she would’ve lost, and losing _three_ of her closest friends would be an even deeper cut to her heart. As it was, Bethany didn’t think she could feel any more pain. After what had happened today and yesterday, the buildup of pain was too much. Was it possible that this day could get any worse?

Apparently, it was.

In the path ahead of her, she heard footsteps. Bethany’s eyes snapped up from the ground. Without thinking, the first word out of her mouth was, “K-Kiel?”

It was not Kiel. Instead, it was an old man with a long white beard, wearing robes that looked far too recognizable. He stood there in silence, not looking any more pleased to see her than she to see him. As Bethany’s shock wore off, she narrowed her eyes. It was the Magister. 

“What?” Her voice faltered. She stopped dead in her tracks. 

There was no way that the Magister could be here. Bethany thought at first that she could be imagining his sudden appearance. He shouldn’t even be able to leave his book! But then it dawned to her: the Magister was working for Nobody. Ugh, of _course_ he was. He was here to do something for Nobody, and Bethany had a bad feeling that she knew exactly what that was.

“Bethany,” the Magister said, all emotion devoid from his voice. His tone was cold and threatening. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, and it should’ve been a _lot_ more than a while,” Bethany retorted, clenching her jaw. “I thought you’d still be in that math book I put you in.”

Strange energies began to swirl around the Magister. “I got out.” 

“Of course you did,” she snapped. “So what? You’re working for Nobody now? You’re here to, what? Bring me _more_ suffering?” She began shaking her head, his voice lowering with anger. “Let me tell you that I’ve already had _enough_ of that today, and if you try to hurt _anyone_ I care about, you’ll find yourself in a place worse than a math book.” 

The Magister glared at her. “Your threats mean nothing to me. You’d never be able to put me inside any book again.”

Bethany’s mouth twisted in a scowl. He knew about the stone, and her powers not working. “So you _are_ working with Nobody.”

The Magister clenched his fists, then released them. “I am. But I am a different person than who I once was. Nobody showed me how to change. He showed me how to rewrite myself. I am only working with him for the greater good of our universe. So we won’t be—“

“Controlled by nonfictionals. Right, whatever. I’ve heard that a thousand times already.” Bethany rolled her eyes. “Rewrite yourself? Really? Is that what you call redemption? What will Kiel think when he hears you’ve been working for Nobody?” 

“He won’t hear anything of it,” the Magister said. “Because he will never see you again.”

Bethany felt her heart drop. “What?”

“Nobody promised me that when the worlds are rewritten, I will have Kiel back again.” He stared hatefully at her. “Away from the girl who turned him against me.” 

“I didn’t turn him against _anyone_!” she retorted. “He made his choice when you tried to hurt innocent people! He did what he thought was _right_! Blame me all you want, but if you want to blame the right person, you should _look in the mirror_.” 

“Enough!” the Magister roared. 

Rushing towards her, he aimed his wand right at her. He muttered something, and a spell emerged from the tip of his wand. Bethany’s eyes widened, and she threw herself to the side, landing hard in the dirt. She propped her elbows underneath her, struggling to get back up. But before she could, the tip of the Magister’s wand touched her forehead. She froze.

“Cooperate, and I will not hurt you,” he said darkly. “You know why I’m here.”

“Yes,” she said quietly. 

“Then you also know that Nobody is sick of your attempts to dissuade him. You will not win. Your powers and your friends are gone. All except . . . your father.” Bethany’s eyes widened, snapping to his. The Magister nodded. “Yes, he’s in Nobody’s prison as we speak. He is expecting you.”

So her father really _was_ captured by Nobody. Anger filled her at the thought. She’d been right all along. That meant her dad must’ve been suffering the whole time. He was being held hostage, just so Bethany would cooperate with whatever plan Nobody had. And that was exactly why she shouldn’t let the Magister take her.

Although the reckless side of her would jump to save her father in a heartbeat, Bethany was aware of the consequences. She thought them through. If the Magister took her to Nobody, she’d be powerless against him. She might not even be able to save her father, even though she’d try. Obviously, Nobody would have all the power over her. He could split her in half again, and this time, there was no way to save the fictional worlds.

No, the only way to save her dad and everyone else was to get to her friends. She wouldn’t be able to save everyone on her own. This was a trick. Bethany had been through enough of those to see one when it was right in front of her. There had to be another way to save her dad and keep Nobody from winning. There had to be.

“What’s your hurry?” Bethany said, tilting her head. “Need to find Kiel so you can _betray_ him again?” 

The Magister didn’t bat an eye. “When all of this is over, I will never have betrayed him. You are too immature to understand, but Kiel will. And he _will_ trust me again.” Before she could respond, he pressed the wand harder against her forehead. “It’s your choice. You can cooperate, and I will not harm a single hair on your head. Or you can fight me . . . which you know you cannot do. Which is it?” 

Bethany leaned back and grabbed his wand, tearing it out of his fingers. She then stood up to face a shocked-looking Magister. Slowly breathing in and out, she pointed the wand at him with a shaking hand. “I don’t know how this works, but I think if I wave it around a few times, things won’t look too good for you. So what were you saying about me being immature?”

She made an attempt to wave it around, but nothing happened. Frustrated, Bethany waved it around some more. No! Why wasn’t this working? She heard laughter, and she looked up to see the Magister shaking his head at her. Bethany clenched her jaw in anger. 

“That won’t work for you, girl. It only responds to me.” The Magister waved his hand, and the wand flew out of Bethany’s fingers, landing back in it’s owner’s hands. He pointed the wand at her again, causing a chill to go through Bethany. “You want to do this the hard way? Fine. But I can’t say I didn’t warn you.”

* * *

_“We could turn around, or we could give it up. But we'll take what comes, take what comes . . ."_


	45. The Possibility Effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen, Kiel, Charm, and Kara search for their missing friends. Meanwhile, Bethany fights the Magister on her own.

_**What About Us (By Pink)** _

_“What about us? What about all the times you said you had the answers?”_

* * *

“How much longer until your location spell finally does it’s job?” Charm demanded. 

“Soon!” Kiel called back, without turning around. He was marching ahead of them all, his arms swinging at his sides. 

“We’ve been walking for twenty minutes already. How much longer is _soon_?” 

”Not sure,” the boy magician said. “The location spell has never taken this long to find a person. You’d think they wouldn’t have walked so far.” 

“It’s a big forest!” Kara said, tilting her head up towards the trees. “They must’ve had to walk for a while just to _get_ to the pure possibility.” 

Charm sighed deeply. “Right.” She looked at Kara. “You sure that bracelet of yours doesn’t work?”

“Yep.” Kara dug her hand inside her pocket, showing them the smashed up pieces of her time bracelet. Owen winced at the sight. “Sadly, it’s still very, _very_ broken. If I had the time or equipment to fix it, I would.” She stuffed in back in her pocket. “Stupid mummy.” 

“Yeah, I _hate_ mummies.” Kiel flashed her a wink. 

“Me too.” She grinned. “I’m _never_ watching a mummy movie again after that.” 

“Wait a minute . . . there are _movies_ about mummies?” Kiel stopped in his tracks, giving Owen a betrayed look. “I didn’t know that.” 

“That’s because we only showed you the good ones,” Owen explained. “Like _Moana_ and _Newsies_ , but you fell asleep during those.”

The boy magician scrunched his eyebrows together. “What is . . . ‘New . . . sees’?” 

Owen opened his mouth to answer, ready to put his much-too-extensive knowledge to use and get to do something he’d never been able to do: explain the plot of a musical. He’d never had a reason to do it until now. Not even with Bethany, because she only knew a select few musicals and didn't spend as much time on them as he did. 

Just like that, he found himself getting excited. “ _Newsies_ is—“ 

“Keep moving! We don’t have time to stand around and talk about pointless things.” Charm huffed, giving them all little shoves. 

They weren’t so little though, because Owen nearly fell directly into Kara from the impact. He quickly straightened himself out. Maybe if he was taller, or had a lot of muscle, he wouldn’t lose his balance every time Charm shoved him. Granted, she’d shoved him a _lot_ in the time that he’d known her. Even if she wasn’t half-robotic, Owen had a feeling she’d _still_ have more muscle than he ever would. 

“Not pointless,” Owen whispered, trying very hard not to feel insulted by Charm’s comment. He sped up his pace, deciding he’d tell Kiel another time. “So do you guys even see the pure possibility? ‘Cause all I’m seeing is trees.” He glanced at his friends for confirmation, and their expressions gave him enough of an answer.

“I’m not seeing it either,” Kara said. “I think it’s because of how many trees there are.” 

And it was a _lot_ of trees, more than Owen had ever seen in one place. Maybe hundreds lined the horizon. He and Bethany often walked through the woods as a shortcut to get to the library, but the amount of trees there were nothing compared to the amount and size of the trees in this book.

“You'd better be right,” Charm said, as each of them stepped over a fallen log. “I’m starting to think we’re going the wrong way.”

Owen shook his head. “We _saw_ them go this way.”

“They could’ve decided to go a different way later on. Ever think of that?”

He blinked. He actually _hadn’t_. And Charm had a point. They didn’t know for sure if their friends hadn’t switched up their route. But wherever they were, they’d be where the pure possibility was. It pretty much surrounded the entire perimeter of each world, so it wasn’t like it would be hard to find. 

“We’ll find them, no matter where they are,” Kiel said. He pointed at the ball of light above their heads. “My location spell will find them.” 

“Okay,” Owen said, trying to ignore the way his heart was pounding. “I hope so.” 

Images of his friends being wiped away by pure possibility filled his mind, and he quickly pushed them to the back of his head. That was a crazy idea, and it totally wouldn’t happen! He was just thinking the worst, because well, he was _used_ to the worst happening. Their friends would all be fine, Owen told himself. 

He caught Kara looking at him, and she offered him a smile of reassurance. He tried smiling back, but he wasn’t sure if he managed to. He wondered if he looked as nervous as he felt. Their group of four felt _wrong_ , like it was missing pieces of a puzzle. Those pieces were Bethany, Gwen, and Orion. 

The seven of them had become a team, and after spending days with them, Owen realized just how much that statement was true. _Team_. It was what they had become, and they’d learned to work together in ways Owen could never have imagined happening. They had each other’s backs, just like Kiel and Bethany had always had Owen’s.

He thought constantly about their three absent friends. Were they actually in trouble, or were they okay? Were they still trying to destroy the stone? Heading back to the cabin? Off on some other wild adventure, far away from Owen? The not-knowing led his imagination on a wild goose chase, playing out every possible scenario — both the good _and_ the bad. 

It was only a matter of time before they’d be reunited, and everything would be fine again. Well, as fine as they could be until they defeated Nobody. They’d be in danger again, but with all seven of them fighting, Owen _knew_ they’d defeat him. The greatest way to defeat the villain was with a powerful group; that was basic book logic. The more heroes on your side, the better. 

If Owen tried to defeat Nobody all on his own, that just wouldn’t go anywhere. How could it, now that he was time-power-less? Ever since he’d lost his time powers, a lot of his confidence had faded with it. He was back to being a normal, nonfictional kid. Without any special abilities, how was _he_ supposed to contribute to saving the world? 

Owen glanced above him. The sky seemed to keep growing darker, covered in heavy clouds. The wind seemed to be getting stronger as they walked, blowing the waves of hair off his forehead. It seemed like a storm was coming soon. He just hoped it wasn’t a metaphorical storm, too. When it rained in books, it didn’t always mean a good thing. 

Jeez, couldn’t they get to their friends any faster? 

Whatever the feeling in the air was, it wasn’t right. He could tell his friends felt it, too. While earlier, it’d been sunny and cheery out, it was now dreary. The crickets were chirping louder than ever. Something made Owen want to turn back, but for his friends, he kept going. His mind was probably just playing tricks on him after all the worrying he’d been doing. 

He shivered. Maybe they _shouldn’t_ be doing this. Bethany, Gwen, and Orion might not even be in danger. And seeing that they weren’t, Owen would have to kick himself for worrying so much. There was a definite chance that he was making this into a bigger deal than it was, which he tended to do a lot. As great as having a huge imagination could be, it also had it’s downfalls.

They came across one of the many fields, which were covered in thousands of dandelions. He’d never seen so many in one place; back at home, a lot of the forests were cut down to a smaller size. He almost never saw huge fields like this, except for the few times he went camping. Birds were darting across the sky, traveling from one tree to the next.

Kara nudged him. “Hey, I heard if you make a wish on a dandelion, it’ll come true.”

Owen smiled once he saw a dandelion already in her hand. “I’m pretty sure that’s not a real thing.”

“Oh, Owen. For someone so gullible I’m surprised you’d think that!” 

“I’m _not_ gullible!” 

She grinned at him. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll see about that.” 

He watched as she blew on the dandelion, sending white petals flying everywhere. They got caught in the breeze, scattering into all directions. Unconsciously, Owen found himself thinking, _I wish for my friends to be okay. I wish for us to be wrong about something bad happening._ So much for not believing in dandelions granting wishes. 

His eyes fell on Kara again. Luckily, her leg had healed significantly since Toby had given her the antidote for the mummy’s curse. Owen was relieved about that part; at least they had one last thing to worry about. She didn’t seem to have much trouble with walking anymore, aside from the slight limp she still had. But it was a lot less noticeable than before, which meant it was getting increasingly better. 

He remembered the realization he’d had last night: that he had a crush on her. And he accepted it. He couldn’t go back to acting like nothing had ever been there. Something always had been; he’d felt this way since he’d met her. But now that he was aware of it . . . he couldn’t do anything about it. 

If he was as confident as Kiel, maybe he could. But Owen never dealt with romance well. He was awkward and insecure, and any thought of Kara returning his feelings had been smushed down. She didn’t like him that way. No one ever had. He’d rather salvage their friendship than lose her if he told her how he felt. She’d never want to hang out with him again if he told her the truth.

Kara looked back at him, and he realized he’d been staring at her for what must’ve been longer than normal. As quickly as he was able, Owen averted his eyes and kept his hands on the straps of his backpack. His heart thudded in his chest.

“Um, what did you wish for?” he asked, his eyes flitting to her’s for a moment.

“Can’t tell you. It’s a secret.”

“It has to be a secret?”

“Sorta.” Kara shrugged. “I want it to come true, ya know? If I tell _you_ about it, I’ll probably jinx myself.” 

“I don’t know if it—“

“It stopped,” Charm said. “The location spell stopped.”

Owen’s eyes widened, and he and Kara ran to catch up with their friends. They weren’t very far away, so it only took them a few seconds to reach them. Owen stopped short next to Charm, lifting his gaze to the ball of light in the sky. It had stopped completely, just covering there at the edge of the meadow. Beyond it was more trees, but no sign of their friends.

“But I don’t see them,” Owen whispered. “Why didn’t the location spell take us directly to them?”

“Maybe it ran out of power?” Kara suggested, glancing at Kiel. “Is that a thing that magic can do?” 

Kiel shook his head. “Ah . . . no. Unless I turned the spell off, it should find them.” 

“And if it hovers in the air like that . . .”

“That means it _has_ found them,” Owen said, feeling confused out of his mind. “But it doesn’t make any sense!” He looked at Kiel. “Didn’t you put the location spell on our friends?”

“Yeah!” Kiel nodded. “Of course I did!“ 

“Then it —“ Owen cut himself off, trying to think. Where else would they be besides here? “They should be here. It’s not like they could’ve just disappeared!” He paused. “The spell wouldn’t _not_ work . . . would it?” 

He felt a stir in his stomach. Whether it was nerves or excitement, he wasn’t sure. His friends must be somewhere around here. The location spell had just stopped for no reason, without leading them to their friends like it should’ve. It was clear that no one else was there besides them. 

“No, it’s just a problem with Kiel’s location spell,” Charm said. “It didn’t work last time, and it led us to a dead end this time.” She smirked, sharing a glance with Kiel. “As I’ve told you a _thousand_ times, magic doesn’t work as well as science! Your location spell is clearly corrupted.”

“Hey, hey, _no_ blaming my magic!” Kiel butted in. “They’re _here._ It just didn’t take us directly to them, but that’s okay! We’ll find them, I’m sure of it.” 

To Owen, it sounded like Kiel was trying to convince _himself_ that that was true. 

He opened his mouth to say something, but Kiel was already striding into the forest. His fists were clenched, making Owen wonder if the other boy was feeling less positive than he let on. Seeing as there was nowhere else to look, the rest of them had no choice but to follow. Before Owen could reach him, he’d already disappeared behind a few trees, yelling Bethany’s name. 

Kara headed right after him, then turned in a different direction. “We should split up. Anyone know how to make a pigeon noise?”

Charm blinked. “ _Pigeon_?”

Quickly, Owen jumped in. “Oh, I don’t think they have pigeons on Quanterium.” 

“They don’t have . . . whatever that creature is. I’m not going to ask what you’re talking about.” Owen noticed she looked bothered, probably from not knowing something for once. It was possibly the first time he knew something that Charm didn’t.

“I was trying to think of what we could do if we find them.”

“We could just yell ‘found them’,” Owen said, holding back a smile. She was just as weird as him, sometimes. 

“Yeah, that’s better. The pigeon noise is probably too complicated.” Kara ducked under a tree branch. “Orion! Bethany! Gwen!”

Owen glanced at Charm. “I’ll go this way.” He awkwardly pointed to the right. He didn’t get much of an acknowledgement from her, so he set off across the forest floor. 

It didn’t take long before Kiel’s, Kara’s, and Charm’s voices became faint echoes in the distance. Somehow, the lighting seemed darker. The thin branches of the trees looked like skeletal hands, reaching out as if to grab Owen. A shiver went down his spine. Something didn’t feel right. Especially when he was here now, in the same place where his friends were _supposed_ to be, things felt off.

Glancing around him, he took a deep breath. “Bethany! Are you here?” 

Owen continued walking, skirting around a large berry bush and stepping over an enormous tree root. He called his friends names again and again. Every step — every moment his friends didn't answer — made him more doubtful. Had Kiel’s location spell not worked, like Charm said? Or were his friends actually here? 

Suddenly, an idea popped into Owen’s head. A wild, crazy idea. The location spell could’ve taken them to the right place, but maybe not the right _direction_. What if they’d been captured by the trees, like Owen had? He tilted his head up to the trees, scanning the canopy for any sign of three trapped teenagers. Nothing but empty branches were there, but that didn’t stop him from looking up every so often, hoping he might see them. But he never did.

As he called their names for what seemed like the thousandth time, he let a few seconds go by as he waited for a response. All that followed was silence. He didn’t hear their voices or footsteps up ahead, either. What could be going on? It was completely silent, he realized. The silence made Owen uncomfortable. Looking up at the trees, he realized something else: the birds were gone. And so were the crickets. He didn’t hear any of the usual loud chirping that he normally heard. 

“Guys! I found something!” 

It was Kiel. 

Owen gasped, a grin appearing on his face. He turned on his heels and ran. Hope blossomed in his chest. Had Kiel found them? He must’ve! He felt so much better, knowing that they’d found their friends. Was that too much to hope for? As he rushed through the trees towards the sound of Kiel’s voice, he could already picture what Bethany was going to say to him. And he’d have to apologize for overreacting and starting this whole rescue mission in the first place. 

Owen broke through the trees and landed in a clearing. Quickly, his grin faded. His disappointment was through the roof. He’d fully expected to see Bethany, Gwen, and Orion. At least some kind of sign of where they could be. But there was only Kiel, rooted in place as he stared at something that was on the ground. 

“Hey, what did you find?” Owen asked, flushed and panting. He felt the color draining from his face. The look on Kiel’s face said it all. He looked upset and confused, a contrast from his usual happy-go-lucky attitude. Something was wrong.

At that moment, the bushes rustled behind Owen. Again, he felt a little leap in his heart. He glanced over his shoulder, hoping maybe, just maybe, to see his missing friends. His shoulders deflated when he saw Charm and Kara instead, the two girls appearing side-by-side. Their friends must not be here. 

Kara approached Kiel the quickest, looking slightly out of breath. “What is it?” 

They rushed over to the boy magician, watching as he reached down and picked up an object. He held out his hand, revealing something that Owen hadn’t expected to see again. It was the magical stone, the same one that they’d gotten from the cave. Except now, half of it was gone. _What_? So the spell had led them to this and not their friends?

It all seemed like a cruel trick. A bad twist of fate, after Owen had gotten hopeful again. Of all things to find, he hadn’t expected the stone to be one of them. He assumed that after all the hours his friends had been gone, it must’ve been already destroyed. But he was wrong. Of course, he should’ve known better than to think they’d get rid of trouble _that_ easily. 

Owen let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “That’s the stone! How is this possible?” He looked at Kiel, his eyes wide. “I thought they were going to destroy it! They were supposed to —“ He took a deep breath. “I‘m so confused. This was just laying there?“

“Yes.” Kiel’s tone was serious, no hint of the usual playfulness Owen heard from it. “I don’t know how it’s here, but I have a feeling our friends are somewhere else.”

“Yeah, this is _not_ looking good,” Kara muttered. “Where could they be?”

Owen couldn’t take his eyes off the stone. A pang of fear hit him. “I don’t know . . . but why didn’t they destroy it?“ 

“I think they tried to. Half of it is gone, see?” Kiel poked the stone with his finger. “Only _half_ as threatening as before, eh?” 

“Ugh, now is _not_ the time to make jokes,” Charm growled. 

“Good one,” Kara said, earning a shared smile from Kiel. “And Kiel has a point. With half of it gone, Bethany might still be okay. It’s powers might not even work anymore.” 

“I don’t think so,” Owen said, frowning. “It’s still glowing that weird green color. Still looks pretty powerful to me.”

“It does to me too,” Kiel said. “I can sense the magic in there. There’s still some left.” His brows furrowed, and he went back to looking worried. “I guess this still means Bethany _can’t_ jump out.”

Owen gasped. “You’re right! Her powers must still not work! They won’t be able to jump out if they’re in danger.” 

This was worse than it ever could’ve gone. To know they were missing was scary enough, but Owen had thought they’d find them. Now that they hadn’t, and that there was clear evidence Bethany wouldn’t be able to jump out, he was more worried than ever. 

Guilt blossomed in his chest. Anything could be happening right now to them, and Owen didn’t even know where they were. He wasn’t a very good best friend for letting Bethany destroy the stone, when he’d already known it had been a bad idea in the first place. They hadn’t really had another option, and yet, Owen couldn’t help blaming himself. He shouldn’t be separated from them right now. They needed help.

“We’d better find them, then!” Kara said, nodding firmly. “If Bethany is in danger and she can’t jump out, then we need to help her. And Gwen and Orion need our help, too.”

“Well, looks like we’ll have to find them the old-fashioned way,” Charm grunted. “Without magic.” 

“But it’ll take _forever_ to search for them that way!” Owen said, desperation filling him. “We don’t have time! This is a sign that they’re in danger!”

Charm stared at him, reluctantly nodding. “You’re right. We don’t have time. They _are_ in danger.”

“So you’re just going to agree with everything I said?” 

“ _But_.” Charm glared at him. “We have to be smart. Logical. We’ll retrace our steps. We can start by looking in the summer camps. Those Scouts must’ve captured them.” She made a disgusted face, muttering, “I hate how happy they were all the time.” 

“If they _were_ captured, why would the location spell lead us to the stone, and not them?” Kara asked, crossing her arms. “It doesn’t add up. They couldn’t have just disappeared into thin air.”

“Except with magic,” Kiel muttered. His eyes lit up. “That’s it! I might know another way I can find them.” 

“How?” Kara raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a magical map or something?”

“Something like that.” Kiel smiled a little, and Owen felt a small prick of hope again. “There’s a spell we might be able to try, but we’re gonna need a few things first.”

Charm sighed, not looking too happy to hear that. “What is this? A potion?”

“Nope.” Kiel shook his head. “Just a soul-connecting spell.”

Owen frowned. “A what now?” 

_Soul_ -connecting? Owen thought back to all the spells from the Kiel Gnomenfoot books, but he didn’t remember Kiel or the Magister using that one before. It was one of the few spells he didn’t remember. Just from the name, Owen assumed it was powerful. What would it mean? Connecting their souls to their friends’ souls? How was that supposed to help? 

“ _That_ spell?” Charm’s eyes widened, as Owen tuned back into the conversation. “Kiel, you know how dangerous that is, don’t you? You know how incredibly dumb that is?”

“Oh, I’m aware,” Kiel said, nodding. 

“What’s so dangerous about it?” Kara asked.

“It would mean merging my soul with someone else’s, so I’ll be able to see what they’re seeing,” he explained. “I’d feel what they’re feeling, both emotionally and physically.” 

“That sounds . . . interesting! And pretty cool.” 

“Yeah, it is. I’ve never actually done it, but Magi — the Magister has.” 

“So you’d be able to see where they are?” Owen asked hopefully. 

“Exactly,” Kiel confirmed. “I was thinking . . . of um, connecting my soul to Bethany’s. I’m a lot closer with her than I am with Orion or Gwen, no offense to them. It just works better when you already have a deep connection with the person. And I have that with Bethany.” 

“We get it,” Charm said impatiently. “Can you get to the dangerous part?” 

He gave her an annoyed look before glancing back at Owen and Kara. “The dangerous part is that if my soul stays connected to her’s for too long, I’ll start losing my memories. First all the memories of me and Bethany, and then gradually the rest until I won’t remember _anything_. Not even who I am.” After a few seconds of them staring at him, jaws dropped, Kiel held his hands up. “Just a little side effect of the spell. I’ll totally get out of there before any of that happens.” 

They all continued to stare at him. Including Charm, who seemed a little surprised for some reason. Even for a super-smart half-robot, she might’ve not known the whole truth of it. 

Owen forgot to breathe for a moment. Kiel wouldn’t remember anything? This spell sounded way too dangerous. This was a bad idea. If Kiel did this and connected with Bethany’s soul longer than he should’ve, he’d lose all his memories! They couldn’t risk that happening, but it could be the only option they had left. 

“What would happen to Bethany?” Owen finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Nothing,” Kiel said. “Her brain would be totally fine. Do you really think I’d put her in danger? I’m the only one who might get hurt here. If there was even a possibility of _her_ getting hurt I obviously wouldn’t . . .” He trailed off at Owen’s expression of disapproval. “Oh, don’t look at me like that.”

“I’m just not sure about this,” Owen said. “It sounded cool at first, but you’re putting yourself in danger!” 

“I’ll be _fine_. It’s worth it.” 

“Until your memories get wiped clean,” Charm snapped. “Do you want that to happen? You want to lose your memories, magic boy? Do I _have_ to punch you? Because I really think I should punch you.”

“Not necessary, Quanty.” Kiel winked. 

“ _What_ did you just call me?”

He ignored her. “Trust me, I know _exactly_ what I’m doing. I won’t let it come to that! I have a plan.” 

“A real plan?”

“Yes!” 

“A plan that won’t get you killed?”

“No guarantees. But, uh, yes.” 

“And when you say that, it’s usually the opposite.”

“Come on, this is a _good_ idea!” Kiel insisted. “I’ll do it quickly. I’ll be so fast that I won’t lose any memories. We need to find them, and _this_ is how we can find them. It’s the fastest way and . . .” He shook his head. “I don’t care about what happens to me, as long as Bethany is— as long as Bethany and Gwen and Orion are _all_ okay. I need to do what is right. _That’s_ what matters here.” He sighed, running a hand through his messy black hair. “Trust me, this’ll work.” 

“Yeah, but do you think Bethany will really want you in her mind?” Kara pointed out. 

“I think the real question is why _wouldn’t_ she want me there?” Kiel said jokingly. They each gave him a look, so he added, “Okay, I don’t think Bethany would _mind_ . . . she’d want the same thing. Doing what’s right, that’s who she is. She’ll understand how important this is.”

But would she? Owen knew it was important that they find their friends as quickly as they could, because they were obviously in some kind of danger. But he was pretty sure that if Bethany were here, she wouldn’t want Kiel to use this spell. Kiel was just being selfless — as he always was — and he wasn’t being careful. He wasn’t thinking of himself. 

What if Kiel lost his memories? Or what if he lost his memories of only Bethany? If either thing happened, Owen would feel awful. And he’d feel guilty for letting Kiel go this far. If things got out of hand and Kiel forgot _Bethany_ . . . Bethany would be devastated. There had to be some other way to fix this, but Owen wasn’t sure what else they could do. They were out of ideas. The only idea they had was this spell, which just seemed dangerous and crazy. 

If Kiel really wanted to use this spell, Owen would have to let him. He’d just try to make sure _none_ of that bad stuff happened. 

“Fine,” Charm said reluctantly. She lifted a finger. “But just know that I hate magic. And you’re not making me like it any more.” 

“I know.” 

“But what about your memories?” Owen reminded him, waving his hands for emphasis. “You could lose your memories or just your memories of Bethany! There’s such a big risk! We can find a different way. We can look for them like Charm said.” 

“ _No_ , Owen. We’re gonna do this. The sooner we find out where they are, the better.” Kiel half-smiled, sliding the magical stone into his brown vest pocket. “Besides, what’s the harm in a little danger?” 

_That_ , Owen thought, _is something I_ don’t _want to find out._

* * *

**Twenty Minutes Earlier, in the same exact spot.**

A fireball came hurtling her way, so bright that it burned into Bethany’s irises. It got bigger with every second, the intense heat prickling her skin. A wave of fear washed over her. As quickly as she could, she jumped out of the way, wincing as she landed hard on the ground.

Weakly, she started to push herself up, only to see that _another_ fireball was coming towards her. In less dangerous circumstances, she would’ve rolled her eyes. _Really_? This day was getting more hectic by the second. Was the Magister trying to kill her on purpose? 

She barely had time to roll to the side. The heat brushed against her skin, so close that it nearly burned her. Bethany yelped. She scrambled to her feet in a hurry, strands of fiery hair hanging in her eyes. She glanced around, gasping when she saw that many of the trees had been scorched by the fire. And to think that if she hadn’t rolled out of the way, she’d be literal toast. The Magister wasn’t holding back — he really _was_ trying to kill her! 

“Why are you doing this?!” Bethany demanded, looking back at the Magister. 

“The fictionals must be _free_!” the Magister shouted, throwing another fireball at her. She darted to the side again, her heart racing out of control in her chest. Behind her, almost all of the trees were on fire. How long could she keep this up? 

He looked angrier than she’d ever seen him, and in all honesty, she’d mostly seen him at his angriest. This was worse, though. Not only because of what happened three years ago, but also because the Magister was working for Nobody. He intended to kidnap her. If that happened, she’d never get back to her friends or save the fictional world. She might not even get to save her father, even though she’d never stop trying. 

Nervously, she scanned her surroundings. She _should_ make a run for it. It was the sensible thing to do. The pure possibility would be here soon, wiping out anything and everything. The good part was it would take away the Magister problem. But the worse, _much_ worse part was what might happen to her friends. She _had_ to get back to them before it was too late. Before they decided to do something stupid and heroic, like look for _her_. 

Bethany knew her friends. Or at least, she knew Kiel and Owen. They were going to look for her eventually. That’s what she was afraid of. _That’s_ what was bothering her the most, out of anything else. Between the pure possibility spreading, Gwen and Orion being gone, and fighting the Magister . . . her friends couldn’t be anywhere _near_ what was happening. She needed to protect them, and to do that, she had to keep them out of danger. 

She already had a huge mess to fix. If her other friends got dragged into this, it’d only get worse. If they were sucked up by the pure possibility, like Gwen and Orion had been . . . she shoved that thought to the back of her mind. _No_ , she couldn’t think like that right now. She needed to be more fictional, and focus on _one_ thing at a time.

First, she needed to get away from the Magister, who was acting even crazier than he’d been the last time she’d seen him. But how? It was even harder to fight him now, since she had no powers. She had her fighting skills from her training as Twilight Girl, but could that really be useful against a very angry magician? 

She’d defeated the Magister once by sticking him in a math book, but she didn’t have her powers anymore. She had to find a different way to get rid of him, and she had to do it fast. _Think, think, think._ Bethany glanced down, and an idea came to her. She reached for her belt loop, curling her fingers around the Twilight throwing star that she had. 

“No one should get to decide what happens for everyone else!” Bethany shot back. “That doesn’t sound like freedom to me!” 

Her arm was shaking so badly that she almost dropped it. Before she could, she threw her elbow back and sent the throwing star flying straight at the Magister. Her form wasn’t as great as it usually was, but the throwing star almost hit it’s target. _Almost_ , because the Magister had his magic to block it. 

“You know nothing about freedom.” The Magister waved his wand, and the Twilight throwing star stopped in midair. Then it swiveled around until it was pointing to _her_. Bethany’s eyes widened. The throwing star sped up, coming directly for her. She ducked at the last second, the tip of the throwing star nearly skimming the top of her head.

_That_ was close.

Bethany straightened back up to see the Magister murmuring an enchantment under his breath. She had a feeling he wasn’t going to stop casting spells at her, not until she either lost or gave up. And Bethany wasn’t about to do either.

She pressed her hand onto the throttle of the jet pack, and suddenly, she shot up five feet from the ground. Not at all accustomed to using a jet pack, she veered sideways, almost colliding into a tree. She tilted her body the other way, struggling to keep herself steady. Why was it so hard to control? Gwen sure made it look easy! 

Tilting her body forwards, Bethany pressed down on the throttle even more. Her flying was still wobbly, but if she was able to do this right, that part wouldn’t matter. She made a beeline for the Magister. Once she got close enough, she leaned back at the last possible second, kicking her foot into the Magister’s chest. The impact sent the man falling back, landing on the grass. 

“I know a lot more about freedom than you do, old man!” Bethany shouted, trying not to feel _too_ satisfied about kicking the Magister. She straightened herself out, so that she was hovering in the air above him. 

“You _dare_?”

The Magister pointed his wands at her again, and hurricane force winds came rushing from the tips. Bethany had no time to dodge. Suddenly, she was being blown into the sky, going so far that she ended up in the clouds. She was spinning all around, so dizzy that she was barely able to breathe. 

Her hand slipped from the throttle. The clouds went rushing past her again, and she found herself getting closer and closer to the tops of the trees. Bethany screamed. With a start, she realized that she was falling. How many times was this going to happen today? 

Coming to her senses, she hit the throttle again. Her body jerked foreword, so she was hovering upright in the air again. She seriously needed to get used to this flying thing. It was so much simpler when she could use her shape-shifting powers, to turn into a plane or a bird. This would take some getting used to. 

Bethany looked down, and that was when she saw the Magister coming towards her. _Flying_. Uh oh. Had he always been able to do that? Her stomach twisted itself into an even tighter knot. 

“You can’t win against me, Bethany!” the Magister said darkly, his robes flying around him in the breeze. “You have no powers to fight me with! And look. You’re almost out of time.” 

He pointed in a direction, and Bethany’s eyes widened in horror. From up high, she could see the entire forest. But what caught her eye was the gigantic wall of pure possibility, which had sucked up the entire outer edges of the forest. It was moving much faster than it had been before. She wasn’t sure how much time she had before it reached her, but she couldn’t be here when it did. 

The Magister turned back to her, sighing. “Give up your fight. You know you have no chance against me.”

“You’re wrong!” Bethany shot her arm out like a rocket and rammed her fist into the side of his face. “ _That’s_ for hurting Kiel!” While he was distracted, she punched him again. “And that’s for working for Nobody!” And again. “And that’s for making me have the _worst_ day of my life!” 

The force of the hit sent him tumbling backwards in the air, as if he was in a daze. It was a good thing Kiel hadn’t been there to stop her, because she’d always wanted to punch the Magister. Her hand stung a little, but she mostly felt good. Really good.

Sometimes doing things the nonfictional way really could be satisfying. 

Without warning, the Magister disappeared. Her good feeling faded. Breathing hard, Bethany looked all around her. She felt uneasy. If she still had her shape-shifting powers, she could easily detect where he’d gone. Was he invisible? Had he teleported away? If anything, it was probably the former. This wasn’t a good sign.

The Magister appeared directly in front of her, growing from a microscopic size into his regular height. He was already murmuring a spell, his wand aimed right at her. A cloud of smoke shot out of it, covering her entire surroundings. She coughed, waving her arms to fan the smoke away. Even still, she hardly able to see anything. All there was was a thick cloud of smoke. 

Bethany glanced everywhere around her, turning in circles. Where did he go? The longer this took, the less time she had to escape and help her friends! This was just as hard as the last time she’d fought the Magister. Why couldn't he stop using his magic for once?

A force plowed into her, knocking her over. Suddenly, she was falling back towards the trees. It felt like a huge, invisible weight was on top of her, but she couldn’t see anything there. Bethany struggled to get free, trying to get control over the jet pack again. But nothing helped. She kept plummeting to the ground, and the trees quickly rushed past her. 

Grunting, Bethany kicked outward, and her foot came in contact with something. She kicked over and over, until whatever it was released her. She landed hard on the ground, tumbling on the grass until she finally came to a stop. All her muscles ached, but she forced herself to her feet. 

The Magister reappeared before her, a scowl on his face. “ _Enough._ I’ve had enough of your nonfictional tricks!” 

He waved his wand, and a tornado formed in the air around them. It tore through the clearing, knocking over trees. Leaves flew everywhere. The wind howled louder with every second. Bethany backed away, gripping a tree for balance. It did little to help, because the pull from the tornado was getting stronger. On the other side of the tornado, she could still see the Magister, a stone-cold look on his face as he waved his wand. 

“What is this supposed to prove to Kiel?!” Bethany demanded, raising her voice over the storm. “You said you wanted him back, but by doing this, by kidnapping _me_ and trying to sever the worlds again, you’re only going to lose him! Can’t you see that?”

“That won’t matter,” the Magister said, a bit too calmly. “He won’t remember what I’ve done in the past. As he shouldn't.” He glared at her. “Once the pure possibility washes over us, he’ll only remember the moments we shared _before_ you and Owen got here. Nobody made sure of that.”

“But that’s not right!” Bethany protested, inching away from the tornado. Strands of hair kept blowing in her face, but she ignored it. “You’re not even giving Kiel a choice! You know he wouldn’t approve of that, don’t you? Forcing him to be with you won’t make it right! If anything, Kiel always does the right thing. He _deserves_ someone who does that, too! If you really cared about him, you wouldn’t be destroying worlds and capturing his friends just to get something that _he_ might not even want.” 

For a moment, the Magister went silent, and Bethany thought her words might’ve done some good. But then, the anger was back. “Kiel _loved_ me. This is for his own good. And it’s not just about him. It’s about getting rid of the nonfictionals, once and for all! Nonfictionals are the reason Kiel stopped trusting me!”

“No, _you’re_ the reason Kiel stopped trusting you!” Bethany said, shaking her head. She noticed that the tornado was starting to die down. She felt a surge of hope. Did that mean talking made the Magister’s magic fade? She took a step closer to him. “Stop blaming everything on the nonfictionals! They didn’t know they did anything wrong.”

“Didn’t do anything wrong?! They have controlled our lives since the beginning of time! We are slaves to their will! With them in control, we have no freedom! All of my suffering was just for their entertainment!” The Magister rose a few feet in the air, strange energies swirling around him. Once again, the tornado got stronger. “After everything, you think they didn’t do anything _wrong_?” 

Bethany hugged the tree tighter, struggling to stay on her feet. She eyed the tornado, noticing how it grew with his anger. Maybe she should lay off the topic of nonfictionals. “No, _no one_ should be controlled. But the way you’re handling it is _wrong_. You think all of this is going to get you Kiel back, but it’s not. If you cared about him, you’d realize that you have to put him _first_.” She let out a shaky breath. Good, the tornado was getting weaker. “Just let Kiel live his life the way he wants! With the people who actually love him!”

He scoffed. “Like you?“ 

“Yes,” Bethany said immediately, without even thinking. She froze. Her face heated up as she realized what she’d just said. “ _No_ , I mean— h-he’s — _I_ —“ She pointed a finger at him. “Okay, I’m not having this conversation with you!” She ran directly through the tornado and threw the hardest punch that she could.

The Magister waved his wand, conjuring up a force field in front of him. Bethany was already too close to back away. Her fist came in contact with the force field, causing a wave of electricity to ripple through her. The next thing she knew, she was flying backwards, her back colliding into a tree. She slid to the ground, groaning. There was pain everywhere.

Something passed over her like a wave, and she found herself frozen, only able to move her eyes and mouth. Bethany began to panic, trying to move her body. But she was trapped. Her eyes flickered over to the Magister, who was walking towards her with his wand outstretched. He murmured another spell, and a muddy fog filled Bethany’s mind. 

“I have some questions,” the Magister said. “You see, you’re the only one Nobody wants, but both of us know that your . . . friends won’t give up their fight. I can’t let your friends know where you are, and I can’t let them stop Nobody from splitting you in half. It must be done, for the good of both our worlds. So, tell me, where are your friends?”

Bethany bit her lip down hard, trying not to say anything. But, as they always did, the words began pouring out. “Gwen and Orion are gone.” It was the first time she admitted it out loud, and it almost brought tears to her eyes. “They disappeared into the pure possibility, so if you want to find them, you’ll have to jump in there, too.” She clamped her mouth shut. If the Magister wanted to know where her friends were, she’d tell him. It wasn’t like he could hurt Gwen and Orion from here. 

“I meant your _other_ friends!” the Magister shouted, furrowing his brow. “That boy, where is he? The one who knows my stories by heart!” 

“His _name_ is Owen,” Bethany blurted out. _Don’t tell him about the cabin, don’t tell him about the cabin, don’t tell him about the cabin._

She was glad to see his patience running thin. “Yes, and where. Is. Owen?”

She struggled for a bit, trying to hold the words in. Finally, she said, “The cabin! They’re at the cabin, where I told them to stay. Owen, Kiel, Charm, and Kara are there!” She let out a sigh. Great. But at least he didn’t know where the cabin was, or what it looked like. It was a good thing that every cabin here looked fairly the same, all being made out of wood. 

“My old apprentice is there?” The Magister paused, turning away from her. He sounded almost sad. “I would spare him of any danger. I care for him and would not wish for him to think worse of me.” 

“He’s there, all right. And he does _not_ trust you anymore. He’s already known for a while that you’ve been working for Nobody.” 

He glared at her. “And where is this cabin?” 

“Oh, you’ll never find it,” Bethany said, finally glad to be saying some good news. “It’s somewhere in the forest, and this forest is _huge_. I was trying to get back there before you attacked me, but I’m not sure which way it is. You wouldn’t find it.” 

“Then I suppose I’ll have to search your memories to see what this cabin looks like. I can use a location spell to track it down.”

“No! Don’t!” Bethany tried to shout, but her mouth refused to move again. 

Seriously? Not only was he going to hurt her, but he was also going to track down her friends? That didn’t sound good. She tried to yell heaps of insults at him, but of course, it didn’t work. This was even worse than just _her_ getting kidnapped. He was also going to hurt her friends, so they wouldn’t be able to stop Nobody in time. An awful, twisted feeling entered her. She couldn’t lose the only friends she had left.

_Don’t say another word_ , Bethany told herself. She struggled as hard as she could against whatever spell was holding her, but it was no use. If she still had her shape shifting powers, she’d probably be able to break free. But she didn’t have them now, so there had to be something else she could do to get out of here.

The Magister pointed his wand at her forehead, and his eyes started to glow as a white mist passed through her skin. Bethany shuddered. More than anything, she hated the idea of the Magister poking around in her mind. It felt like she was being pinpricked in multiple places at the top of her head — not a very comforting sensation. 

All the while, she prayed that the Magister wouldn’t find her memories of the cabin. And if he found them, she hoped that he wouldn’t be able to track it down. Although Bethany knew what the cabin looked like, she had no idea where it was or how to get there. Maybe that would throw the Magister off, and he’d give up. That was the only hopeful thing she could imagine. She needed her friends safe, even if it meant her getting captured instead. 

Abruptly, the pinpricks stopped. The glow faded from the the Magister’s eyes, and he stepping back hastily as if he’d been burned. He glanced down at the wand in his hand, then back at her. “I believe I just saw something . . . unexpected. Quite eye-opening. I saw a memory from last night, of you and Kiel sitting on a porch . . .”

Bethany’s face started to burn. _No, no, no, no, no._ Of _all_ the memories to see why on earth was it _that_ one? Nothing in the world made her want to have this conversation. She wished he’d go back to throwing fireballs at her. Or if the ground could swallow her up, that would be great too. _Anything_ would be better than this. She had literally never been in an awkwarder situation, ever. 

“You know it’s . . . it’s starting to make more sense to me now. As much as I hate you, you seem to care for him so . . . passionately.” The Magister coughed, finally looking at her. “It pains me to ask this, but what are your true feelings towards my old apprentice?” 

It was official. This day couldn’t get _any_ worse. 

_Don’t speak. Don’t speak. Don’t speak._ Bethany bit her tongue hard, afraid of what she might say. But why should she be afraid? If she was afraid, she had something to hide. And she didn’t, right? She listened to the facts. Kiel was her friend, so she _had_ nothing to hide. 

Unless there was something else, something buried far beneath the surface.

Last night had made her realize some things, things that had always been there from the very start. She knew that she’d do anything for him, because she knew that Kiel would do the same for her. Because they were friends. Just that. _Only_ that. But every time she was around him, her heart said otherwise. She had very . . . confusing feelings. Feelings that she’d been dancing around for years, as she wasn’t even sure what they meant.

Because what did you call a friend that sent butterflies fluttering in your stomach? What did you call the friend who sent goosebumps across your skin when your hands touched? What did you call the friend who dropped everything just to rejoin your two halves? Or the friend who’s words washed over you like magic? What did you call the friend that you would trust with your life, and would trust you with his?

When she’d first met Kiel, Bethany had been annoyed by him. Almost hated him, even. He winked too much, he bragged about himself at every chance he got, and he always acted like he gave the best advice. Which he didn’t. He _definitely_ didn’t. In her own selfishness, she couldn’t wait to get rid of him, just so no one in the nonfictional world would know that fictional people were jumping out of books.

But then, the most surprising thing of all happened. Kiel, against all odds, against Bethany’s expectations, became her friend. And, more than that, he became her family. Even odder was that she wanted to keep him around; he’d helped her become more confident, and she wasn’t really willing to admit that. She‘d come to rely on him, and she would always be there for him. Just like he was for her. 

If he fell, she’d pick him up. If the world came after him, she’d do anything she could to keep him safe. When they were apart, her mind always seemed to go to him. Always to him. And when Quanterium was destroyed, when she’d held him close without hesitation, when she was able to comfort him in his moment of sadness, Bethany had no doubt in her mind that wanted to know Kiel Gnomenfoot forever. 

All of this was true. It’d always been true. But when the three most terrifying, confusing, and surprising words poured out of her mouth, Bethany assumed it was a lie. Maybe a trick of her imagination, or something the Magister had forced her to say. Because once she said it, everything she’d ever known fell out of place. 

“I love him.” 

Bethany’s eyes widened. _What_ had she just said? Did she just say she loved him? How could that be possible, when she’d never even _thought_ those words before? In her head, she denied it over and over. It couldn’t be real. There had to be a mistake! It must’ve been a lie, right? It had to be. The feelings she’d had towards Kiel had always been confusing, but underneath all the messiness, was it true that she loved him?

Bethany opened her mouth to say it was all a lie, that none of it was true. But she wasn’t able to. Why wasn’t she able to say it was a lie? This was ridiculous! It was all just a big misunderstanding. It had to be. Realization began to settle in, that maybe, this _wasn’t_ a lie. Because even though she didn’t understand her heart all the way, she was under a truth spell. One way or another, it was the truth.

“What?” She furrowed her brows, her breaths coming out shaky. Her heart pounded. “I-I love him?“

The Magister looked just as uncomfortable. “Are you sure it’s love?”

“Yes,” Bethany said immediately, as if she didn’t have any doubts. “But I-I don’t understand — I never realized I _thought_ of him in that way. I keep trying to deny it! Does that mean I don’t love him? I’m trying to tell myself that it’s all a lie. But it’s _not_ a lie, is it? Because I can’t tell any lies under this spell—” She pressed her mouth into a line, trying very hard not to say anything else. Really? Did she have to tell him _everything_ she was thinking?

“And does he feel the same?” the Magister asked, and Bethany fell into silence, having no idea what to say. “Answer me!”

Bethany groaned, squeezing her eyes shut. Nope, she was _not_ answering this. Why did the Magister have to pry into her business? She felt miserable and confused. Most of all, embarrassed. Her heart felt like it’d been taken out of her chest, shaken up, and shoved back in. 

“I don’t know,” she said finally, bitterly. “I was never sure. If he does, he’s never told me.”

If there was an award for the worst-possible-way-to-find-out-you’re-in-love-with-someone, Bethany would have gotten it. But although her mouth had said it, she wasn’t ready — no, she was _terrified_ to admit it to herself. The characters in books seemed to just _know_ when they loved someone, but love was something she could never quite grasp. Especially in this moment, when she could hardly think straight.

Slowly, the Magister nodded. “Well then, I’ve located the cabin. Once I deal with your friends, I’ll come back and take you to Nobody.” 

He murmured a spell, and a bright ball of light emerged from the tip of his wand. _The location spell_ , Bethany realized with horror. This couldn’t be happening. She had to stop him! She couldn’t let him hurt any of her friends. But how? How could she get herself free? 

Since she was only able to move her eyes, she glanced around at her surroundings. There was nothing helpful, nothing except grass and bushes and trees. Wait. _Trees_. 

She paused as a strange cracking noise filled her ears. It sounded almost like twigs snapping, except the noise wasn’t coming from anywhere on the ground. Bethany looked up as far as she could, and she inwardly gasped. High above her head, the branches on the trees were moving, as if they had a mind of their own. Her friends had been right! The trees _were_ alive. 

An idea entered her mind. If she could get the trees to grab the Magister, there’d be no way he’d be able to follow. At least for a while. Bethany would have time to get back to her friends, and if the Magister came after her, at least she’d have backup. Plus, if anyone could talk sense into the Magister, it was Kiel. Her plan was incredibly risky — maybe even dangerous — but it should work . . . as long as the trees didn’t try to take her, too.

_Come on!_ Bethany thought, hoping to telepathically communicate with the trees, somehow. _Can at least one tree grab the Magister? He’s going to hurt my friends if he gets away!_

She waited. And waited. And waited some more, as she was forced to do nothing but stand there as the Magister began following the location spell. As if in slow motion, he walked away, his back facing her. Bethany tried kicking, screaming, anything to get him to stop. The spell didn’t loosen like she hoped it would, so she was still paralyzed. 

And then, as if by some miracle, one of the tree roots broke out of the ground, causing grass and dirt to fly everywhere. Conveniently, the same root was also the closest to the Magister. With lighting reflexes, the tree root shot out, wrapping around the Magister’s waist. The Magister let out a surprised shout as the tree root continued wrapping around his entire body.

“What is the meaning of this?!” the Magister roared, thrashing around. The tree roots lifted up into the air, now encasing his arms and legs. His wand fell from his hand, and Bethany felt the spell release her. She stumbled forward, her jaw dropping.

“Wow,” she whispered, feeling a mix of awe and terror. No wonder Owen had been so afraid when he’d been captured by that tree.

“You will release me!” the Magister yelled angrily, as he struggled against the tree roots. He looked at her, his eyes wild. “Tell the tree to let go of me!”

Bethany walked over to him, her hands on her hips. “That tree is doing me a favor, so no. I’m good.” 

Then, fed up from all the pain he’d put her through, Bethany threw her elbow back and punched him square in the face. If this was the nonfictional world, it was likely her punch wouldn’t have knocked him out. But the fictional world went by different rules, and most times, a punch could easily knock out a person. 

The Magister slumped back against the tree root, and his eyes closed. Bethany wasn’t completely sure if that meant he was unconscious, but she could only hope that he was. She shook out her hand, which was slightly sore. She watched as the long branches curled tighter around the Magister, enveloping his body like a cocoon. She grinned. _Payback_. 

She wasn’t sure how long that would hold him, or how long he’d stay knocked out for. But just to be safe, she’d better get going. It was time to race back to her friends and tell them all that had happened, no matter how painful it would be to talk about. She didn’t care about the guilt anymore. After the day she’d had, seeing them would give her some much-needed hope. 

So, Bethany took off into the air. Worries raced through her head, and she was unable to silence them. Would she be able to find the cabin? Would she be too late? What if the Magister, despite being held captive by trees, got there faster than she did? She only had a vague idea of what direction to go in, but she knew what to look for. A cabin with a gigantic, bright yellow school bus next to it couldn’t be that hard to find, could it?

As she flew, her thoughts drifted to Kiel. After everything that’d happened, what was she supposed to say once she saw him? She still didn’t want to believe what she’d heard herself say, even though she was already beginning to. She just felt so _blind_. After all these years . . . she might love him. But she wasn’t sure of her feelings, and she wasn’t sure _how_ to be sure. She hadn't had much time to think on it; mostly, she felt confused and afraid. If it was true that she loved him, why couldn't she accept her feelings? Why was she so scared? Why did this matter so much to her?

It shouldn't have mattered, but it did. Bethany just wished it didn't.

“Okay,” she told herself, sighing. “I’ve wasted _way_ too much energy on this! I’m not going to think about Kiel Gnomenfoot for _one more second_ . . .”

Or at least, that’s what she told herself. To her annoyance, her brain stubbornly disagreed.

She kept her eyes on the tops of the trees, which looked a lot smaller from this view. Mostly, all she saw were trees, along with the occasional sparkling lake and colorful meadow. A few minutes into her search, she even spotted the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts camp. That had to mean she was close.

She sped up her pace, only looking at what was below her. Several times, she questioned whether she was going the right way, or if she should turn back. One or two times, she even did, as she was sure she might’ve seen Toby’s cabin. But she’d mistaken it for some other house, and quickly returned to her search.

After Bethany was about ready to lose her patience, she spotted something in the distance that was bright and yellow. Her heart jumped. Could that be it? She jammed her finger on the jetpack’s throttle, speeding up just to get there faster. She paused once she was right above it, and a hysterical laugh escaped her lips. She’d made it. She’d made it back!

The next thing she knew, she was barreling up the steps and opening the door. She stumbled inside, breathing hard. She fully expected to hear her friends as soon as she walked in, but everything was silent. Bethany looked up, and her jaw dropped. There was no one there. Of all the things to expect, it hadn’t been _this_. _Oh, come on!_ Where could her friends be right now? They were supposed to stay here. 

“Owen! Kiel!” she shouted, stomping across the cabin in search of them. Her heart was racing out of control. “Anyone home? You’ll never believe what happened! We have a prob—“ 

“What are you doing here?”

Bethany stopped short as she rounded the corner, nearly bumping into Toby. So _he_ was here but her friends weren’t? Of course, this _was_ his house but her friends should’ve been here. Why would they leave? 

“I need to find my friends!” she blurted out. “Where are they? They’re in danger, I have to tell them _now_!”

“They’re in danger?”

Bethany wanted to hit something. “Yeah, _everyone_ is. Do you know where they went?”

“No. I was out all morning, and when I came back, they were gone.”

“They left?” Her voice went quiet, and she fell back against the wall for a moment. She sighed deeply. “It’s like we keep missing each other . . .”

Dread filled her. If she couldn’t reach them before the pure possibility did . . . she’d never see them again. And two out of those four were her best friends; she _couldn’t_ lose them. With how fast the pure possibility was spreading, she didn’t know if she had enough time. 

She wasn’t even sure that the option of finding her friends was a choice. If she could, she’d have to do it quick. But she had no idea where they were. If she were with Kiel, she’d use his location spell to find everyone. But tracking them without any equipment or powers? It was nearly impossible with how big the forest was. _Nearly_ impossible, because she was determined to find them.

Suddenly, an idea came to her, and she perked up. The summer camp! She’d check there. If she could find any information on where they were, it’d be at the camp. And maybe, just maybe, her friends would be there, too. She had to do something to find them, and going there seemed to be her best and only option.

“What are you going to do?” Toby asked, startling Bethany from her thoughts. “Any idea of where to find them?”

She looked up. “I think I have an idea. If they stop by, tell them I was here, okay? I don’t want them to worry.” 

"Sure.” He gave her a worried look. “But do you need my help with anything? Or do you need me to help look for them?”

“No,” she said quickly. “Thank you!”

Forcing a smile, Bethany set out to the door with a determined stride. Of all the possibilities in the world, she hoped that for once, this one would turn out the way she wanted it to.

* * *

_“What about us? What about all the broken happy ever afters?”_


	46. The Soul-Connecting Spell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Bethany runs on a wild goose chase to find her friends, Kiel casts the soul-connecting spell.

_**Fire N Gold (by Bea Miller)**_

_“Baby, we were born with fire and gold in our eyes, eyes . . .”_

* * *

  
There was a lot on Kiel’s mind.

For instance, the spell. Despite how incredible Kiel was at magic, he had to admit that this wouldn’t be easy. He had only heard of it being cast once, and that was by the Magister. And Kiel wasn’t about to ask his old master about it, because even the thought of having a _conversation_ with him made Kiel shudder. 

Since the Magister had tried taking over the nonfictional world, Kiel had tried to forgive him. He was a pretty forgiving person, but something like that just wasn’t easy to forgive. He knew he could never hate the Magister, because that man had raised him, taken him in, when Kiel was living on the streets. For years, the Magister had been his only family. It was amazing how the events of one day could damage their relationship! 

Not to mention, Kiel was pretty sure the Magister was working with Nobody. That didn’t sit well with him, even if he didn’t know if it was true. He had hoped that if he saw the Magister again, things would’ve been different. Better. But Kiel didn’t think the Magister was willing to _ever_ turn over a new leaf, so asking him about the spell was officially off the list. 

He’d have to figure out this spell on his own, but that was no problem! Kiel could perform the spell _easily_. He didn’t remember the exact phrasing, but his spell book had been very clear about how to cast the spell, and what would happen. Back when he was relearning magic, Kiel remembered skimming across that page. It was a good thing he remembered it, or he might’ve never come up with the idea. 

From what he knew about the spell, it would temporarily cause his soul to leave his body. Then it would go into Bethany’s. He wasn’t sure of all the details, like if he’d be able to see what she was thinking. Unless Kiel was purposely trying to be obnoxious or funny, he wasn’t one to invade others’ privacy. Especially since he knew Bethany liked keeping things to herself. But if he _could_ see her thoughts, that would really help for finding out what had happened to their missing friends. 

As far as he knew, though, he’d still get a sense of what she was going through. He’d be able to feel her emotions as if they were his own. He wondered what she was feeling now. Scared? Worried? Maybe both. Kiel wished he’d gone with her. He should’ve been there for her. Maybe if he was, he could’ve prevented the danger they were in. Whatever that danger was. 

He always wanted to protect her, and now that she was missing, it was just like last time. When Fowen had tried to drown her, and had given Kiel and Owen only two hours to find out where she was. Kiel had gone out of his mind with worry — and he’d _never_ felt that scared before. When it came to Bethany, Kiel would risk anything so that she’d be okay. Anything. 

In a few minutes, he would have all the answers. With his magic, he’d be able to _do_ something about this. That’s what kept him hopeful. Not all was lost, not yet. After casting this spell, he’d be able to see where Bethany, Gwen, and Orion were. It was a solid plan, the perfect one to find their friends! 

But a part of him couldn’t help being unsure about this. He was growing worried, though he didn’t dare show it to anyone, forcing himself to stay confident and composed. If his friends knew just how scared he really was, they wouldn’t let him go through with this. Kiel knew the risks. He just cared about his friends’ safety more. 

It wasn’t the connecting-his-soul-with-Bethany part that he was worried about; he was pretty excited about that, honestly. It was the side effect of the spell that bothered him. 

Losing his memories.

Of course, Kiel knew he could get out there before he lost a single memory. Everything usually worked out in his favor, and this would too. He was sure of it. He also had his friends to help him, but . . . _what if he forgot Beth_ — no, that wouldn’t happen! He wouldn’t ever let it come to that. He was confident he could handle anything, and he could handle _this_. It wasn’t a big deal.

He was going to do this spell, find out where his friends were, and come out of it with all his memories intact. Piece of nonfictional cake. Or was it pie? He could never remember. 

Either way, Kiel wasn’t just going to sit back while his friends were in danger. Really, he’d never been one to sit back while _anyone_ was in danger. It was kind of his thing to save people, to protect them from harm — his friends included. 

He’d feel awful if something happened to them. They could be anywhere right now. He was done with searching in places they _thought_ their friends could be. That would take forever! What was the point in that when there was a faster way? 

The soul-connecting spell would find their friends in minutes, while Charm’s plan would’ve taken _hours_. Most of all, he just wanted to prove that his plan was better than Charm’s. Oh, and he would. 

Once he came out victorious, with every memory intact and the knowledge of where their friends were, he’d show everyone that they shouldn’t have been worried. Kiel knew what he was doing! Sort of. He might’ve never casted this spell before, but he’d read everything about it in the spell book. He could do this. _Easily_. 

And if he did lose some memories, he hoped it was a few of his own. He’d rather forget some things about himself before forgetting who Bethany was. She meant so much to him, more than he could even begin to understand. Heck — without her, he would still be living with the Magister! What she was to him . . . a spell would never change that. It was crazy to think a spell _could_ change that. 

Of course, he wasn’t going to lose any memories. He was Kiel Gnomenfoot — all of his spells worked out great! He knew the risks, and he knew how to avoid them. Losing his memories? He could avoid that! If he didn’t have a good reason to cast the spell, he obviously wouldn’t cast it. But Bethany, Gwen, and Orion were missing and most likely were in danger, so he figured he had a pretty good reason.

His friends, however, didn’t seem to think so.

“Are you _sure_ you want to do this?” Owen asked. “We really don’t have to.” 

“I’m sure!” Kiel said. 

Owen only sighed. 

Owen had been the most uncertain, expressing his worries very clearly to Kiel. Kiel knew that Owen was against this; he was just scared about the possibility of Kiel losing his memories. _Possibility_ being the key word, because it obviously wouldn’t happen. Kiel had made up his mind, that this was the fastest option to find their friends. Owen seemed to understand that, even if he didn’t look happy about the idea.

“This is going to work,” the boy magician added, patting his friend on the shoulder.

“It’d better,” Charm muttered, her arms crossed. “I’m not looking forward to this.”

Kiel let out a breath. “Have faith. It’ll be _fine_ , you’ll see!” 

After all, Charm was letting him do this. That was enough proof that one of his ideas were _finally_ smarter than her’s. Though he couldn’t argue that she really was the smartest person in the whole universe, so he wouldn’t be able to hold this over her head for much longer. 

The four of them were heading out of the forest, arriving at the field of dandelions that they’d walked through on their way. To perform the spell, it was best to have a lot of open space. Kiel thought the field would be perfect for it. It stretched over a mile long, and the warm breeze felt nice on his skin. The dandelions seemed to dance under the stormy sky, their white petals falling off and flying in the wind. 

On Magisteria, as Kiel recalled, the flowers were magical. Because of this, he knew a lot more about flowers than he probably should’ve. Way more than the average fifteen-year-old boy. Although he didn’t think the flowers here had any magical properties, he still took the dandelions as a sign of good luck. 

The funny part was that dandelions were incredibly rare on Magisteria, because they’d become practically endangered. They were supposed to bring you good luck for the rest of your life. That’s what Kiel heard, anyway. He wasn’t sure if that was true, but with the amount of people using them it must’ve been. 

If you got your hands on one, you could sell it for a high price. Really, that was the only reason Kiel had cared about dandelions in the first place. He had only found a dandelion once, back when he used to live on the streets. He’d tried selling it to make some money, but it ended up getting stolen by one of the other homeless kids. 

Yeah, Kiel was still annoyed by that.

Once they were far out into the field, Kiel stopped, taking out his gigantic spell book. He held it in his hands, picturing the soul-connecting spell in his mind. Usually, the spell book would flip immediately to the spell Kiel needed at that moment. 

But the spell book seemed wary, almost reluctant this time. It started by turning a only few pages at a time, much slower than Kiel would’ve liked. He had a feeling the spell book was annoyed with him, though he wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t about to do anything horrible! This _was_ the right thing to do. Why couldn’t even his spell book see that? 

“That’s funny,” Owen said, peering over Kiel’s shoulder. “I remember the spell book doing that to me when it didn’t want me using a spell!” 

“It _wants_ me to use it,” Kiel insisted. “It’s just being slow today.” He glanced down at the book again, then placed it on the ground, since his arms were beginning to hurt from its heaviness. “Come on, book! Show me the spell!”

At his words, the pages turned much faster until it stopped abruptly. Kiel dropped to his knees, the tall dandelions and grass brushing against his legs. He gently placed his palms on the page, letting the warm glow of the spell travel up his arms. It was comforting, washing over his body like a summer breeze. Even if he didn’t want to do magic his whole life, he’d never stop loving the feeling of it.

“You got the spell?” Owen asked, standing to the right of him as he peered at the book. Beside him, Kara shifted nervously, while Charm kept glancing around, her fingers on her ray guns. 

Kiel nodded, taking his hands off the spell book. He sat down, crossing his legs. “I got it, and it’s a _little_ more complicated than I expected it to be.” He paused before quickly assuring, “Nothing I can’t handle, of course!” 

Kara bit the inside of her cheek. “What do you mean ‘complicated’?”

Kiel looked up at his friends. “Oh, it shouldn’t be _that_ complicated. Just has some steps. We’re gonna need to do some things before I start reciting the spell. You have to stand in a circle around me. Kara go . . . there. Yeah! There. Charm, uh . . . you’re fine. Owen, you go there. Do you know what ‘there’ means? Right — no, no — _there_. Okay, good. Hold hands, and hop on one foot. And Owen, you need to start the chanting.”

Owen flinched. “ _Chanting_? You never said this had chanting! Why do _I_ have to do it? Can’t someone else do it?”

“Nope, you’re doing it,” Kara said, looking like she was holding back a smile. “The spell won’t work unless you do it. Do you want the spell to _not_ work?”

Owen reddened. “No, but —“ He looked back at Kiel, giving up. “Fine, but this is for the spell. What should I chant?”

Kiel closed his eyes, doing his best to keep a straight face. “Start hopping, and then I’ll tell you.”

He heard his friends start to hop on one foot, and that was enough to make Kiel crack up. He chuckled, opening his eyes. It turned into full-blown laughter, and the other three stared at him in shock. They stopped jumping, letting go of each other’s hands. He couldn’t hold the laughter in anymore, not with the confused (and for Charm — _annoyed_ ) looks on their faces.

“What are you laughing about?” Charm demanded, her brows furrowed. “Kiel Gnomenfoot, answer me! This is _seriously_ why I prefer science — which is reliable—“

“That was a joke!” Kiel exclaimed, still choking out laughter. “Ha! I can’t believe you _fell_ for that!”

“What?!” Kara looked shocked for a moment, before a disbelieving grin appeared on her face.

“Are you insane?” Charm hissed at him.

He winked. “Insanely _awesome_.”

His half-robotic friend didn’t look amused. “None of us know how this dumb spell works expect you, so you better stop making jokes that we don’t have time for—“

If any other person had insulted magic, Kiel would’ve been at least a little offended. But he was so used to Charm being _anti this_ and _anti that_ that he really wasn’t bothered. He knew she’d appreciated the joke. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t be insulting magic right now! Even if she didn’t look too happy about it, Kiel would always just assume that she liked his jokes.

“Lighten up a little!” Kiel said cheerfully. “I _know_ you appreciate my jokes. Don’t pretend you don’t when I know you do.” 

Charm glowered at him. “I am _not_ pretending. I hate you _and_ your jokes.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.” 

Owen, who’d been smiling, suddenly paled. “Wait, do I still have to chant?”

“Only if you want to,” Kiel said to Owen, who shook his head right away. If Kiel was being honest, though, he probably would die from laughter if he saw Owen do that. Too bad the spell didn’t require it!

“Alright, do the spell _right_ this time,” Charm yelled, smacking Kiel in the back of the head. “No more messing around!”

“Ow!” Kiel lifted a hand to his head, then flashed her a small grin. “Okay, okay. I’ll tell you what you should _really_ do.” He took a deep breath, picturing the spell in his mind. “Just . . . be completely silent while I recite this. No distractions! I have to concentrate if I want this to work.”

Making jokes always helped when he was stressed or scared, which was especially why he’d needed to make some now. But any urge to make another joke quickly faded. His smile died once he remembered _why_ they were casting the spell. Right, he shouldn’t waste any more time. Their friends needed help. 

Owen just stared at him. “That’s _it?_ No hopping on one foot? No standing in a circle? I thought this spell required a lot of effort! A soul-connecting spell sounds so _crazy_ — and then when you explained what it would do it sounded like it would be really dangerous. I was expecting something big.” 

Kiel winked. “You can always chant if it makes you feel better.”

“ _No thanks!”_

“Then, yeah.” Kiel cleared his throat, turning serious. “The complicated part happens once the spell is already cast. That’s when I’ll need to concentrate the _most_. Once my soul is connected to Bethany’s, I won’t be able to hear or see anything that happens around me.” 

“So how are we supposed to get you un-connected from her soul _before_ you lose your memories?” Kara asked, scratching her head.

“I don’t really know,” Kiel said. “I’ve never done this before. I guess I’ll just have to get out of the spell on my own. With my excellent capability, I’m sure I can do it.” He tapped his fingers on his wand-knives. “That whole losing-your-memories thing must just be written on there to scare people. It’s never gonna actually happen.” 

Charm frowned. “If it’s written on there, there is a definite probability that it _will_ happen, Kiel. Make sure you don’t mess this up. I’ll be watching you.”

“We all will,” Owen said, looking nervous. “If you start to forget a single thing, just please get out of there, okay?”

Kiel nodded. “Sure. But I’m telling you right now that I won’t forget anything.” 

“Dude, we trust you,” Kara said, half-smiling. “But as a time traveler who’s seen a billion possibilities, I’m not saying it _will_ happen, but it could! Just be careful.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Kiel smiled back. “Okay, I’m gonna cast it so you guys should really back up.” He gestured for the three to back away. They did.

Suddenly, his mouth went dry. He hadn’t noticed how fast his heart was pounding until now. His knee bounced rhythmically, almost violently. And his hands were sweaty all of the sudden. He blamed that on the heat. He wasn’t nervous. Not at all. This would work out fine. He could do this without losing any memories. He _could_. All of this was for Bethany. For Orion and Gwen.

Kiel waved his wand, and a blindfold appeared in his hands. When the Magister had performed this spell, Kiel remembered him using a blindfold. Whether it actually helped things or not, he wasn’t sure. He lifted it to his eyes and tied it around his head, a little thrown off by how dark everything was. He couldn’t see anything, but he could still hear the chirping of crickets and birds, and could still feel the grass prickling against his legs.

There was one thing left to do.

He raised his wand-knives and began to recite the spell. As he did, he turned his thoughts to Bethany. Her face appeared in his mind, and he smiled in spite of himself. He thought of the warm feeling she always gave him, even when she wasn’t around. He thought of how sometimes, he just wanted to jump off cliffs with her, just to see her let loose and have fun. 

No one else had ever made him feel that way. Not even Owen or Charm — who Kiel also considered his closest friends, but they never made him feel like _that_. Bethany was just a friend, but at least to Kiel, she’d always been more than that. A person had never meant so _much_ to him before, but with Bethany, things just felt _right_. Kiel always felt like he could truly be himself when he was around her.

Kiel felt as though his senses were getting duller the longer he sat there. Noises sounded farther away. He became less aware of his surroundings. It was as if he was falling asleep, but without feeling tired. He was just losing all awareness of the world around him. Even his heartbeat, which had been hammering like a thousand drums inside his chest, seemed softer and less noticeable.

Still concentrating on Bethany, he spoke the last words of the spell. At first, nothing happened, making Kiel wonder if it had worked. But then, there was a feeling of weightlessness. It took him a moment to realize that he couldn’t feel his body anymore. The world was still pitch black. He felt like he was floating in the air, not being pulled down by gravity. His mind stretched like taffy, being pulled by a force that Kiel couldn’t see.

Kiel should’ve been scared, but he really wasn’t. It seemed that his nerves had shaken off as soon as he cast the spell. It was as if his soul were leaving everything behind, his emotions included. He just kept thinking of Bethany, hoping that he was performing the spell right. He imagined his soul connecting with her’s, like what the spell said would happen.

And in an instant, everything shifted. The world turned bright again, and he found himself in an entirely different part of the forest. Exhaustion hit him like a train, a complete switch from how he’d been seconds ago. But more noticeable was the drop in his mood. He felt guilt weighing heavily on his chest. Sadness clung to him. There was a spark of anger . . . and even fear that swirled in the pits of his stomach.

Wait, none of this was what _he_ was feeling. He was still sitting in the breezy dandelion field, the haze of a golden afternoon sun on him. This . . . this meant that the spell had worked. It’d really _worked_! He was in Bethany’s head! But the joy at his success faded, once he realized that that still didn’t explain anything.

Kiel still had so many questions. As far as he could tell, Orion and Gwen weren’t with her. Had they gone somewhere else? Maybe they were walking behind her? And where _was_ she? She was somewhere in the forest, but Kiel didn’t know _where_. He’d have to stay in her head longer if he wanted to find out, which meant . . . risking his memories. First his memories of Bethany, and then his memories of _himself_.

But Kiel wasn’t very concerned about that, not anymore. It was becoming harder to remember the consequences. Probably because he didn’t believe it would happen. He could only focus on Bethany. He sensed she’d been through a lot, but at least she was alive, and that was what mattered the most to him. It was clear, though, that someone — or something — had hurt her, because there was no way she’d felt _this_ _way_ when he’d last seen her.

Kiel didn’t understand what was going on, not even a little bit. Why did this have to be so complicated? He wished he could read her thoughts like he thought he might be able to do. That would make things so much easier, and he’d know exactly what was happening, and where to find her.

He could only sense how she was feeling, emotionally and physically. And from what he could see, she wasn’t doing so great. Why? He wasn’t sure. It only made him feel worse, because he hadn’t gone with her. Even in her own mind, Kiel couldn’t do the one thing he wanted to do: protect her.

_Bethany_ , Kiel thought, hoping to get the message to her somehow. _It’s Kiel! Are you okay? Whatever you’re going through, I’m here for you. Help is on the way, but we_ have _to know where you are. What’s going on? Where are you going? Where are Gwen and Orion? Can you hear me?_

No answer. Her mind was quiet. For a person that was nervous half of the time, he’d think she’d have _tons_ of thoughts going through her head! Except ironically, it was the exact opposite. It was like Kiel was blocked from communicating with her. Did she know he was there? If she did, did she not _want_ to talk to him? That just wouldn’t make sense.

Bethany would never purposely keep important things from him, would she? Kiel had a feeling she kept a lot from him, probably because she liked keeping secrets. It was kind of her thing. He understood that, and it didn’t bother him as long as she wasn’t hiding something that he _should_ know. All things considered, whatever was going on here was important. Kiel needed to know how to help her.

Compared to the silence in her mind, the forest was ten times louder. A howling wind, accompanied by singing birds filled his (well, Bethany’s) ears. He could hear the stomping of Bethany’s shoes across the ground, which looked soaked for some reason. It hadn’t rained since last night, so he wasn’t sure why Bethany’s shoes were wet. What confused Kiel the most was the sand that dusted her legs. 

Did she go to the beach? Was _that_ where she, Gwen, and Orion had been? Kiel hadn’t even known there was an ocean anywhere near here. If he was Charm, he’d have all the answers within seconds. Figuring this out on his own shouldn’t be a problem, as long as he could find _some_ clue to what had happened. And where on Magisteria was she going?

Again, Kiel tried to get through to Bethany. But all he received was silence. And since there was nothing in sight but trees, it might be a while before he found his answer.

* * *

Even with the help of Gwen’s jet pack, the Scouts’ camp was a lot farther away than it looked.

At first, she’d started that way on foot. She’d already seen where it was when she’d flown above it, so she knew what direction to go in. Finding it wouldn’t be the problem, but flying overhead was. If (or when) the Magister got free, he’d be able to clearly see where she was if she were in the sky. He’d try to kidnap her again, and that‘d be that. 

That was _too big_ of a risk. She was prepared to drawl the least amount of attention to herself as possible. It wasn’t like that would be difficult. Bethany had been doing it her whole life; at school, in books, even in her own home. She wasn’t sure if the Magister could somehow track her down again, and that gave her even more reason to go to the summer camp. 

There, she’d blend in perfectly with all the other Scouts. It was the best tactic for hiding from the bad guys, which she’d learned from Owen. Apparently, a lot of the heroes in books and movies did similar things to keep a low profile. So if they’d managed to do that without getting caught, Bethany thought she could, too. The only thing that made her stand out was her red hair, and unfortunately, nothing could be done to help that.

She figured that if (or when) the Magister escaped, he’d go straight for the cabin that he _thought_ her friends were at. She hoped that once he saw they weren’t there, he’d give up. But Bethany had known the Magister at his craziest — he wouldn't give up _that_ easily. If he didn’t see them, he’d find a way with his magic. He could probably track down any of them with his magic, which wasn’t a very nice thought. 

At least she wouldn’t have to worry about the Magister going after her right away, with him being unconscious and all. And when he did wake up? He’d still be trapped by those trees. Owen had been unable to get free from the trees on his own, so maybe the same would go for the Magister. It bought Bethany the time she needed. 

As inconvenient as it was that her friends hadn’t been at the cabin, she was glad that they hadn’t been. In this nightmare of a day, it was the one thing she was thankful for. They really could’ve been in danger if the Magister had gotten to them, but then again, they were in danger because of something else: pure possibility. 

If only they knew. 

That was why she had to find them _first_ , to warn them about all of this. Losing Gwen and Orion had been one of the worst experiences of her life. If she lost her other friends — Kiel and Owen, most importantly — Bethany wouldn’t know what to do. The thought of it made her even more terrified. She had to keep going, to find them. And to save the _whole world_ , if that was even possible. 

Also, she was trying not to get almost-captured again, so that the Magister could take her to Nobody, who’d try splitting her in half for the second time. _No way_ was Bethany about to let that happen. That gave her another reason to safely stay on the ground, even if it took longer. The Magister could already be looking for her right now, so she‘d rather stay hidden in the forest. 

After walking for maybe a mile, Bethany gave in, deciding to use the jet pack. Who knew how much time she had left? She had to get to the summer camp as fast as she possibly could, so she could find her friends and fix this entire mess.

. . . And bring them the news that she _might’ve_ caused all of this. After all, the pure possibility hadn’t started going crazy until _after_ she put the stone through it. Her friends would be shocked once she told them that she’d failed to destroy the stone, accidentally jumpstarted the pure possibility, and was the reason that Gwen and Orion were gone. 

Three things that had gone wrong because of her, and now, she was trying to make up for it. Would her friends blame her? Maybe. Probably. She had a feeling that Kiel wouldn’t be so quick to blame her, because he’d never done it before, but the others might. And once she found them, they could blame her all they wanted. She wouldn’t even mind. 

As she flew, Bethany stayed close to the tops of the trees, sometimes flying lower than that if there wasn’t a risk of hitting any trees. The more she used it, the easier flying with the jetpack became. Of course, it’d be a lot easier if she didn’t have the Magister to worry about. She hoped that the trees would keep him busy for a while. She could definitely use more time.

The sound of kids shouting came from somewhere in front of her, so Bethany went a bit higher, giving herself a better view. She looked down to see the entrance of the Boy Scouts’ camp, with more than a dozen wooden cabins in sight. From what she could see, the summer camp stretched on for miles. Blending in would be easy, but finding her friends? That was about to get even harder.

Still, it was the only place Bethany could think of to go. She’d find her friends . . . eventually. Even if they weren’t here, maybe one of the camp counselors could tell her where they were. They had to have some kind of record, right? Not that her friends were real Scouts, so maybe that idea _wouldn’t_ work out. But it wouldn’t hurt to try. 

She just wanted to have her friends by her side again. It felt like a thousand lifetimes since she’d last seen them, even though it’d just been this morning. That seemed like forever ago. With the pure possibility spreading, she wasn’t liking her chances. What if she ran out of time and found them too late? 

No, it would _not_ come to that. Anyway, there was still time to search for them. Not by much, but she at least had a few more hours. Maybe even the rest of the day. That _should_ be enough, if she looked everywhere in the summer camp. Oh, and in the _entire book_. She wanted to groan. This really _was_ going to take a while. 

Bethany scanned the summer camp, looking for the best place to land without being seen. From the looks of it, it wouldn’t be easy. Boys were all over the place, engaging in the same activities she’d been doing two days ago. A group of them played soccer in a field a short distance away, their laughter filling the air. 

Everyone looked so happy that it startled Bethany, who hadn’t felt happiness since this morning. Since Gwen and Orion had vanished. Her heart squeezed painfully at the memory, and she took a deep breath, trying not to think of it. Dwelling on it just brought her pain. 

She’d see them again, she told herself. Just like how she’d see Owen and Kiel again. She missed them so much it hurt, like there was a giant, gaping hole in her chest where her heart was supposed to be. It felt strange to admit that she even missed Orion, but losing him had taught her that he’d become her family. Her brother. Now, family was something Bethany wasn’t sure she still had.

She pushed those thoughts to the back of her head, focusing on the friends she could still save: Owen, Kiel, Kara, and Charm. She just had to find them first, and hopefully, that part wouldn’t be as hard as she thought it’d be. 

_Please be here_ , Bethany thought, taking one last glance at the entrance of the camp. _Please let my friends be here._

Still sticking close to the treetops, Bethany hit the throttle on Gwen’s jetpack, heading further into the camp. She stayed at the edges of it, not going too close in case someone saw her. As far as she could tell, the layout of the Boy Scouts’ camp was the same as the girls’. If she could land behind a cabin without anyone seeing her, that might be her best bet.

Hastily, she weaved in between the trees, glancing every now and then at the camp beside her. Since the camp was so big, the cabins were spread out at great length. It took a while before she reached the area where the boys slept, which had rows and rows of wooden cabins lined up. Right behind those were the bathrooms. And at this time of day, only a few boys occupied the area, since most people were out doing activities.

Bethany lowered herself to the ground, her feet gently colliding with the forest floor. She walked up to the camp, only to realize for the first time that a tall fence surrounded the perimeter. Last night’s storm had brought drops of rain that hadn’t quite dried up, still dripping from the metal of the fence. Why hadn’t she noticed it before? She guessed it made sense, so the kids wouldn’t try escaping.

Knowing it’d likely do the opposite of letting her blend in, Bethany tugged at the straps of the jet pack, pulling it off of her. She rested it against the fence, staring at it for a moment. Looking at it, all she saw was Gwen. It was the last piece she had left of her. At least, the only piece that hadn't turned to pure possibility. 

Bethany sighed, pushing her darkening thoughts away. She turned back to the fence. It was tall, but not by too many feet. She curled her fingers around it, looking for a good foothold. She’d climbed fences before that were this height, so this one shouldn’t be any different. 

But what if someone saw her? Would they report her to the authorities? Bethany tensed up at the thought, then huffed. Did the rules really apply if she wasn’t a real Girl Scout? No one here actually knew who she was, so they couldn’t get her into any _real_ trouble. 

And if anyone asked about anything, she could make up a lie pretty easily. Years of lying to her mother about jumping into books (something she’d never been proud of) had given her the skills. Again, not something she was proud of. But lying was often the best way to get around sticky situations.

For a moment, Bethany hung on the fence, looking to make sure no one was watching. There were a few boys hanging out near one of the cabins, and a few were heading into the bathrooms. But none of them were looking her way, so she figured it was safe to climb the fence and jump over.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she began to climb, the fence shaking slightly. It only took a few seconds for her to scale the fence. After swinging her legs over the side, she let go and fell to the ground. She landed on her knees, then climbed to her feet, a bit unsteady. Luckily, the Boy Scouts were still too distracted to take notice of her. She let out a breath. 

Okay, she was in. Time to get answers.

As casually as she could, Bethany walked away from the fence and started heading towards the cabins. She broke out into a nervous sweat, and ran her hands over her messy, still-damp hair. It suddenly hit her that she was the only girl in sight, which probably wasn’t a great tactic for blending in. That would only bring more questions.

“You thought you could get rid of me, Bethany?” a deep voice called out, and Bethany whipped around to see a man wearing Magisterian robes. He floated down from the sky, landing directly in front of her. 

Every ounce of her body grew cold with fear. A deep knot formed in her ribs, tugging her heart further and further down into her chest. _Oh no._

_The Magister_ , she thought, and for some reason, it sounded almost like Kiel’s voice was saying it instead of her own. Ugh. She wasn’t doing a very good job of not thinking of him — she was even starting to hear his voice in her head! Why couldn’t her brain listen?

“Yeah, I did,” Bethany said, her mouth very dry. “How did you find me?”

“With a simple location spell,” the Magister murmured, and that was when Bethany noticed the ball of light above her head. A second later, it faded into nothingness. 

“And how’d you get free from the tree?”

“I didn’t,” he replied, stepping closer to her. His image flickered slightly, almost as if he were transparent. “You see, I made a hologram of myself, so I’m still able to reach you. My magic isn’t quite so powerful this way, but soon enough, I _will_ get out. You can’t avoid this. Come with me or your friends _will_ get hurt. You will not run from me a second—“

“Hi!” a boy’s voice said, and the two turned to see a group of boys approaching them. “Are you here for some kind of performance?”

“Are you a magician?” another boy asked, a huge grin on his face. Slowly, Bethany began to back away, since the Magister had turned his attention to the boys. 

“He looks too old to be a magician,” another said.

“Yeah, you’re right!” 

“Where are his magic tricks?” 

“His beard is super long. Is that a natural beard? Can I touch it?” 

One of them poked him, and his hand went straight through. He gasped. “He’s a ghost!”

The Magister bristled, fixating the boys with narrowed eyes. “ _Excuse me_? I’ve made myself into a hologram because I’m trapped within the branches of—“ He sighed deeply. “Why am I explaining myself to you? I am in the middle of a—“

“Whoa, no way! A _wand_!” 

One of them reached over and grabbed the Magister’s wand, which was the only part of him that wasn’t a hologram. The boy giggled, and began to wave it around. Quickly, the Magister’s face melted from shock to anger. He grabbed the boy roughly by the arm, shook him a few times, and snatched his wand back with his other hand. 

“Give me that!” His tone was furious. “I am _not_ here for entertainment. I am only here for the girl! I won’t hesitate to turn you into toads, _do you hear_ —“ 

The boys looked around in confusion. “What girl?” 

“ _What_?” The Magister looked back to the spot where Bethany had been, and he visibly recoiled. “ No! _No_!” Magical energies began to swirl around him, and he rose into the air. Beside him, the boys jaws dropped in unison, and they bolted away, screaming.

Bethany watched them from behind one of the cabins, almost feeling faint. She held her breath as the Magister stormed across the grass, heading for one of the cabins. Boy Scouts quickly jumped out of the way as he passed, none of them looking too keen about being in the crazy magician’s way.

She panted, taking a step out of her hiding spot. She glanced over, making sure that the Magister was still in the cabin. Her head spun. She should’ve kept her jet pack with her, instead of leaving it back in the forest. The fence was too far away now, and if she ran there, there was a chance the Magister would see her. Hologram or no, Bethany didn’t want to face him another time.

An idea came to her. Bethany edged around the side of the cabin, pressing her back against the wall. She continued moving until she reached the front, where she heard boys’ voices just past the door. She quickly glanced back the other way, checking for the Magister again. No sign of him yet. Good, she had some time before he came after her. 

Hurriedly, Bethany turned the knob of the cabin door and jumped inside. She heard the Magister slam the door of the other cabin, shouting something she couldn’t hear. She cracked open the door slightly to see that he was heading to _her_ direction. 

Immediately, she slammed the door shut and winced. This wasn’t boding well at all. He must've known she wouldn’t have anywhere else to hide! There were only four cabins lined up, and she had a feeling he was going to check each one until he found her. She’d better find a new hiding place. A better one.

Bethany backed away from the door and turned around, only to see about eight teenage boys, wearing equal expressions of shock. She was just as surprised, not expecting to see so many of them here in the middle of the day. This was a crazy, stupid idea, and it was the only one she had. One that Orion would surely call her an idiot for, and equally one that Kiel would’ve agreed with.

“Hi,” she said, trying very hard to ignore their stares. “I need your help. You see that man out there who looks like a magician? I need to hide from him.”

“Why do you need to hide from a magician?” one of the boys asked. “Are you doing a magic trick?”

“Um . . .” Slowly, she nodded. “Yeah, I am.” She glanced nervously at the door. “So can you hide me? Right after that I _swear_ I’ll leave.” The boys exchanged glances, not saying anything. Bethany tried again. “Please, I _can’t_ let him see me. I’m not kidding. I’ll pay you with gold, or something. Whatever you want.”

The boys looked at each other, clearly skeptical. Bethany held her breath, expecting them to say no. But then, one of the boys nodded with a smile. “Okay, it’s cool with us! As _long_ as we get to see the magic show.”

For the first time since the incident, Bethany managed a smile. She didn’t have it in her to tell him the truth, so she only said, “Of course.”

“Okay, good. When he comes, hide under one of the beds. We won’t tell him anything!”

She sighed in relief. “Thanks—“

Footsteps came from just outside the cabin, and one of the boys darted to the window. “Hide! He’s coming!”

Bethany ran for the nearest bed, the boys scattering out of her way. She pushed herself under, just in time for the door to bang open. Her heart leapt to her throat. As quickly as possible, she latched onto the bed rails with both hands. The blanket on the bed wasn’t long enough to cover her all the way, so if she stayed on the floor, he’d clearly be able to see her.

She pulled herself up as far as she was able to go, her knuckles clenched so tightly that they started to turn white. It wasn’t long before her arms began to shake, but she ignored the uncomfortable feeling, knowing the Magister might catch her if she let go.

The cabin was quiet for a moment, before the Magister started to speak. “Hello, children,” he said. “I am looking for a girl named Bethany Sanderson. Have you seen her?”

“No, I haven’t!” someone replied. “Sorry, but this is a boys-only camp.”

“Yes, I am _aware_ ,” the Magister growled. “But she is here, in your camp.” He took a step closer to Bethany’s hiding spot, and a chill went down her spine. “She would be hard to miss. She has red hair.” Another step closer. Her arms ached. “Are you _sure_ you haven't seen her?”

“Completely sure! She must’ve gone somewhere else.”

“Yeah,” another boy said. “She could be hiding in the bathrooms. They’re right behind the cabins.”

“Hmm.” The Magister kept walking until he stopped, right next to the bed she was under. Bethany broke out into a nervous sweat, certain that he could hear her. She tried not to breathe. _Please don’t see me, please don’t see me, please don’t see me_ —

“Alright. I’ll look there.” 

He walked back to the door, his footsteps fading away. Bethany grunted, her entire body shaking like a leaf. All of her muscles ached painfully. She didn’t let go of the bars until she heard the door close. She let out a huge breath, falling back against the floor. She let her tired arms rest at her sides, blinking slowly. She could hardly believe her luck.

That had been _exhausting_.

“Is he gone?” Bethany whispered, once she regained enough energy to speak.

“Yeah!” a boy replied, as she crawled out from under the bed. “I don’t really see how that was a magic trick, though.”

“It was,” she said, stumbling to her feet. She went to the window, only to see that the Magister was going into another cabin. That should keep him busy for a while. At least, until his hologram faded. She looked at the boys, breathing hard. “Seriously, thank you. I don’t know what I’d do if he caught me.”

“Sure . . .” another boy muttered. “But I don’t think we understand what the magic trick was!”

Bethany shrugged, and again, her mind went to Kiel. “Sometimes, magic can’t be explained.” 

With that, she left the cabin, checked to make sure the Magister wasn’t following her, and headed out to find her friends, completely unaware of what was happening miles away.

* * *

“Kiel, can you hear us?” Kara asked, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. 

Owen waved a hand in front of Kiel’s unresponsive face. “Did the spell work? Do you know where they are?” 

“That’s not going to work,” Charm said. She was standing next to them, a frown tracing her lips. 

“What’s not?” Kara asked. 

Charm only rolled her eyes. “Your questions. Until he’s out of the spell, he won’t be able to answer anything. Which _better_ be soon.” 

Owen looked at her. “So he can’t hear us?”

“I would say no. Now _stop_ bothering him. You idiots could mess up the spell!” 

Owen raised his eyebrows. Charm telling _him_ to stop bothering Kiel? That was new.

“What? How would _we_ mess up the spell?” There was surprise in Kara’s voice. “Kiel doesn’t look like he’ll hear us if we say anything.” 

Charm glared at them. “When I said to stop bothering him, I meant _all of us_ should give Kiel space to do his spell.” 

“But if we can wake him up before he loses his memories, than that would be a good thing!” Owen exclaimed. 

“No, no. _We_ won’t be able to wake him up. Kiel is the _only_ one who can pull himself out of the spell.”

“Wait . . . what?”

Owen’s heart dropped. So they wouldn’t be able to wake Kiel up? This was so frustrating! Okay, maybe it wasn’t _so_ bad, but they were running out of time. It wasn’t that Owen didn’t trust Kiel to find their friends. He was the hero here, and he was actually doing something useful. Unlike Owen, who was powerless and planless. This spell pretty much _was_ their plan. Well, Kiel’s plan.

But not many things about it made Owen feel good. For a spell, it had way too many setbacks. Since when did a spell cause someone to lose their memories? Owen didn’t remember anything like it from Kiel’s series, but there were probably more spells with side effects just like it. He’d just never heard of them. 

What worried Owen the most was what might happen to his friend. Kiel had seemed to take everything far too lightly, acting as if he wasn’t about to put his memories at risk. But he _was_ , and it scared Owen. Each extra minute weighed heavily on his mind. Soon enough, Kiel’s memories could slip away. And Owen wouldn’t even know. 

What if Kiel stayed in the spell too long? He could forget Bethany, and if he stayed even longer he’d forget _himself_. Kiel wasn’t as invincible as Owen used to believe. This could happen to anyone, even heroes in books. After a few minutes, shouldn’t Kiel be coming out of the spell by now? Shouldn’t he already know where Bethany, Orion, and Gwen were? 

“This spell _isn’t_ a game,” Charm continued. “If he stays there too long he can _really_ lose some memories. And I hate to admit it but this is . . .” She made a disgusted face. “Well, it’s a _horrible_ idea but unfortunately it’s the best one we have.”

“You couldn’t have thought of anything else?” Owen asked. “If we looked for them longer we wouldn’t have to worry about Kiel losing his memories.” 

“We might’ve been too late if we looked for our friends without a spell,” Kara reminded them. “So, at least we have a way to find them now. Kiel will be able to tell us where they are.” She glanced at Charm. “He said if he stays in there too long he’ll forget, right? So how long is ‘too long’? How long do we have before he loses his memories?”

Charm looked down at her robotic arm and tapped a button with her finger. “I’ve never seen this being done, so I can only do an estimate. It’s only been six minutes. If I can guess maybe . . . ten more minutes.”

“And then he’ll start forgetting Bethany first,” Owen muttered. 

“That’s better than forgetting who _he_ is,” Charm said. “His memories of Bethany can’t be _that_ important. If he forgets her, he’ll just have to meet her all over again. It’s simple.” 

And have Bethany lose Kiel like that? No way! Owen shook his head. “Um, no, not really. Do you know how hurt Bethany would be if she finds out?” 

The half-robotic girl shrugged. “She’ll get over it.”

Owen bristled. “No she won’t!” 

“Hey, that’s only _if_ that happens,” Kara quickly said. “So far, Kiel hasn’t forgotten anything! We still have a few minutes before he should start waking up.“

“Right,” Charm said. “And he better. We only have ten minutes. Or fifteen, before Kiel starts forgetting things.” 

Owen gestured to Kiel. “But he’ll probably wake up before then, right? He’ll have to know where they are by then! We still have sometime.” 

Suddenly, Kara went rigid, her eyes somewhere past them. “Um . . . maybe not anymore.”

Owen followed her gaze, and his entire body went cold. Because there, past the colorful fields and trees, was the pure possibility. It was so startlingly _big_ , looming before them like a white cloud that stretched from the bottom of the Earth to the top of the sky. Except it was a cloud of destruction, ripping away worlds and people and existence itself. 

And it was coming straight for _them_.

Owen’s mouth opened and closed, but he couldn’t get a coherent sentence out. “How . . . is this . . . what, why—”

Kara gasped. “This is the third day!” She gave Owen an alarmed look. “This is what the time agents warned me about. The world is supposed to end tomorrow!”

_See?_ Owen wanted to say. _You weren’t the one that caused the end of the world after all! You had nothing to blame yourself for, it really_ is _all Nobody’s fault!_

Really, that’s what he _would’ve_ said if he’d been calmer, because the last thing he wanted was for her to blame herself for the destruction of the world again. 

But he was far from calm, so what came out of his mouth was, “What? No, that _can’t_ be true. This is happening way too soon! We still have to find our friends!”

“We _will,_ ” Charm said. “A little pure possibility can’t stop us.”

“A little?! It’s covering the entire forest!”

“Not yet it isn’t.” Was that fear in her voice? Owen couldn’t tell, but he wouldn’t be surprised. He was the only one who probably wouldn't get hurt by the pure possibility, and he was absolutely _terrified_.

It had the power to wipe out everything. Owen just really, _really_ hoped that wouldn’t mean he’d lose his friends. They’d come so close to winning! He’d never considered what might happen if he lost them to the pure possibility, but now their chances weren’t looking so good. _Everyone_ was in trouble now — not just Bethany, Gwen, and Orion. 

He didn’t even know how this had happened so fast! A day ago, the white wall of nothingness had been slowly taking over the worlds, not being much of a threat unless you purposely went near it. Now it’d sped up somehow, and was starting to take over the rest of the forest. Whatever they’d been dealing with before, this was ten times beyond that. 

Owen just stood there for a moment, gaping like an idiot. He felt lightheaded, as if he might faint. All of the sudden, things seemed very real. It was a reality check. A slap in the face. He couldn’t imagine it away, because the possibility was here. Right in front of them. Owen wasn’t even sure how to stop this. What if it was already too late? 

It was like _Kiel Gnomenfoot and the End of Everything_ , except changed to _Owen Conners, His Friends, and the End of Everything_. No one would ever read a title like that! That was a mouthful. If Owen ever survived this and wrote an actual book, he reminded himself to never use a title like that. At this point, though, his dreams of ever being an author were pretty much shattered.

“Hey. _Hey_.” Charm snapped her fingers in his face, getting his attention. “Did you hear me? Get Kiel! We have to go.”

“C’mon, help me with this.” Kara squeezed Owen’s arm, then leaned towards Kiel, grabbing the boy magician’s arm. 

“Yep, we’re going to die,” Owen whispered, very sure he might faint any second. Without really thinking, he mirrored her actions, grabbing Kiel’s other arm.

Despite the danger, Kara grinned at him. “Good thing we’ve lived a nice, adventurous life then.”

He looked at her in horror. “We’re only fifteen!”

“I said good, not long.”

“But my life hasn’t been _that_ great yet! I was supposed to live until at least once I become an author!” 

Kara looked surprised. “You wanna be an author? I never knew that.” What looked like a smile came to her face, but Owen wasn’t sure if he’d imagined it or not. 

He blushed. “Um, yeah. I guess.”

She stood, yanking on Kiel’s arm with both hands. “Wow, you’d think for someone so skinny he’d be easier to lift!” 

“It’s the tallness,” he said absentmindedly, struggling to lift Kiel with just one arm. His broken one was still fairly useless, and unfortunately, he’d never had much muscle to begin with. If he ever got out of this, he’d really better start lifting weights or something. His mom always told him to. Maybe he should’ve listened. 

“Move aside,” Charm ordered, grabbing Kiel from Owen’s side. She nudged Owen out of the way. “You’re not lifting him fast enough.” 

“Wait—“ Owen‘s eyes widened once he realized what they were doing. “Kiel’s still under the spell!” What happened to not bothering him? 

“Yes, I _know_! Good observation!” Charm yelled, sarcasm in her voice. “We’re taking him with us.” 

With that, she and Kara lifted Kiel the rest of the way, and Owen stepped back, feeling embarrassed about the whole not-being-able-to lift-Kiel thing. It slipped from his mind, however, as Charm threw the boy magician over her shoulder. All the while, Kiel remained unmoving, his eyes still closed. Right, there was still _that_ to worry about. 

Owen, Kara, and Charm started running through the fields, Charm a bit slower than usual as she carried Kiel. The wind seemed to pick up even more, pushing them in the direction of the pure possibility. As they ran, the white nothingness quickly swallowed up the trees surrounding the field they were in. 

A pang of fear filled Owen once he realized something worse: the possibility was moving at the same speed as _them_. How were they supposed to outrun it? Having his time powers, or Kara’s time bracelet or even one of Kiel’s spells really could’ve helped right now. _Anything_ would be useful.

They reentered the woods, heading back in the direction they’d walked from. There was nowhere else to go besides that way, but then what? With the pure possibility wall only a few feet behind them, Owen was finding it hard to think straight. He couldn’t imagine how freaked out Kara and Charm must be, since they were at much more risk than Owen was.

What had caused the pure possibility to move so much faster? Until this point, it’d been moving so slow that Owen hadn’t been too concerned about it. Obviously it was moving a _lot_ faster now. Now he was afraid that the entire world would be gone by the end of the day. Even worse, what if his friends disappeared, leaving Owen alone? He had to stop that from happening somehow.

“I have an idea!” Kara shouted, stopping abruptly. “Charm, drop Kiel.” 

“Why?”

“Just do it, I got a plan!” 

Charm gave Kara a questioning look, but let Kiel hit the ground, where he slumped over a rock. His eyes were still closed. Owen’s mouth went dry. Uh oh. He’d been under the spell for a while, and Owen had forgotten all about that with the new threat they were facing. He felt like such a horrible friend. How long had it been? Had it been more than ten minutes yet? He should’ve been counting! 

“Um, do we even have time to wake him up?” Owen asked, out of breath from his run. He glanced at the huge wall, which only kept sneaking closer to them.

“I’m not waking him up,” Kara said, kneeling down beside Kiel and looking through his pockets. “Where does he keep that teleportation button he was telling me about?”

“Oh!” Owen felt his spirits lift. That was a great idea! “Here, I know where it is.” With shaking fingers, he quickly searched Kiel’s belt before coming in contact with the teleportation button. Charm held her hand out, so he placed it in her palm. “Just do anywhere! Anywhere but here!”

Charm gave him a look. “I _know,_ Caption Obvious.” 

They grabbed hold of each other, and Charm pressed the teleportation button. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared.

* * *

_“Got lightning in a bottle, hands on the throttle. Even in the dust we shine . . .”_


	47. Kiel’s Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Owen, Kara, and Charm wait for Kiel to give them news, they face new challenges. In the summer camp, Bethany runs into some trouble of her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a quote from AOGG that reminds me a ton of this chapter—
> 
> "Every day, I would pick a different memory of you and play it over and over and over again in my mind, until every hair, every freckle, every part of you was exactly as I remembered."

**_Hurricane (by Fleurie)_ **

_"Coming like a hurricane, I take it real slow. The world is spinning like a weathervane . . ."_

* * *

Kiel had been confused on countless occasions in his life. More than the average person, he liked to think — and not to say that he was any less amazing. The obstacles piled up, throwing his whirlwind of a life upside down again and again. Keeping him confused, until he made sense of it all. And then, the next confusing thing happened. Or as Owen might call them: plot twists.

The confusion had started when he tried finding his parents when he was little, back when he didn’t know he was a clone. And the confusion hadn’t stopped there — it’d become more common once he first tried learning how to do magic. Hanging out with Charm, he had a hard time making sense of science and Quanterium.

Even more so when he discovered he was a clone. Then, again, when the whole _character in a book_ thing happened. Adjusting to life in the nonfictional world was maybe his hardest feat yet, with it being so entirely different from what he was used to.

It took some time, but Kiel got through every obstacle with flying colors. Some things — like where his nonexistent parents were — had taken a lot of questions with no answers. The confusion about them hadn’t stopped, not until everything clicked into place once he discovered he was a clone. Even _that_ confused him at first, on a number of levels. It _still_ did, since he didn’t have all the answers yet.

But this situation topped everything he’d ever known to be confusing, because Kiel had no idea what was going on, or how to fix things. Just like countless times before, he had a thousand questions but no answers. And despite Kiel’s belief that he could figure out anything he set his mind to, this _wasn’t_ something he could figure out.

As he tried to make sense of it all, it just became harder for him to wrap his head around. Instead of going to her friends, Bethany had gone back to the Boy Scouts camp — on _purpose_ , and she was clearly on her own. But all questions of what she was doing and where she was going seemed ten times important once he saw the Magister. The once-kind man who’d taken him in from the streets, giving him a home and teaching him magic.

Never in a million years would Kiel have thought that the Magister would be looking for _Bethany_. Did he intend to hurt her? What did he want with her? Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. It’d given Kiel an all-too-familiar feeling of dread once he saw the look in the Magister’s eyes. The same way he’d looked at them when he’d tried to kill Kiel and Bethany three years ago.

Not exactly a welcoming feeling.

This was _not_ the version of the Magister Kiel had hoped to see. He had hoped for maybe some improvement from his old master’s end, that at least the Magister would’ve stopped terrorizing people. What a dumb idea that had been! There wasn’t a single reminder of the once-kind, caring man Kiel once knew.

A thousand questions swirled through his head, yet to be answered. Why was the Magister after Bethany? It seemed _so_ random. He couldn’t be after her powers again — Bethany’s powers didn’t work anymore! For some other reason, she was trying to get away from the Magister. She wasn’t even using her shapeshifting powers to fight him like she usually would if confronted. The whole thing seemed strange to Kiel.

Maybe the Magister had done something to Gwen and Orion, which was why Kiel hasn’t been able to see them. Or — another guess — they could’ve been on a separate quest somewhere else, although Kiel wasn’t sure why they’d do that. The possibilities were endless. But any possibility he tried thinking of didn’t make much sense to him. Until he fully knew what was going on, it would remain a mystery.

But amidst the confusion, there was one thing that Kiel was certain of: Bethany. While she’d hid beneath the bed of the boys’ cabin, frozen in fear, Kiel had no doubt in his mind that she was in danger. And not the good, exciting kind of danger. She could get hurt, so he _had_ to help her somehow.

And quickly, he realized that he couldn’t do that at all. While in her head, he could only experience what she was experiencing. It made him feel frustratingly useless. After all this time he’d spent looking through her eyes, he still had no way to help her. Annoyingly enough, he couldn’t even stop the Magister from here.

He tried his best to speak to her, to ask her what he wanted to know and try soothing her with kind words. Nothing seemed to work. Bethany couldn’t hear him, apparently. It frustrated him. He just wasn’t used to being helpless in this sort of situation. Kiel Gnomenfoot was _never_ helpless, except for well, now. All he could try to do was figure out what was going on, and if he could help her, he would.

But, Kiel was growing aware that he’d probably stayed in her head much longer than he’d intended to. He tried to keep track of time, but with everything going on he’d forgotten how long he’d been in here. The consequences were far in the back of his mind, and while in Bethany’s head, he hadn’t thought once about them.

Still, he knew that he should get out of the spell. He should’ve left right after Bethany arrived in the Boy Scouts camp, like he’d meant to. And he _had_ been about to get out of the spell, but once the Magister showed up, all thoughts of leaving went out the window. He had to be there for Bethany, and to see what would happen. If he could help her somehow by staying, he’d feel better.

Then again, wouldn’t something bad happen if he stayed too long? Owen and Charm and Kara would worry. Kiel should go. He really should. Bethany‘s location was all he needed to know. He wasn’t able to stop the Magister or help her while he was under this spell. He should get out of the spell and help her in _person_.

So what was holding him back?

* * *

When the world materialized, it took the form of a parking lot.

Owen, still clutching onto his friends, let go and stumbled to his feet. Panicked, he looked around him for a sign of the pure possibility, but it was no longer there. Instead, they were surrounded by parked cars, along with a wooden fence and a lush forest.

“Oh my god,” Owen whispered, his voice an octave higher than usual. He glanced down at his hands, which were shaking immensely. “I — _oh my god_. W-We’re _alive_!”

He didn’t mess anything else up, and they’d gotten away from the pure possibility. Their luck had gotten so, so bad, but surprisingly, things had gotten _better_. From how his previous experiences usually went, Owen hadn’t expected they’d actually make it out of there alive. He’d expected to mess something else up, getting all of them killed.

Charm rolled her eyes, but she looked pretty shaken, all things considered. “Hey, Owen, you _do_ know that only bought us a few hours?”

“A few hours? T-That’s great! Perfect!”

A wave of relief washed over him. The sun’s rays filtered through the lightly-moving branches of the trees, casting soft animated shadows on everything below. He could smell the scent of fresh grass and pollen and flowers. His heartbeat began to slow, gradually getting less rapid by the second. For a blissful moment, there was nothing to be afraid of. Nothing _around them_ , at least.

A few hours was all they needed to stop the worlds from getting destroyed. That could be enough time, but — oh, who was he kidding? Owen’s doubts began to creep back in. Saving the world in that amount of time, when the pure possibility had been moving so fast? Was that possible when they still hadn’t teamed back up with Bethany, Gwen, and Orion?

Owen didn’t know if it was, but he could worry about that in a minute. The only thing he could feel at the moment was an intense sensation of relief. Relief that he was alive and that his friends were alive, and that the pure possibility hadn’t swallowed them up. He started to grin. They’d escaped! They were okay! _Thank you, Kiel’s teleportation button!_

His eyes widened. _Kiel_. That snapped him back to reality. He glanced down at his friends to see that they were propping Kiel up against a car, and that was enough to make Owen feel bad again. Kiel was still under the spell, and he hadn’t woken up yet. That didn’t make any sense! Why hadn’t he?

“How long has it been?” Owen asked, trying to ignore the tremble in his voice.

Charm only shook her head, grumbling, “It has to be twenty minutes by now. I’m going to _kill_ him if he stays under that stupid spell.”

Owen paled. “Twenty _minutes_?!”

“That’s what I said.”

He kneeled down beside Kiel and gently shook his shoulder. “Kiel! You have to get out of the spell!” He shook him again. “Can you hear me?” He stared at his friend, hoping for some kind of reaction. But he remained motionless, not giving a single indication that he’d heard Owen.

“We can’t wake him up, remember?” Kara reminded him, giving him a gentle nudge.

Owen looked over at her, shrugging. “I know.” He crinkled his nose. “It was worth a shot.”

Or a few more, if Charm’s logic was off.

The bad part was: Owen knew Charm had been right. As much as Owen wanted to hope for the opposite, there wasn’t a way they could wake Kiel up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple.

He sighed, pulling his hand back. He wished he didn’t feel so useless. The only thing they could do was wait for Kiel to wake up and hope that there was no damage to his memories. But would he _ever_ wake up? Owen was starting to wonder that. As always, he couldn’t do anything to help.

On top of that, the pure possibility was going to spread everywhere and Owen didn’t even know what had caused it to move so much faster. And of course, they still didn’t know where their friends could be. This was beginning to feel like a huge mystery. A mystery in a fantasy book.

He just wished they could’ve found their friends right off the bat, when Kiel used his location spell. But all they had found was the stone. Owen didn’t know why it’d led them to the stone in the first place, instead of to their friends. Now, thanks to that, they had no idea where their friends were, and had to risk Kiel’s memories to find out. 

Why did this all have to be such a mystery? After everything he’d gone through in Doyle’s books, why did he have to go through another one? Couldn’t he have all the answers now? Why spend an entire book waiting to find out what was going on?

Not that he’d never tried liking them. He’d read a bunch of mysteries, like Sherlock Holmes and Encyclopedia Brown. He’d even read the mystery books his mom recommended, but he just couldn’t get into them. Fantasy always would be his favorite genre; it was way less confusing, and there was magic! 

Even the _book_ they were in seemed to have mystery. First, there was the Scouts camp, which seemed friendly enough. And then, there was the whole thing with evil mummies that put curses on you, and trees that tried to kidnap you. He wasn’t sure if that was just bad writing or random plot twists.

Owen turned away from his friends, and for the first time, he realized why the place they were in looked so familiar. He hadn’t been too focused on where Charm might’ve teleported them to, since he only cared about getting away from the pure possibility, and trying to wake Kiel up. But strangely enough, he recognized this parking lot.

Because just down the path was the entrance of the summer camp, looking a lot less crowded than it had two days ago. Just as before, there were two pathways, one leading to the Girl Scouts camp and the other to the Boy Scouts. He could just barely hear the sound of laughter, and he could spot one or two cabins from where he was sitting.

Surprised, Owen looked at Charm. “Wait, you teleported us _here_? To the summer camp?”

Charm raised an eyebrow. “What, you have a problem with that?”

Owen quickly shook his head, wishing Charm would stop acting so annoyed every time he spoke. “Uh, no! No, of course not! I’m just surprised that this is the first place you thought of.”

“Well, it’s the farthest place away from the pure possibility.” She paused. “That I _know_ of. It didn’t seem like we’d have much luck escaping if we teleported to Toby’s cabin.”

“About that . . . I can’t believe the pure possibility is moving so _fast_ ,” Kara exclaimed. “For a moment I thought we weren’t going to make it! That was freaky.”

“It really was,” Owen said, shuddering at the memory. “I still can’t believe that really happened. Isn’t it weird that the pure possibility just randomly sped up out of nowhere?”

Charm nodded, sitting forward. “I’ve been trying to study it for years, and it’s only moved slowly . . . until today. Its chemical makeup must’ve changed somehow.”

“Or Nobody just decided he wanted the worlds to disappear faster,” Owen muttered.

“Or that.” Charm glanced at Kiel, and Owen thought he might’ve seen a flicker of worry cross her face. But in an instant, it was gone. If she was worried about Kiel, she didn’t show it. Owen, however, knew she _did_ care for Kiel deep down. It just wasn’t her style to portray it.

In a book or a movie, this would be a time where the main character gave a speech that inspired everyone else. Owen had never thought of _himself_ as the main character — he was more of a sidekick. In this case, the perfect person for that would’ve been Kiel . . . if he still wasn’t under a dangerous spell.

Owen threw another glance at Kiel. _Please wake up soon_ , he thought. Every second that passed just made him more on edge. He wished he knew what was going on from Kiel’s end.

“I’m getting worried about him,” Kara said, as if reading his thoughts.

They all looked at Kiel, and Owen knew they were all thinking the same thing. “Me too,” he agreed. “When do you think he’ll wake up?”

“It depends if he’s found out any information yet,” Charm said. “But the minute he _does_ wake up, we go straight to Bethany, Gwen, and Orion. That’s our plan. We can worry about Kiel’s messed-up brain on the way.”

“And then we just have to save the world,” Kara added. Meeting Owen’s gaze, she nudged him with her shoulder, a small smile slipping onto her face. “ _That_ should be interesting.”

“Yeah,” Owen managed to say, his mouth suddenly dry. “ _Interesting_ . . .”

_Save the world._

He’d heard those words so many times in books, in series like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and Narnia. And despite the heroes’ struggles, they always won against the bad guys in the end. But did most books have villains like Nobody, characters who could rewrite themselves to be anything? _No_. Owen had read enough books to know that he’d never seen a villain like Nobody before.

The idea of ‘saving the world’ seemed so much easier when someone else said it. Especially when Kara said it, it sounded more like an adventure than something to dread. Then again, most things Kara said tended to sound that way. Owen doubted his words would have the same effect if he‘d said the same exact thing.

As simple as their plan seemed, things were getting more and more complicated as the day unraveled. Teleporting away from the pure possibility had bought them some time, but Owen had a feeling that things wouldn’t automatically get better from here. As he found out a second later, he was right.

From down the path, the crunching of feet against the dirt filled his ears. All three of them froze, sharing alarmed looks. Clenching her jaw, Charm motioned for them to get down. They ducked behind the car that Kiel was sitting against, their shoes scraping against the black pavement. Breathing hard, Owen fell down on his knees, Kiel and Kara at his right and left.

Slowly, he peered over the hood of the car to see four adults heading towards the parking lot. His eyes widened. They were camp counselors! He recognized one of them as the overweight counselor who’d been in charge of the boys’ cabin that Owen had slept in.

One of the counselors looked his way, and Owen quickly ducked back behind the car. His heart raced. He turned to his friends, who stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

“What did you see?” Kara whispered. “Who was it?”

“Camp counselors,” Owen whispered back, then reached up and tried to flatten his hair, which had been unhelpfully sticking up. No matter how many times he ran his hands over it, his hair refused to flatten. Holding back a groan, he gave up and pushed himself lower to the ground, hoping the adults couldn’t see them.

How were they going to get out of here without getting caught? And if they got caught, what would happen? Although everyone in this book seemed pretty happy, he wouldn’t expect that the counselors would take their appearance lightly. After all, when Owen, Kiel, and Orion had escaped from the Boy Scouts the other day, the campers had chased after them, trying to keep them from leaving.

Charm reached down, pulling out her ray guns. “I can handle them.”

“Wait, don’t do anything yet!” Owen hissed. He pushed her hand down. “They don’t even have a _reason_ to hurt us.”

Charm glared at him, taking her ray guns out anyway. “I’m not taking those chances.”

He gulped. That didn’t sound too promising. As far as they knew, the camp counselors were completely harmless. But what if they weren’t? There were always random plot twists in books, so that trope wouldn’t be too surprising. Owen had seen it countless times, with background characters secretly being evil.

Though, he really doubted the counselors would do anything like that. After everyone in the camp being happy all the time, it wouldn’t make sense. This book _already_ had evil trees and mummies. Why have the camp counselors be dangerous, too? Then again, if they were, it’d be a really cool plot twist. Owen _really_ needed to read this book if he ever lived past today.

As the footsteps grew louder, Owen could hear the camp counselors talking amongst themselves. He couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying from here since they were still too far away. Something about an old magician invading their property, or whatever that meant.

“Any idea if they’re coming into the parking lot?” Kara asked in a whisper.

“I’ll check,” Charm said, then lifted her head, peering through the window of the car. After a moment, she lowered herself down and looked at them. “Ugh. They’re coming over here.”

“Maybe they’ll drive away in their cars without noticing us?” Owen said hopefully, though he really doubted that would happen.

The idea quickly died, though, once he heard one of the counselors speak. It was a woman. “Wait a second . . . I think I heard something.”

“What?” a man replied.

“It almost sounded like voices up ahead.”

_What?_ Owen thought, his panic rising. _How could they have heard us from that far away?_

He clamped his mouth shut, not daring to make another sound. Owen’s eyes landed on Kiel, then locked with Kara’s. She slid her hand on top of his, her hand surprisingly still against his shaking one. Under different circumstances, a rush of heat might’ve flooded his cheeks at her touch. But here, it only brought him comfort.

“You’re just hearing things,” the man said, and Owen could practically imagine the man rolling his eyes.

“Well, we’d better keep an eye out for those missing children,” a third voice said. Another woman. “Three boys, I heard, ran away while on a group hike. That was just yesterday. Clearly, they haven’t been washed yet.”

_Washed_? Owen exchanged a confused look with Kara. What did that mean? And could they be talking about the escape that he, Orion, and Kiel had made yesterday? It would make sense if they were, but what did they mean by ‘washed’? Owen assumed they were talking about taking a shower, but the last time he’d taken one _was_ at the summer camp.

“Yes! That they did!” the last man said, the counselor who’d been in charge of Owen’s hiking group. “That boy with the black hair took off and ran, and then two other boys followed him. The shorter one had . . . sort of . . . brown hair. Kind of looked blonde. The other boy also had black hair. I tried to get them, but I was too slow.”

“It’s okay, Larry. We will get _all_ of our missing Scouts back! They won’t survive long with those trees coming alive.”

Larry laughed. “None of them do! And if they’re smart, they’ll come back here. Where they won’t _ever_ have to think about leaving the camp again.”

“Exactly,” the first woman said. “We really need to start washing them the first day they come to the summer camp. Too many of the girls were crying about being homesick, and they didn’t stop until the ceremony.”

“So it worked?”

“Yes. Now, they’re focusing on _exactly_ what we need them to. It’s so nice having obedient, carefree children around. They accomplish so much when they aren’t focused on things outside Scouts training.” She sighed happily. Then, her tone turned to annoyance. “I’m guessing those boys weren’t washed yet? We’d better not let that happen again.”

“It won’t,” the other man promised. “It was only the three boys. I dealt with the rest of the newcomers this morning. So far, none of the children have acted out of the ordinary. They’ve all been very happy here, just as they’re supposed to be. All they care about now is the summer camp.”

“Good. Let’s keep it that way. The more undistracted Scouts we have, the better. Make sure they don’t see anything that reminds them of home. I don’t want to do another ceremony until July.”

Owen listened, incredulous. He’d sort of predicted that the summer camp must’ve had some secrets to hide, but nothing like _this_. What ceremony? And what did washing mean? By that, did they mean _brainwashing_? Were they brainwashing the Scouts so they wouldn’t want to leave the summer camp? This was crazy! And if the Scouts only cared about the summer camp, did that mean they didn’t care about their homes?

Tons of theories went through his head, enough to give him a headache. If he was right, if the Scouts really _were_ being brainwashed, then that meant Owen and his friends were in more danger than he realized. They needed to get out of here before the camp counselors found them. If they did, he wasn’t so sure that the counselors _wouldn’t_ hurt them.

Charm held up her ray guns, and Owen shook his head. _Not yet._ Though, if the camp counselors did find them, he wouldn’t be against ray-gunning them anymore. That would be much better than getting brainwashed, even if he wasn’t completely sure that his theory was true.

He realized that the adults had stopped talking, but he could hear their footsteps. It sounded like they were getting farther away. That would definitely take care of everything, but Owen wasn’t comfortable hanging around this parking lot any longer.

“We should get out of here,” Owen whispered.

Kara nodded. “Yeah . . . I kinda have to agree on that one.” She leaned closer to Owen. “There’s something _seriously_ wrong with camp counselors these days!”

“And you wonder why _I_ never trust unusually happy people,” Charm muttered.

“What about Gwen?” Owen asked.

Charm said nothing at that, but he already knew the answer from the look on her face.

Carefully, he retrieved Kiel’s teleportation button again and tried to think of a safer place to go. But where could they teleport to? They could go back in the woods, but Owen wasn’t sure what part of the woods they’d land in. He didn’t want to go anywhere close to the pure possibility, and now that he knew about the crazy camp counselors, he didn’t want to be near the summer camp, either.

It must’ve been the hundredth time he’d thought this in the past two days, but he should’ve read the book. He should’ve prepared, he should’ve known what he was getting himself into. The only thing Owen had that was useful was his knowledge of books, but if he knew close to nothing about this one, what was he supposed to do?

“Hurry, Owen,” Kara said. “We really need to get out of here.”

“One second!” Owen whispered back, as he fumbled with the teleportation button.

_Take us to the safest part of the forest,_ he thought, as Kara linked her arm through his. Owen placed his other hand on Kiel’s wrist, and in turn, Charm threw her arm over Kiel’s shoulder. Closing his eyes, Owen imagined the least-threatening area of the forest, a place without pure possibility or any summer camps. Hoping it would work, he started to press his thumb down on the button.

Except that never happened, because Owen heard the shrill, high-pitched sound of a car beeping. The teleportation button slipped from his hands. He yelped, opened his eyes, and realized that the car they’d been leaning against had _turned on_. Even worse, he could hear the sound of various boots clomping towards them. And of _course_ it was the car they were sitting against.

“Get down!” Charm hissed, and the three of them immediately lowered themselves to the ground. As for Kiel, they pulled him down with them, only for him to fall directly onto Charm, who sighed in aggravation as she tried pushing him off.

Kara looked at Owen. “Can you teleport us? Like, _now_?”

“Sure, um—“ Owen lifted his hand, only to realize that the teleportation button had fallen out. _Great_. He scanned the ground, feeling around with his hands. “Bad news. I can’t find it!”

“You _lost_ it?” Charm demanded.

Owen averted her gaze. “I didn’t mean to! Help me look for it!”

“Okay, okay,” Kara said, and a few seconds later, he heard her exclaim. “I found it! It got under the car somehow.”

“Can you get it?” Owen peeked around the side of the car, only to see that the counselors were getting closer. They had ten seconds at the most . . . until they got caught and were brainwashed into staying at a summer camp. Not that Owen wouldn’t enjoy staying at summer camp, but not for _these_ reasons.

When he looked back at Kara, she was halfway underneath the car, nothing but the lower half of her body sticking out. “I . . . almost . . . ah-ha! Got it!”

Without even backing out first, Kara smacked the teleportation button with her palm, sending it skidding back over to Owen. While Charm helped Kara get out faster, Owen took the teleportation button in his hand and grabbed Kiel with the other. But just as Kara managed to get out from underneath the car, the car doors from the other side opened.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. The four counselors — two men and two women — looked straight through the car’s windows and saw three teenagers gaping at them. For a moment, no one moved. Time seemed to be frozen, and Owen briefly (and hopefully) wondered if maybe his time powers had come back.

But that fleeting moment passed. The adults climbed back out of the car, heading over to them. Kara rose unsteadily to her feet, and Owen noticed that she stumbled ever so slightly on her injured leg. Charm, on the other hand, pulled her ray guns out first before getting to her feet.

Since he’d been holding Kiel up, Owen sighed and let go of his friend, letting him drop to the ground. His legs shook slightly as he climbed to his feet, turning to face the camp counselors. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

“Oh, really?” one of the women said, narrowing her eyes. “Because I see four children who aren’t where they’re supposed to be. What do you think you’re doing in the parking lot?”

Kara stepped forward. “Our parents are picking us up. That’s why we’re out here — we’re going home early.”

The woman huffed. “No, you’re not. _No one_ here wants to go home. You must be lying!”

“She’s not lying!” Owen said quickly. “It’s true, our parents _are_ picking us up.” He forced a smile, trying to seem less nervous than he was. “W-We, um, we really don’t want to leave but our parents made us.”

“Come on, it’s a family emergency,” Charm told them, and for reasons Owen could guess, a weird expression appearing on her face at the word ‘family’. “As you can see my, uh . . . brother is very sick.” She nodded at Kiel. “He needs to be taken home right away. You wouldn’t want to get our parents involved, would you?”

The camp counselors frowned, considering this. For a moment, Owen thought they might believe them and walk away, leaving them alone. But then, Larry pointed at Kiel, who was lying motionlessly on the ground. “Wait a minute, I remember him! He ran away from my group, and—“ He pointed at Owen. “So did you!“ He looked back at the other camp counselors. “These children _always_ wanted to leave. They must’ve never been washed!”

Okay, that did _not_ sound good. Owen’s eyes widened, and suddenly, his ribs seemed four sizes too small. His words came out in a stutter. “ _Whoa_ , hey, um, actually, no l-let’s not get into that—“

“Of course. It all makes sense!” the other man said, cutting Owen off. “Let’s take them back to the camp and get them fixed tonight. They won’t think twice about leaving again.” Then, he moved forward and made the mistake of grabbing Charm’s arm.

“Hey!” Charm shouted. Faster than Owen could react, she easily tore her arm away and pulled the trigger of her ray gun. A laser whizzed through the air, and a second later, the man collapsed to the ground. The other three adults stared at the man, wearing shocked expressions. But when they looked back up at Owen, Charm, and Kara, they looked angry.

“Get them,” the first woman barked. “We can’t let them get away again!”

Many things happened very quickly. The camp counselors dove forward, and Owen jumped out of the way as Larry reached for his arm. Lasers flew through the air, yet somehow, the woman that Charm was fighting seemed to have no problem dodging all of them. As the other woman tried grabbing Kara, Kara ducked under her arm, kicking her in the leg.

The woman stumbled and bumped into Owen, who almost lost his balance. Again, Larry darted forward to grab him, and Owen backed away as quickly as he could. The only problem was, his feet came in contact with Kiel’s legs, and he lost his balance completely. He winced as he hit the ground, only to glance up and find Larry standing over him.

“You don’t want to take us,” Owen said, trying to keep his voice even. He slowly stood up, untangling his legs from Kiel’s. The man stepped towards him, so Owen took another step back, holding his hands up. “Seriously, you don’t.”

Larry laughed, as if Owen had just told him a hilarious joke. “Of _course_ we do! There’s no better place to be than the summer camp! Soon, you’ll learn that too.”

Owen let out a breath. “Right, but we can’t stay! We’re not supposed to be there! We’re not even real Scouts!”

“Then why are you wearing that?” He pointed to Owen’s clothes. “Only a _real_ Scout wears badges. Everyone knows that.”

Owen had never wanted to escape from a camp counselor so much in his life. Or punch one, if he had the upper arm strength to do it. He groaned in frustration. “Okay, I mean _none_ of us are real Scouts. We got these costumes online! These badges are _fake_. This is all a huge mistake. I’m a normal kid!”

The man snorted. “But you won’t know the difference, will you? Whether or not you’re a real Boy Scout now, you’ll officially be one soon. I’m sure you won’t mind training to be a Boy Scout for a few months, would you?” He stepped forward, smiling. “At the summer camp, no one is sad. A smile will _always_ be on your face. Your life will be an adventure, and you won’t have to worry about anything outside of your life as a Boy Scout ever again.”

Owen had to admit being happy all the time _sounded_ nice, but not like this. Not when the only thing he’d care about would be the summer camp! Not when there was so much more at stake, like the fictional worlds getting wiped out and stopping Nobody. Apparently he wouldn’t care about any of those things anymore. His joy wouldn’t even be real.

Owen shook his head vigorously. “No, this — this isn’t _right_. You can’t do any of this!” He took another step backward, his eyes flickering down to Kiel for a moment. “Adults aren’t supposed to kidnap kids and force them to stay at a summer camp. A-And _brainwash_ them? Why do you even want to do that?”

“So there will be no distractions. The children here don’t think of their life at home. All they care about is having fun, and learning to be a Scout. Even better, they never disobey. Who would when you’re enjoying yourself so much? You see, _nothing_ is better than life at the summer camp! Once you’re fixed, you’ll agree, too! You’ll love it! You’ll love _everything_ , and you’ll worry about nothing! Doesn’t _that_ sound nice?”

“Not really,” Owen breathed, though he wouldn’t have minded the not-worrying-about-anything part. He stepped out of Larry’s reach, only to inconveniently fall back against a car. He was at a dead-end, and Kara and Charm were somewhere ahead of him, busy fighting the other counselors. He gulped, meeting the man’s eyes again.

“No more rule-breaking for you, little boy!” Larry said with a smile, taking another step towards him. “Say goodbye to your disobedience.”

“Goodbye!” said a voice, and a second later, one of Charm’s ray guns came crashing over the man’s head. The man crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Out of breath, Owen pushed himself away from the car, his eyes still on the man.

“Thanks, Charm—“ he started to say, but when he looked up, it wasn’t Charm who’d knocked the man out. It was—

“Kiel?!”

“Hey,” Kiel Gnomenfoot said, winking at him. Patches of dirt had gotten onto his face, making his pale skin look darker than usual in some areas. Relieved and out-of-breath, Owen gave him a grin in return. At that moment, Kara and Charm ran over to them, the other adults having just been knocked out.

“Kiel?” Kara exclaimed. “You’re back!”

“I am! And listen, I know where Bethany is.”

Charm raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “You do?“

“Yes. Long story, but she’s in the Boy Scouts camp. Still don’t know why she’s there, but she’s in danger. We should be able to get there if we . . .” Kiel stopped, then looked around in confusion. “Wait, you got to fight these guys and I _missed_ it?”

“Trust me, you didn’t miss anything,” Kara said, poking the man at their feet with her foot. “They were trying to capture us.”

“Still! All I got to do was knock a guy out,” Kiel replied wistfully, before jumping back into the questions. “And would someone explain — where _are_ we? Why did we go to this . . . car zoo? Last time I checked, we were in a meadow.”

“And now we’re in a parking lot,” Charm said gruffly, grabbing his arm and starting to march towards the summer camp. “And don’t them ‘car zoos’. I’ll explain what happened on the way. We have to move quickly.”

Taken by surprise, Kiel stumbled but followed her. “Why? What happened?”

“I said _come on_!”

Owen didn’t have time to register the fact that Kiel hadn’t seemed to forget anything. Because the next thing he felt was a strange prick on the side of his neck. He winced. What had _that_ been? He felt around on his neck, but his hand started to feel unusually heavy. Without realizing it, he dropped his hand back at his side. Not just his hand, but it felt like his entire body was getting heavier and heavier.

Kara pointed at him, her blue eyes growing wide. “Owen, what‘s that thing on your neck?”

“What thing?” Owen frowned, tilting his head down to see what she was talking about. For some reason, his vision was getting blurry. His thoughts slowed down, and he could feel the energy starting to drain out of him. What was happening? That’s when he noticed the blow dart on his neck, but he was already too dazed to properly freak out. 

His eyelids drooping, he looked back up at Kara. Her face was getting blurrier by the second, and her pink hair seemed especially brighter at that moment. He leaned in towards her, meaning to ask her why her hair was getting so bright. Even her _eyes_ seemed to glow. She looked like a shining star, brighter than anything he’d ever seen. He stared at her, completely in awe. How was she able to do that?

Owen opened his mouth, and what fell out of it was, “Are you magic?”

She gave him a strange look. “What?”

“Yes?” he mumbled, stumbling over his own feet. Why was it so hard to walk all the sudden? And was he just imagining it, but did his legs feel like bowling balls?

Kara lifted her hands to his face. “Something’s wrong with you. Keep your eyes open!” Her voice was anxious, but he could barely hear anything anymore. He could only focus on the feel of her hands on his face, making him more relaxed. Maybe he was in a dream. That had to be it! He was in a _dream_ , and Kara was there with him.

Owen only smiled, his eyes barely open now. “It’s . . . on your . . . your arm . . .”

Kara glanced down at her arm, and Owen could just barely tell that a blow dart was on there, too. She gasped. “These are blow darts! We have . . . have to get out of . . .”

He didn’t hear the rest of her sentence as he collapsed to the ground, everything fading around him. 

* * *

Bethany’s heart hadn’t stopped racing since she left the cabin. The cabin where the Magister could’ve caught her in, if she hadn’t been able to hide at the last second. She kept checking over her shoulder, expecting him to appear out of nowhere. And maybe he would.

A disguise spell, she reasoned, would be incredibly helpful right about now. Both for blending in and for getting the Magister to stop following her. Apparently wearing a Scout uniform wasn’t enough, not when she was the only girl for miles. And trying to look like a boy was _definitely_ off the list, since Bethany wasn’t about to cut off her hair (unless it actually came to that).

Which was why, she decided, moving as fast as she could _away_ from the Magister would be her best option. And really, her only option.

One thing that kept her hopeful was knowing that the Magister was still stuck in that tree she’d left him in, which meant he didn’t have much time. The pure possibility had been moving pretty fast, last time she checked, so when it reached the Magister, he’d disappear. One problem gone, and a dozen more left to go. But at least it’d fix her getting-kidnapped problem.

She glanced down at her feet, which felt considerably sore from all the running around she’d been doing today. That only made it harder to keep going, to keep running, when all she wanted was to take a break. To go back to the way things used to be. She missed how things were this morning, when she was with her friends and the only thing she’d been worried about was whether she could destroy the stone or not.

If she had a time machine, maybe she’d be able to go back and fix things. Make sure none of this would ever happen. Too bad they weren’t still in Kara’s world, where Bethany could’ve easily traveled back in time. At least just to save Gwen and Orion.

Above her, the sun sunk lower and lower into the sky, and an arch of summer clouds swam in the budding sunset. Bright hues of oranges and reds and pinks began dancing across the sky, getting brighter as the sun dipped towards the horizon. Sunlight framed the edges of the clouds, like a dazzling halo of gold.

When she looked up at the sky, it was easy for Bethany to pretend that it was just any other day. And when her eyes flickered back to the ground, she saw a sea of unfamiliar faces, completely unaware of what they were about to face. She wasn’t sure how much time she’d have before the pure possibility rolled in, but with it getting dark soon, it would be much harder to find her friends.

With this in mind, Bethany quickened her pace, her soaked shoes causing indents to form in the grass. As she got further into the camp, she noticed there were a lot more cabins. And with it, a lot more people. Boy Scouts were everywhere; it was so crowded that some of the boys shoved into her.

Laughter echoed across the fields, reminding Bethany just how deep the ache in her heart was. Everyone she saw seemed happy and relaxed, two feelings she hadn’t had for . . . well, a while. Sure, she’d had many happy moments over the past few weeks with her friends, but relaxing? Bethany barely remembered the last time there’d been nothing to worry about.

Bethany kept an eye out for her friends, even though she didn’t see them anywhere. Doubt crept into her mind. Was looking in the summer camp really the right thing to do? Was there even a chance her friends could be here? Or, would anyone actually know where they were? If Toby didn’t, why would anyone here?

It was a long shot to come here. Maybe she should look somewhere else, try finding other options. But what was she supposed to do, look through the whole forest? That’d be crazy. Crazy _and_ impossible. It would never work, not when she didn’t have a location spell or even shapeshifting powers to help her look for them.

Really, she didn’t know _what_ to do. She felt more lost than ever. She was just searching with no clues. Coming here could’ve been a huge mistake, because there was a definite chance her friends wouldn’t be here. Maybe if she went back to Toby’s cabin, if she looked around some more—

And then, as she wandered past a soccer field, one of the cabins caught Bethany’s eye. It looked like an information center of some kind. The strange part, though, was that posters covered every single window, not allowing her to see inside. Even the doors were made of wood, which she guessed made sense since it was a cabin. Still, it was a little unnerving that she couldn’t see the inside.

If she wanted answers, she’d have to walk through that door. She could only hope that whoever was on the other side could give her information about her friends. But at this point, she wasn’t sure that they’d _have_ any answers. It was better to check, she decided. Just to be sure.

She stared up at the cabin, biting her lip anxiously. _Okay, here goes._ Before she could back out of it, she hurried up the stairs, the wooden planks creaking loudly beneath her feet. Once she reached the top, she yanked at the door, expecting it to swing open. But the doorknob only jiggled. It was locked.

Bethany paused, her brow furrowing. That didn’t make sense. Why would a door to a cabin in a summer camp be locked? Unless the cabin wasn’t being used anymore, but it didn’t _look_ like it was out of use. Raising her fist, she knocked a few times instead, wincing a bit as the wood camp in contact with her knuckles. Hopefully she wouldn’t get any splinters from doing this.

Suddenly, the door swung open, catching her off guard. A woman stood at the other end, wearing a cap and an adult version of the Scout uniform. She looked surprised, and as Bethany started to go inside, the woman blocked her. Bethany frowned, taking a step back.

“Hello, young lady,” the woman said, pasting a smile on her face. “I’m sorry, but you aren’t allowed to go in here. We’re closed for the day.”

“Sorry, is this the information center?” Bethany asked, pointing behind the woman.

“Yes, it is, but—“

“I have some questions.” She swallowed hard. “Can I come in? I just need to ask a few things.”

Reluctantly, the woman nodded. She stepped away from the door, letting Bethany pass. Quietly, Bethany walked inside the cabin. The inside was even darker than she’d expected it to be, with all the windows being covered up. The only light came from the small chandelier that hung from the ceiling, which had candles instead of artificial lights.

Bethany inhaled, and the musty smell of dried wood hit her nose, a sign that the windows must’ve not been opened in a long time. She wasn’t sure if she was imagining it, but the air seemed hotter, too. If this was the information center, why was it all boarded up like this? The locked door was one thing, but seeing the covered windows was another.

Catching Bethany looking at the windows, the woman said, “We don’t like to keep the windows open here. You can’t imagine how many spiders crawl in here.”

Bethany gave her a weird look. Spiders sometimes crawled into her house, and that happened even if her windows were closed. “Um, why are they covered?”

The woman tilted her head, smiling. “We prefer to tape our posters to the windows. We don’t like damaging the wood. Now please, come sit. What are your questions?”

The woman sauntered over to a desk next to the wall, which said ‘information desk’ above it. Scattered along the desk were folders and colorful stacks of information guides. Pictures of Boy Scouts and camp counselors lined the wall, most of them showing sports games and arts and crafts.

Walking over to the chair in front of it, Bethany hesitantly sat down, folding her arms in her lap. “I was wondering if my friends are here. There’s four of them. Two girls and two boys. They would’ve just gotten here, maybe an hour ago? Or thirty minutes ago? I’m not sure.”

The woman smiled, a little too sweetly. “Well, if you want to find the girls, I can point you back to the Girl Scouts camp. That’s where you’re supposed to be right now.”

Bethany leaned forward, her frustration rising. “No, I’m saying that they wouldn’t have _separated_. They’d either be here or there. You have information about everyone, right?”

“That is correct, but if they are in this camp, only the boys would be here. And I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to allow you to see them. You will have to go to the Girl Scouts camp, and you may look for the girls there. But if your friends are here, you should know that boys and girls are not allowed to visit each other, _or_ leave the camp.”

“Wait . . . what?” Bethany frowned. Her heart sped up. “You don’t let them leave?”

The woman smiled. “It’s not of any concern to them. They simply love it here—“

“Wait, what is going _on_ here? This is a summer camp, not a _prison_.” 

“Interesting you think of it that way,” the woman replied slowly, starting to stand. “None of the other children do.” She glanced at the door. “Is that all your questions? The Boy Scouts are doing some very important training right now. If you don’t go back to the Girl Scouts camp, which is where you’re supposed to be, I’ll have to—“

Bethany jumped out of her chair, putting her hands on the desk. “Oh, what are you going to do? Contact the summer camp authorities?!” She was getting angry, but she didn’t care. “I was _asking_ if you’ve seen my friends. You can’t force me to stop looking for them while I’m here, and if you were more helpful, you could tell me if you’ve seen them!” She threw up her hands, exasperated. “What is _with_ you people?”

The woman narrowed her eyes. “You’re acting very strange. You shouldn’t be upset. You must understand, that unless you are a Boy Scout, you aren’t allowed to be here.”

“No,” Bethany snapped. “ _No_ , I didn’t come all the way over here _just_ for you to tell me I can’t look for my friends. If they’re here, I have to find them. Can’t you tell me anything? The two boys, their names are, um . . .” She searched through her brain, trying to think of what Owen and Kiel’s fake names had been. “Luke and Kyle! Have you seen them?”

“I have no idea who you’re talking about.” The woman was walking towards her now, the smile gone from her face. “Please sit back down.”

“This was a waste of time,” Bethany muttered, starting towards the door. “I’m leaving. Thanks for . . . whatever that was.”

Then, a hand latched around her elbow, and she was pulled backwards. Bethany gasped. “Hey! What are you—“ Still holding onto her, the woman shoved her back into the chair. Breathing hard, Bethany fought against her, but the woman pushed down on her shoulders with a surprising strength.

“Tie her up!” the woman shouted, and Bethany’s eyes widened. _What?_

Suddenly, a door opened on the other side of the cabin, revealing two men. One was holding a rope. Bethany squirmed, struggling even harder as the men came closer. This was so bad! How had she walked right into a trap _again_?

The rope started wrapping itself against her body, and Bethany began to panic. The woman was still holding tightly onto her shoulders, keeping her from moving as the rope kept winding around her form. By the time they were done, her body felt like it was being squeezed, her ribs suddenly four sizes too small. The woman let go of her, and Bethany stared up at the people, on the verge of an anxiety attack.

“W-Why are you doing this?!” Bethany demanded, her voice shaking. “What’s going on?”

Ignoring her, the woman said, “Hand me the pendulum. This girl hasn’t been washed.”

“Washed? W-What is that? What are you doing? Get away from me!” She leaned back as the man handed the woman a pendulum, the kind she’d seen in movies. Oh, this was _so_ not good. She kicked her feet, trying and failing to move her arms again and again. The rope dug tighter into her body, almost making it hard to breathe.

“Try to calm down,” the woman said, giving her a smile. “This doesn’t hurt. _All_ of the children go through the same thing.”

“What does it do?” Bethany asked, her voice shaking. She glanced at the door. Her path was clear, but being tied to a chair would make it a lot harder to escape. She needed to get out of here somehow. She had to do _something._

“It takes all your worries away. You’ll only have fun here. You won’t think of home or anything less important than your training as a Girl Scout. You won’t care about leaving or going _anywhere_ else. It’s the perfect, most undistracting way to spend your summer.”

“So this _is_ like a prison,” Bethany said quietly, trying not to appear as terrified as she felt. “Okay, you _can’t_ do this. You can’t just force people to stay here just so they can be a Scout! Please, I _have_ to leave! I don’t _want_ to be a Girl Scout. I need to find my friends before something terrible happens! Just let me _go_.”

The woman smiled, almost sympathetically. “Oh, honey, you know I can’t do that.” She nodded at the men. “It’s time.”

“No!” Bethany said, trying again to get her arms free. “Stop! I have to—“

Shushing her, the woman swung the pendulum before Bethany’s eyes. She tried to look away, but for some reason, her eyes were glued to the object in front of her. She watched it swing right, then left, everything becoming very blurry. Her eyelids started to droop, and all the while, her brain screamed at her to snap out of it.

But she couldn’t.

* * *

When Kara cracked her eyes open, she found herself in all-too-familiar territory: a jail cell.

Getting hit with a blow-dart in the arm hadn’t been Kara’s preferred way to spend her possible last-day-on-Earth, but being back in a cell made it all the worse. The last time she’d been in one had been during her days under solitary confinement, and before that, she’d spent even longer in the Jules Verne Memorial Time Prison.

So being locked up again wasn’t exactly comforting, to put it simply.

Kara slowly pushed herself off the floor, feeling a bit disoriented and confused. And a little panicked, if she was being honest. How had she gotten here? A terrible thought came to her head. Had time agents found her and taken her back to prison? Was _that_ why she was in jail?

Breathless, she raced to the bars and pulled on them. “Hey! Let me out!”

“Can you try not to yell so loud?” a voice said from behind her. “My head kind of hurts. I’ve fainted a _lot_ in the past few months. Kinda does something to a guy, y’know?”

Kara whirled around to see Kiel sitting on the ground, his hair a disheveled mess. Her eyes widened. If Kiel was here, then Kara had a feeling they weren’t captured by the TSA. “Oh, my gosh! Kiel, what happened? Do you know where we are?”

Kiel sighed. “Got hit with a blow dart and woke up here, same as you did. And I _think_ we’re in the summer camp, but I don’t know why they’d want to lock us up.”

Kara cringed. “We should get out of here.”

“No problem, you’re with me! I can get the door open,” Kiel said, winking at her. He stood up. “Do you have a bobby pin or something?”

She deadpanned, a smile creeping onto her face. “Do you assume that all girls have bobby pins in their hair?”

Kiel shook his head, smiling. “Uh, no. Usually, she does. That’s why I asked.” He lowered his head to the ground, peering all around the wooden floor. “Okay, with any luck there should be a wire around here somewhere . . .”

Kara moved to help him look, then paused. “She?”

He turned to look at her, his brows knitted. “What? Oh, yeah, um . . . I was talking about her.”

“Who’s ‘her’?”

Several emotions crossed Kiel’s face. Confusion melted into realization, then disbelief, and a sudden wide-eyed look of fear. He staggered backward, lightly hitting the wall. But he barely seemed to notice as he muttered, “No . . . _no_ , this wasn’t supposed to happen. This _can’t_ be happening.”

Kara stepped closer to him. “Kiel, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t say her name,” Kiel said quietly, shaking his head in disbelief.

Kara’s eyes widened as realization dawned on her. He must be talking about Bethany. If he couldn’t say her name, that had to mean he was _forgetting_ her. Shock filled Kara, along with a pang of sympathy as she stared at the dark-haired boy in front of her. She knew what it was like for someone to not recognize you. She didn’t want that for Kiel.

“ _Bethany_?” Kara said softly. “You can’t say Bethany’s name?”

Kiel shook his head, his hands opening and closing at a fast pace. “This has to be a joke!” He scoffed. “I never thought that the spell would actually — how could I be so stupid? I’m an idiot for thinking this couldn’t happen! I thought this wouldn’t even—“

Kara grabbed his arm, trying to steady him. “Hey, just calm down. You just can’t say her name. That’s it. You still remember stuff about Bethany, right?”

Kiel took a few deep breaths, looking like he was trying to calm himself down. “I should, but I can’t completely tell. Um . . . let me sit down for a second.”

She nodded. “Sure.”

He slid to the ground, and Kara sat beside him. It was almost a full minute before he spoke. “I . . . _yeah_. I remember who she is.” His eyes slowly closed. “I can remember how we met. I remember her face . . . how _angry_ she can get sometimes . . .” A wisp of a smile came to his face, like he was lost in a dream. “I remember our adventures, which is good. Pretty much every moment we shared I can still remember.”

“So . . . you’re _not_ forgetting her?”

He opened his eyes and stared at her. “I don’t know. I-I have this weird feeling. Like when I think of her, it’s starting to get all foggy. What if . . . that might mean . . .”

“You’re _not_ going to forget her,” Kara said, shocked by just how little confidence he had at that moment. “Is there anything we can do to stop it?”

”No idea,” Kiel said, not looking too hopeful. “The only thing that might work is if I see her in person. But I’m not sure if she’s still in the Boy Scouts camp. Or if she’s in the same area I saw her last. All I knew was that she was in danger, because the _Magister_ was following her.” His expression switched to disgust. 

Kara bit her lip. “And now I think she’s in more danger than _that_.”

“Wait, what? What do you mean?”

“It’s kind of a long story, but remember when you woke up and saw all those camp counselors we knocked out?”

Kiel nodded. “Yeah.”

“While you were under that spell, we overheard the camp counselors saying that they brainwash all of the campers. As it turns out the counselors want to do the same thing to us! They’ve been brainwashing everyone in the summer camp, so they don’t want to leave. _That’s_ why everyone is so happy here, apparently. And that’s also why they kidnapped us. To brainwash us, I think.”

Kiel made a face. “Yep, that’s not great. So you think she might get . . .”

“Brainwashed? Yeah. Maybe.”

“Gwen and Orion weren’t with her. Maybe she was looking for them — I don’t know. The Magister was following her for some reason, too.” He shook his head in disbelief. “So now she might get brainwashed _and_ killed?”

“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” Kara told him, patting his shoulder. “This gives us an even better reason to get out of here, before _any_ of us get brainwashed. Come on! _”_ She got up and searched the ground, and finally, her hand came in contact with a small piece of wire. She waved it to him. “This work?”

Kiel took it from her hand, giving her a shaky grin. “Perfect.”

He ran over to the bars, sticking his arm through and placing the wire through the lock. He bit his lip in concentration, and after a few seconds, Kara heard the lock click. The door swung open with a loud creak. Kiel glanced back at her, and they shared a triumphant smile before eagerly rushing from the jail cell.

“Good work!” Kara said, putting her hands on her hips. “Think Owen and Charm might’ve broken out yet?”

“Owen, probably not,” Kiel said, bouncing from foot to foot. “And even though Charm is like, the smartest person in the whole universe, she doesn’t have my lock-picking skills. They’ll definitely need our help.” He paused at the doorway. “I hope we can find them quickly. I _need_ to find her before I forget her completely.”

Kara blinked, surprised. She hadn’t known Kiel for long, but even in the direst situations, he’d never sounded like _this_. Desperation was in his tone, laced with fear. It was as if he was close to a breaking point. His expression was completely unguarded, and when she looked him in the eyes, she saw fear.

She recognized that look. She’d seen it in her own eyes countless times. Every time she tried to stop the world from ending, or when she’d tried saving Owen, it was there. It was always there. Even now, Kara felt that desperation. And while she hadn’t been able to stop the bad things from happening, Kiel could.

“Don’t worry about Owen and Charm,” Kara assured him. “I’ll find them. We can meet up later once you find Bethany.”

Kiel looked surprised. “Once I find her? Kara, I can’t leave—“

“Listen!” She put her hands on his shoulders. “If you stay to look for Owen and Charm, you might never remember Bethany again.”

“But—“

Kara gave him a smile. “Nope, you _have_ to find Bethany. I’m not kidding. _Go to her_.”

Kiel only took a second to register what she had said. He nodded firmly, determination and something like hope emerging in his lilac eyes. Before Kara could blink, he’d already begun sprinting like a madman for the door.

* * *

“Excuse me, excuse me. Coming through!“ 

As soon as Kiel emerged from the jail (which had only been guarded by two counselors), he ran through the summer camp, which was filled everywhere with Scouts. He was still confused about many things — like why on Magisteria would this summer camp have a jail?! — but he tried shaking it off, focusing on where to find Bethany.

It was dark out, which surprised him. When they’d been in the parking lot, the sun had still been up, although it had looked like a sunset had started to emerge. Apparently, he’d been knocked out for a few hours. Long enough for things to turn even more upside-down than they already were.

Before he’d gotten hit by a blow dart, Charm had filled him in a little bit on what he’d missed out on. She’d told him about the pure possibility spreading everywhere, which he found hard to believe at first. But if _Charm_ was saying it — and she was usually always right about these things — that meant it was true.

It also gave Kiel even more reason to find Bethany, before the pure possibility got here. The only problem was, he wasn’t sure how to find her, or what direction she’d been in. But all he knew was that he _had_ to see her. He had to see her before he forgot her. That was one of the worst things imaginable. It was _unimaginable_ , really.

Because if it were between forgetting her or disappearing, he’d rather let every cell in his body fade away before forgetting the sight of her face, or the sound of her voice.

He usually always prided himself on doing the right thing and being the hero, but he couldn’t do that anymore. This had been a mistake. He _never_ should’ve done that spell, even though he had just assumed the forgetting-part would never happen. He’d just brushed it off, telling himself he had everything under control.

But for once, _nothing_ was under his control. He should’ve gotten out of the spell sooner. He should’ve listened to his friends’ warnings, but he hadn’t. It was the first time his recklessness had backfired in a _bad_ way — at least the only time that Kiel could remember. If there was a problem, he was used to making an easy solution. Though for this, he wasn’t so confident that things would work out as well as he’d hoped.

Kiel flew past the campers, the wind whipping through his hair as his feet propelled him forward. Growing anxious, he looked everywhere around him, looking for the Magister, Bethany, _anyone_. His eyes scanned the sea of people— all Girl Scouts, he noticed — searching for one face in particular. Searching for a sign of long red hair, which was hard when it was dark out.

And then, near the dining hall, he saw her. Her back was turned to him as she talked to some other girl. Wasting no time, Kiel caught up to her. “Hey!” He grabbed her by the hand, pulling her towards him. “Thank Magisteria I found—“

She gave a surprised shout, pulling her hand away. She turned to stare at him, and that was when Kiel realized that the girl was not Bethany. It was just another girl with red hair. Disappoint blossomed in his chest. Maybe even a slight pang of relief, because Kiel was still working through what he was going to say once he found Bethany. 

Normally he just said things without really thinking them through, but this . . . this was important. There were millions of things he wanted to tell her, and he wasn’t sure how — or if he was ready — to say them. But he would have to be if this was his last shot. And it was. If this was really going to be his last moment with her, he wanted it to be special.

Or maybe he wouldn’t say anything at all. Maybe he’d see her face, and that would be enough to stop his memories from fading. As long as he was able to see her, maybe even talk to her, then he still had a chance. He wouldn’t give up until he found her.

Kiel gave the girl an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I thought you were my . . . have you seen a girl around here? She has red hair, she’s about . . .” He gestured with his hand. “This tall. Pretty. Rolls her eyes a lot. Her name is, um, well . . . I’m not really able to say it right now. All I can do is describe her.” 

The girl shook her head, looking like she could care less. “I have no idea who that is.”

“. . . Right! Thanks anyway.” 

Giving her a wink, Kiel went back to running. His chest was tight with worry. He looked all around him, trying to spot her in the crowd. But there were so many people everywhere, making it hard to search for her. He was running out of time. Where could she be?

Wait . . . he was still in the Girl Scouts camp. Hadn’t Bethany been in the Boy Scouts camp when he’d last seen her? Kiel’s eyes widened, and he immediately sprinted in the direction of the Boy Scouts camp. She had to be there! He remembered it being near the entrance of the girls’ camp, separated by a gate.

Luckily, it didn’t take too long to get there. It was probably from all the adrenaline he had, or maybe the pressing anxiety, but Kiel felt he could run ten marathons. He bounded past a few more cabins and climbed the tall fence at the camp’s exit, sliding over the top and landed on his feet. The impact sent a jolt up his legs, but even then, he didn’t stop going.

Taking a shortcut through the soccer fields, Kiel started to sprint. A group of boys were already there, in the middle of playing a game. Why they were playing a game at nighttime, Kiel didn’t know. Shouts followed him as he flew past, nearly tripping over the soccer ball. The impact sent the ball spiraling into the air, where it landed on the opposite end of the field. 

If he wasn't on a time crunch, Kiel wouldn’t have minded playing soccer. Really, the best thing that nonfictional school had introduced him to was soccer. It was fun when he flawlessly scored every goal, since he was amazing at pretty much everything he came across.

_Okay_ , he reminded himself. _Don’t get distracted by soccer. Remember to find Bethany!_

He broke out of the fields, stumbling down the path through the woods that’d lead him to the cabins. A group of boys shoved into him, and Kiel stumbled. He kept going, heading for what he assumed was the direction of the cabins. That was where he’d seen Bethany last, after all. But which way was he supposed to go? Was he going the right way at all? 

“Excuse me!” Kiel said breathlessly, stopping one of the boys. “Can you—“ Another deep breath. ”—tell me where the cabins are?”

“I’d be happy to!” the boy said cheerfully. Everyone was always cheerful here, and Kiel really liked that. “They’re that way.” He pointed in the complete opposite direction.

Kiel smiled appreciatively. “Thanks!”

Once again, he set off running. Cabins whipped past him left and right. He raced past the kids doing arts and crafts, and sure enough, there was a sign pointing him to the cabins. They all had different names, but it didn’t matter. Whatever cabin that Bethany had hidden in, she couldn't have gone far, right? That had to mean Kiel would find her.

_Don’t forget her._

He didn’t stop running, not until he reached the first cabin. Panting hard, he bounded up the steps and threw open the door without as much as a knock. He glanced around, only seeing two surprised-looking boys in the corner. 

And for a dreadful moment, Kiel forgot who he was supposed to be looking for. He stood there, a blank look on his face. Wait, who had he come here for? It was a girl, wasn’t it? His friend. Started with a B . . . _Beth?_ Bethany! That was it. _Bethany, Bethany, Bethany._ He repeated the name in his mind over and over, afraid he’d forget it again. But what was her last name? Did she even _have_ a last name? She must’ve, but Kiel couldn’t remember. 

_Uh oh,_ he thought. That couldn’t be a good sign. 

“Wrong cabin!” Kiel announced to the boys, quickly closing the door. 

As he darted to the next cabin, he had a cold, sinking feeling. His memory was getting worse. He was forgetting her, and if he didn’t find her soon, he’d forget her altogether. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t picture what the color of her eyes were. Blue? Green? Maybe gray? How could he forget her eyes, when he’d looked into them thousands of times? 

_Don’t forget her._

Everything about this terrified him. His worst fear, being _forgotten_? Kiel wanted to laugh. It didn’t seem true anymore. Not when Bethany was slipping out of his mind like sand slipping through his fingers. He swallowed down the lump in his throat, trying to remain hopeful. But it was hard to when he didn’t know where to find her. 

If he forgot her now, he’d lose her. And even worse, he wouldn’t _know_ he lost her. He had to admit that he couldn’t imagine a life without Bethany; it was like a life without magic or dragons. He loved those things. If he forgot them, it was like forgetting a part of _himself_. It was like forgetting how to breathe, or how to eat. He’d never realized how much he needed her until now, until he was about to lose her. And she, in turn, would lose him too. 

He hurried up the next cabin’s steps, turning the doorknob and opened it. A few boys were inside, who all looked over when Kiel appeared.

“Hey!” the boy magician said, trying to catch his breath at the same time. “Have you seen a girl around here?”

One of the boys nodded. “With red hair?”

Kiel’s face lit up. “Yes! Have you seen her?”

“We let her hide under our bed earlier,” the same boy said with a laugh. “This magician guy was trying to find her for this magic trick they were doing, but he disappeared a few hours ago. Into thin air, too! Really cool magic trick, but we all thought he was supposed to do a magic show tonight!”

“This magician is gone?” Kiel asked, blinking in disbelief. “ _Actually_ gone? He never came back?”

“No, he didn’t. He vanished out of _nowhere_. Super weird!”

The Magister was gone? Kiel felt a weight lift from his shoulders, though he wasn’t sure yet if this was good or bad news. Hopefully good. Whatever he’d wanted Bethany for, maybe he’d given up. Or maybe he’d disappeared to go look for her. There were too many options, but once he saw Bethany, he’d know if the Magister was still trying to find her.

“So can you tell me where that girl is?” Kiel asked eagerly. “I _really_ have to find her.”

The boy started to say something, then looked out the window and pointed. “Hey, there she is!”

“What?!” Kiel didn’t bother looking out the window. He was already racing out the door. He clambered down the cabin’s wooden steps, turning his head in every direction. And then, a figure hurried past him. The light that hung from the cabin’s porch cast a faint glow on the girl, and more noticeably, her reddish hair.

Kiel’s eyes focused on the girl walking ahead of him, and he did a double take. He exhaled, relief washing over him like a wave. It was her! The boy had been right! It was _Bethany_. This time, he knew it was her. From the way she held herself, Kiel had no doubt in his mind that it was Bethany. He didn’t have to see her face to know; he just knew. It was more of an instinct than anything else.

But where were Gwen and Orion? Kiel looked at the people around her, but she was alone. Maybe they’d gone somewhere else? Or she could be meeting them somewhere. Either way, he had to catch up with her first. There wasn’t much time to wonder where Gwen and Orion were when at least Bethany was right there. He was thankful just to see her. Even if he hadn’t seen her face yet.

He stood there for a moment, watching her travel down the pathway. Despite there being people everywhere, the only thing he was able to look at was her. His heart skipped a beat inside his chest. Then, remembering the stakes, he hurried after her, knowing all along that wherever she went, he would follow.

He would always follow her.

Moonlight shone down on the world below, bright enough that he could still see, even without any lights around. There seemed to be even more people around than before, making it hard for him to get to her faster. He kept his head up, not daring to take his eyes off of Bethany. If he did, he might lose her in the crowd.

From what he could see, she was heading directly for one of the nature trails in the woods. Why would she be going there? There was no way to know. His legs started to burn from all the running he’d been doing, but he didn’t stop once. He had to get to her. He _could_ do it, and he would. He couldn’t lose her, not when he was so close.

Kiel’s lips moved to form her name, but for some reason, it was hard to say it. It was hard to even remember what her name _was_. Despite her being right in front of him, it was becoming more difficult to grasp who she was. Like a fog was passing over his mind. His memory was fading fast, so Kiel ran faster. 

He pushed Boy Scouts aside left and right, doing anything he could to make it to her in time. His heart raced. He was only a few feet away now. He kept running, leaping over a log and almost knocking several people over. His distress heightened, his breaths coming out faster. He was so close, and still, he was too far. He wasn’t able to reach her before she entered the trail, disappearing behind the tall trees. 

“Hey! _Hey_!” Kiel shouted, desperation in his voice. Finally, miraculously, he managed to spit her name out. “ _Bethany_!” 

But Bethany had already run into the woods, apparently not hearing him. He pushed on, finally making it to the tree-line. He bounded across the forest floor as fast as he could, ready to finally catch up with her and risk it all. Whether it was just to see her face or to say something quick, he wasn’t sure. And what would he say? 

How could he tell her that he was about to forget her? That he’d chosen the very last second to tell her . . . 

To tell her what she made him feel. 

And what _did_ he feel? He’d felt a certain way about her since he was twelve, before he even knew what it meant or what to do about it. The truth was, he’d known it since the very day Bethany had been kidnapped by Fowen. The feeling had crept up on him very subtly, but recognizing that she most likely just thought of him as a friend, he’d never acted on it. Because she was one of his closest friends, too.

Maybe that was why he’d always just pretended the feelings weren’t there. If he showed his true feelings all the way, he would’ve found the courage to tell Bethany what she meant to him long ago. He was young — both of them were. He didn’t understand his feelings all the way, only that they were growing. Always growing, like how a flower slowly bloomed in the spring. 

Last night, when they’d sat on the porch together, it’d been the only time Kiel had ever tried to act on his feelings. With the pounding rain above their heads, he’d felt the urge to lean in. Her eyes bore into his, bright and shimmering. That moment hung between them, and if Kiel had been braver, it could’ve revealed the truth. The truth that after all this time, from the moment he saw her, his feelings had swelled into something close to love.

It’d happened right under his nose, before he was able to fully realize it. When they’d walked back into the cabin together, Kiel had noticed that Bethany didn’t talk to him for the rest of the night. She probably felt awkward about what had happened, or maybe she just didn’t want to talk about it. Because what did you say to a friend who you almost kissed? A friend who most likely just thought of _you_ as a friend?

Kiel had wanted to bring it up at some point, and hoped to do it the next morning. But once she, Gwen, and Orion left, he lost his chance. It was the only chance he’d ever tried taking with her, because for a while, he’d only thought of her as a friend. A friend who stirred up unfamiliar feelings in his heart, feelings that had resurfaced when he saw her all those months ago.

Who cared if she didn’t feel the same way? Of course, he _did_ care but right now the stakes were too high. He couldn’t back away from this, because if he did, he’d forget. Kiel wanted to tell her — to _show_ her — what she meant to him, just like he’d always held back from doing in the past. Especially last night on the porch, when he’d held back from . . . well, he wasn’t willing to hold back anymore now. He couldn’t lose her, not when he’d come so close.

He kept running until he heard voices up ahead, followed by laughter and the crackling of a fire. He might’ve imagined it, but he thought he heard Bethany’s voice, too. Whether he had or not, he _knew_ she was here. A shiver went down his spine. She was just a few feet away now. He could reach her in moments.

Kiel pressed his hand against a tree, and for a second, he hesitated. And that one second was all it took. Before he could take another step, Bethany slipped from his mind. It was like a veil had been thrown over his consciousness, blocking her from his thoughts and his memories. Within seconds, all of their shared moments floated from his head. He blinked, suddenly confused. Wait, what was he supposed to be doing? 

He stepped to the side of the tree, peering around it. In front of him was a huge bonfire, with sparks that flew high into the air. More noticeable, though, was the group of Scouts that surrounded the fire. Some were roasting marshmallows, others were talking, and some were even dancing, despite there not being any music. If he had nothing better to do, he might’ve joined them.

As if by a magnetic force, Kiel’s eyes were instantly drawn to one person specifically. A girl. She was spinning around, her arms swinging loosely in the air and a joyous smile on her face. Her laugh carried into the wind. In Kiel’s eyes, she seemed to be moving in slow motion. Her hair was as fiery as the flames behind her, illuminated in its orangey glow. She was like a beacon that Kiel could not look away from. For some odd reason, the sight of her made his heart burst.

Kiel stared at her, and the rest of the world faded away. Laughter echoed across the summer camp, along with the shrill noise of crickets chirping. But the sounds seemed farther away, like a distant melody ringing in his ears. He felt like he’d looked at her a thousand times before, although he never remembered seeing her before. That was strange.

Then, from across the forest, their eyes locked. It was dark enough that Kiel was sure she couldn’t see him very well, but he noticed that the girl’s smile wobbled as she looked at him. She swayed slightly on her feet, looking out of breath and dizzy from her dancing. She looked almost dazed at the sight of him, as if she was waking up from a dream. By the time she would realize it was him, though, it’d be too late.

Something stirred inside Kiel’s heart, urging him to walk over to her. But for once, he didn’t follow his instincts. Slowly, he let his hand slide from the tree, falling back at his side. He turned away from the girl, shaking off the weird feeling he’d gotten at the sight of her. He’d better go find his friends before the pure possibility got here. That sounded like the right thing to do.

He thought nothing more of the girl after that. He wouldn’t see her again, so it didn’t matter. He wasn’t even sure why he’d been watching her, to begin with. Why had he run all the way across the camp just to get to that bonfire? It wasn’t like anything important was there. Why was he doing that when he should be looking for his friends? He’d wasted plenty of time already. 

With this in mind, he walked away, leaving the bonfire behind him. He didn’t realize or understand it, but he was walking away from the only girl he’d ever loved. Maybe if things had gone differently, if he’d run a bit faster or if she’d heard him when he called her name, their fate would’ve been avoided. But the truth was rarely so simple. It was always meant to go this way, from the moment Kiel had used the soul-connecting spell. Yet, he didn’t remember that, either. 

Without knowing it, he was walking away from Bethany for the second time — and for a very different reason. But this time around, it wasn’t her mistake. 

It was his.

* * *

_"Falling slow, falling slow in the pouring rain. Watch it go, watch it go, we stay the same . . ."_


	48. Second Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brainwashed Bethany adjusts to her life as a Girl Scout. Owen tries for a second chance, while Kiel lands himself into more trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER 48 IS FINALLY HERE
> 
> okay, I know I took an entire month to write this and I promise I tried writing this as quickly as I could. Basically I've been super busy with college life and haven't been as inspired to write, so I've taken a lot longer to get my chapters out. This one isn't super big but I hope you enjoy!! thanks for all your support, love you guys!!

**_Ships In The Night (by Mat Kearney)_ **

_"Like ships in the night. You keep passing me by. Just wasting time . . ."_

* * *

Bethany used to be invisible.

Back in school, no one saw her. No one noticed her, and she preferred it that way. Better to just focus on finding her dad, not wasting time on making friends or getting too attached to other people. That made it easier to slip away unnoticed when she had to.

Even years later, when she'd lost her memories of her fictional life, she'd still been very much invisible. Even when she wasn't trying to be unnoticed, it came naturally. For her, that kind of thing always had. Social settings had just never seemed to work out, because she had such a history of getting things wrong and not fitting in. For Bethany, she wasn't sure if she'd ever "fit in" _anywhere_.

But all of the sudden, she didn't feel so transparent anymore. Being at the summer camp, getting caught up in the fun games and training, made her feel like she was apart of something. She didn't have those worries of not fitting in, because everyone seemed to include her in everything. Everyone was happy and carefree, and things seemed _right_. 

In fact, she didn't worry about anything now! Spending time in a place like this was the most fun she'd had in a while. She was so caught up in it all, lost in a whirlwind of excitement and Girl Scout duties, that she quickly lost track of what was real.

But Bethany was having too much fun to care or even recognize what she should be worrying about. Worrying was a part of the past, something that used to stick to her like a shadow. Not that she was very focused on them, but she _was_ starting to wonder where her friends were. Their whereabouts were very foggy to her, but she hoped they were having fun.

Before she knew it, it was nighttime. She'd spent the last few hours doing activities with the Boy Scouts, though something told her she should be with the _Girl Scouts_ instead. Still, the fact that she was there didn't seem to bother the boys one bit. She wasn't bothered, either, since she'd always had an easier time talking to boys than girls her age.

They'd invited her to a bonfire in the woods, to roast marshmallows and sing campfire songs. Of course, Bethany didn't object. She loved the idea, and just being included made her feel all the better. She wasn't the type to sing campfire songs, but she could never turn down the opportunity for marshmallows. _Never_.

As she followed a group of boys out into the darkening forest, her eyes landed on the tall bonfire in the center of a clearing, sparks dancing high in the sky. The sight of it burned her eyes a little, causing them to water slightly. Wildflowers poked up between rocks in the soft green grass.

A huge grin exploded on Bethany's face. She was already running towards the flames, loving the heat that brushed against her skin. The bonfire rose up behind her, encasing her image with a bright golden glow. The intensity of the heat didn't bother her, nor did it stop her from spinning around, her arms tossed lazily in the air as singing and laughter echoed around her.

Something in the back of her mind quietly reminded her she'd never usually do this. Not in public, surrounded by strangers. Not even around her own _friends_ sometimes, although she'd danced in front of them once or twice. But she was having too much fun to care, completely lost in the moment. She could care less about who saw.

A laugh rose up in her chest as she danced, her cheeks pink. Her long hair whipped across her face. She kept spinning, hypnotized by the orange sparks and thick smoke from the fire that blended with the green canopy of trees above her head. The night was warm and breezy, and excited chatter buzzed through the air. The sky lay out like a painting, dazzled with stars and a bright, full moon.

She felt nearly perfectly happy. Wonderful. _Free_. All the adjectives. Everything felt right and perfect. She just wanted to stay in this moment forever, with the glow of the blazing fire on her face. Life seemed more exciting than Bethany ever thought it could be. 

And then, as she turned away from the fire with a delighted grin on her face, her eyes landed on a boy. Not because he was talking to her, or even because he'd walked up to her. He was standing at the edge of the canopy, one hand pressed against a tree while he stared at the bonfire. No, she realized, he wasn't staring at that. He was staring at _her_.

There was something so familiar about him that Bethany had to stop twirling. She felt a sensation of light-headedness. She blinked a few times, trying to get a good look at his face. And as she did, her heart thumped harder in her chest. Her grin started to fade, just a little. She couldn't see his face too well, with dark shadows being cast over his face.

But one thing she knew, was that way he looked at her was unlike the way anyone _here_ looked at her. There was something about his expression that became frustratingly unreadable to Bethany. Later that night, by the time she was able to decipher it, she decided he'd almost looked . . . guilty. Then, confused. And then, awed, as if he were mesmerized by something.

But why was he looking at _her_? 

And then, all at once, it dawned on Bethany. But by the time the realization fully set in, that _Kiel_ had been the one standing there, he was already gone. She watched him disappear, walking towards the direction of the cabins. Bethany felt confused. She took a few steps away from the fire, maybe to follow him. But at this point, she wasn't sure what direction he'd gone.

Kiel's expression had been one Bethany had seen far too often on her own face. Before she came here, at least. But had she imagined him being there? She _had_ to have imagined seeing him, or else he wouldn't have walked away. Kiel would never just _walk away_ from her, not when they hadn't seen each other all day. That wasn't him.

She realized that she hadn't thought much about her friends all day. Actually, she'd barely thought about them _at all_ since she spent time here. She was having so much fun that it was easy to forget all about them. She wondered why Owen, Kiel, and Orion hadn't come to see her. She was in the Boy Scouts camp, after all. And since they were also training as Boy Scouts, it was strange that they hadn't stopped by, now that she thought about it.

At the thought of Orion, images of buried memories filled her mind, of pure possibility and falling-off-cliffsides, and the feel of Orion's hands in her's before he went away forever. Instantly, the memory was pushed down again. That wasn't even real! Orion was obviously here, training to be a Boy Scout and being way too competitive as he did it. Wasn't he?

As Bethany at the spot in the woods that Kiel had retreated to, her heart filled with strange emotions, one of the boys grabbed her arm. "Come on! We're going to make s'mores!"

Bethany almost wanted to protest, but let herself be dragged back to the bonfire, anyway. After throwing another glance at the trees, she shook off the weird feeling and focused on more important things, like making s'mores. Just like that, her excitement was back. There was nowhere else in the world she'd rather be.

As she searched for a long stick to roast marshmallows with, the same boy from earlier nudged her, a smile on his face. "What was in the forest?"

Bethany looked at him, slightly breathless. "What?"

"What were you looking at?"

"Oh . . ." Again, she glanced at the trees. "I think I saw my friend over there, but he left."

"You should've invited him to make s'mores!"

She smiled. "I would've, but he'd probably set all the marshmallows on fire. _And_ he would've eaten them all." She chuckled, stooping to pick up a stick. "While they're _still_ on fire."

"I guess he likes danger?"

Bethany laughed. "You don't know the half of it."

"So, if he's your friend, why did he leave?" the boy asked. "I'm _always_ with my friends here. We're never apart."

She shrugged. "I have no idea! But just so you know, I couldn't be less interested in my friend's decisions. He can go anywhere! He has a free will, so I'm not stopping him. Really, I'm not." With a wide smile, Bethany grabbed a marshmallow and placed it on the tip of her stick. "I'd rather hang out here and make marshmallows!"

The boy smiled. "Me too! The only thing that would make this better was if I'd brought candy. Don't get me wrong, I love Hershey's." He sighed happily. "Isn't this place just the _best_? Even the cabin I live in is bigger than wherever I used to live."

"Yeah, it's great!" She chuckled. "I can't . . . really remember where I used to live, either. It's like I don't even care to think about it!"

"That's weird, because I don't care about my home, either!"

They exchanged confused looks for a moment, before they both laughed. Still smiling, Bethany said, "Sorry, what's your name? I never asked."

"Oh, my name is Owen."

Her heart skipped a beat. "What? Your name is _Owen_?"

The boy looked at her strangely. "No, I said Jason!" He gave her a grin, showing uneven teeth.

"Oh, sorry. I misheard you!" Returning the smile, Bethany carelessly broke one of her own rules, replying, "I'm Bethany."

"Nice to meet you!"

"You too."

"Want some graham cracker?" Jason offered her halves of a graham cracker, which she hadn't realized had been sitting in his palm.

Bethany grinned, taking it gratefully. All she needed was the chocolate, and her s'more would be complete. "Thanks!"

"Time for campfire songs!" someone announced, clapping their hands. Everyone whooped loudly at that, Bethany included. Their delighted cheers echoed through the air, mixing with the warm breeze. From every fiber of her being, she felt elated.

This night just kept getting better and better.

Again, she glanced at the spot Kiel had vanished, remembering she should probably follow him. But that urge was quickly diminished, and thinking about him suddenly seemed way less important. Less important than enjoying herself, than spending her first night as a Girl Scout.

Wherever he was going, it was away from her. But he'd _seen_ her, she knew that for a fact. A stranger wouldn't just stare at a person for a full minute, watching them dance. Not unless that person was a friend, like Kiel was to Bethany. Something told her he meant more than that, but she instantly brushed it off.

As much as she tried, she couldn't get the memory out of her head. It was confusing. Why had he stared at her, only to walk away? Something about the way he'd turned away from her reminded her of something else, a different memory, filled with snow and confessions laced with silent tears. But the memory didn't come to her, so she assumed it was just a false sense of deja vu.

If Bethany had realized it was Kiel sooner, she would've talked to him. She assumed he was having a blast here — because it was impossible not to — but from the lack of a smile on his face, she wasn't sure. Still, this was _Kiel_ , someone she knew for a fact smiled very often. So it was strange for her to see him frowning, especially since he'd been looking at her while doing it.

She'd watched him walk away, and in her delusional state, she wrongly assumed that he'd be coming back. If that really _had_ been Kiel, he had to be coming back soon! Unless he had somewhere more exciting to be, which he probably did. Though, she had to admit that having him around would make this night even more fun.

He could join them, making s'mores and dancing by the fire. What could be better than that? Maybe he was going to get their friends, and he'd bring them here so they could all share in the fun. Now _that_ sounded like something Kiel would do. That sounded like a good reason for him to leave! He'd be back soon with the others.

So, expecting this, Bethany turned back to the fire and roasted her marshmallow until it caught on fire. Like leaves scattering in the wind, the idea of friends quickly vanished from her mind, replaced by exciting thoughts of the future.

A future as a Girl Scout.

* * *

Owen sat in a dimly-lit jail cell, his head in his hands and a queasy feeling in his stomach. He'd woken up about an hour ago to see that the Scouts had, in fact, been serious about the whole brainwashing thing. He was locked inside a jail cell with no way of getting out. And unlike the last time he'd been in a cell, he didn't have Kara with him.

On the wall behind him was a tiny window, a link to the outside world. It was far above his head, however, and even when standing he couldn't reach it. It was covered with bars, which cast a silhouette against the moonlight. The wind howled through the bars, sending a warm rush of air every so often.

Even if the window was at Owen's level, he knew he wouldn't be able to crawl through. Not only was it too small, but moving the bars was practically impossible. On the opposite end of the cell, he'd tried several times to pull at the much longer bars, trying to get the door open. But it never budged.

His heart hadn't stopped racing since he'd gotten thrown in here. Really, it hadn't stopped since he'd seen the pure possibility in the field, so startlingly big that it stretched all the way across the horizon. The image ran through his mind over and over — of it coming closer and closer to him, ready to dissolve the entire world in an instant.

He imagined it wiping out his favorite books . . . Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the Kiel Gnomenfoot series . . . and of course, _this_ book. The one that he — along with every single friend he'd ever had — was in. The idea made him sick. Even the evil camp counselors didn't deserve this. _No one_ did.

If he didn't stop this in time, the fictional world would get erased. All of his friends, and everyone he'd ever read about, would never come back. They'd be gone forever. No matter what, he needed to get out of this mess. If he got brainwashed, he'd _definitely_ never get the chance to defeat Nobody.

He wasn't sure which was worse: getting brainwashed or the pure possibility reaching them first. If he had to choose, probably getting brainwashed _would_ be better, since he didn't want the worlds to disappear. But the fact that it was nighttime made him realize he might only have a few hours left before either thing happened.

Another thing he'd screwed up. This whole mess? Definitely _his_ fault.

At least, a part of it was. Listening to Fowen had led to taking the stone, and taking to stone had led to them needing to destroy it. It none of that had happened . . . who knows, maybe they already would've defeated Nobody by now! But as much as Owen wanted to imagine better possibilities — the _what if's_ — he knew there was no use for it now.

First, he had to focus on how to get out of here. And also, how to hold a non-awkward conversation with the half-robotic girl in the cell with him.

The second thing he'd realized when he'd woken up was that Charm was there, too. At first, he hadn't realized it. She'd been so quiet that he hadn't known there was anyone else in there with him. And from the guarded, almost angry look on her face, it didn't seem that she wanted to talk. Someone had taken her ray guns away, too — another reason she must've been angry for.

Owen had tried talking to her, but Charm remained unusually silent. Her tenseness, though, was something he was used to. But it made him all the more uncomfortable, knowing _he_ was probably the reason that she was being so quiet. Owen could hardly count the number of times he tried apologizing her over the last few days, and Charm had shot him down every single time. Really, she hadn't been nice to him _at all_ since their talk at the fountain.

She seemed just as uncomfortable being around him. Not that Owen blamed her, even if it sent a dull pain to his heart. Not too long ago, he'd dreamed about her so often, imagining scenarios that were much better than reality. Was this how it would be between them forever — Charm never wanting to be his friend again?

From across the cell, Owen stared at her. No matter hard this would be, he had to have _some_ kind of conversation with her. If he didn't, he'd feel even more awkward than he already did. Every recent conversation with her hadn't been great, and it'd always left Owen feeling more insecure than before.

But despite that, he still needed to say _something_.

Because no matter how many times Charm had pushed him away, Owen would never stop trying to gain her trust again. He just wanted to go back to how things used to be. Well, not how they _used_ to be, back when he'd had a huge crush on her. But he wanted to go back to when things were easier, when she thought he was Kiel.

When they were friends.

Back then, she'd really been there for him. Especially when they'd had their talk before he'd gotten his heart taken out by Dr. Verity. No one had ever been there for him like that. Owen wanted things to be that way again. He just wanted her to stop hating him. He wasn't sure if that would ever be possible, but maybe if he tried showing he cared, it'd be a step in the right direction.

Nervously, Owen cleared his throat. "So . . . it looks like we're not getting out of here anytime soon."

If possible, Charm wrapped her arms tighter around her knees. She was staring hard at the bars of the jail cell. "Nope. Not until one of those Scouts get down here and I _force_ them to let us out. And then I'll force them to give me my ray guns back."

"Right! That sounds like something we should do."

"Something _I_ should do," she said, still not looking at him. "You wouldn't be very good at threatening them."

Owen was glad it was dark in the cell, because his cheeks had started to heat up. "Yeah, I probably wouldn't be. I'm glad you're here. To do that, I mean. You're really good at scaring people." She said nothing, so Owen quickly thought of something else to say. "So, how is you? I mean — I mean, how is you are doing?"

He grimaced at his choice of words. How come every time he _wanted_ to talk normally, he couldn't? This always seemed to happen, especially in front of Charm, when embarrassing himself was as effortless as breathing.

Charm glanced over at him before sighing in annoyance. "I'm fine."

He swallowed, tentatively adding, "Uh . . . are you sure?"

She opened her mouth, looking about ready to say something. But whatever she'd been about to say, she seemed to change her mind. "Well, we're about to be brainwashed, so . . . how do _you_ think I feel?"

". . . Not great?"

"Nice guess," Charm said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Can you stop bothering me now?"

"Oh. Um, sure thing."

"Good, because I don't feel like talking right now. I need to hear myself think."

Owen imagined that she could think pretty well even _while_ he was talking to her, but he didn't say that aloud. He waited a few minutes in silence, before blurting out, "Look, I know you don't care to hear what I have to say—"

"I don't."

"—but if we wanna get out of this, we'll have to work together."

"Okay, _fine_." She turned to him, her robotic eye shining in the darkness. "You got a plan for how we'll get out of here?"

His face reddened. "I'm still working on it, actually. I was just thinking we could escape once they let us out."

"And if they don't?" Charm pointed out. "They could keep us in here for as long as they want." She groaned. "And by the time they _do_ let us out, the pure possibility could already be here."

"It can't move _that_ fast."

"Of course it can," she said, as if it were obvious. "Did you see how fast it was moving in the field?" She shook her head, almost wearing a look of fascination. "I've never seen anything like it. And . . . I'd estimate that at the rate it was traveling, it would reach us in about . . . twenty-one hours."

Owen winced. "I'm hoping they'll let us out a lot sooner than that. We still need to find Bethany, Gwen, and Orion! And Kiel and Kara now, too!"

He sighed. First, he'd lost three of his friends, and now two more were missing. What was next, he'd get separated from _Charm_ , too?

It just seemed that every event led to their group being split up, leaving Owen to wonder where they were. Now that he thought about it, he remembered Kiel saying Bethany had been in the Boy Scouts camp. That gave Owen a little hope. So she, Gwen, and Orion had to be close! By chance, if they escaped getting brainwashed, Owen could finally find them!

When he first got here, he noticed that their cell was the only one occupied. Maybe five other cells lined each side of the hallway, which led to a closed door at the end. That was another reason he was worried. If Kiel and Kara weren't here, the counselors might've taken them already. By now, they could be _brainwashed_. 

"One thing at a time," Charm muttered, her eyes on the bars again.

Owen hugged his knees to his chest. "Last time I was in a jail cell, there were dinosaurs outside my window." He let out a breath. "I thought _that_ was scary, but I guess brainwashing might be worse. Kara was with me, back then. She helped me escape."

" _No kidding_ ," Charm said. "I'm assuming you don't have any experience escaping jails?"

"Not on my _own_ ," he said, blushing. "This would definitely be a lot easier if Kiel or Kara were here."

"Anything Kiel can do, I can do better. I would've had no problem getting out of here if I had my ray guns. The lasers could've cut through the bars."

Owen's eyes widened. "Lasers can _do_ that?!"

Charm rolled her eyes. " _Yes_. Don't you— oh, right. You don't seem to know much about science. Even though you know everything about Quanterium." She looked uncomfortable. "Haven't you . . . seen . . . ugh, _read_ . . . what ray guns can do?"

"I just know what it said in the book. But I probably paid more attention to the magic because that was—" He caught her glaring at him and looked away, quietly finishing his sentence. "Cooler . . ."

"'Cooler'?" Charm raised her eyebrows, as if offended. " _That's_ your reason?"

Owen gave her a hesitant smile. "I just like magic better."

"Why am I surprised?" When she turned away, it almost looked like a wisp of a smile was on her face. But knowing the things his imagination could conjure up sometimes, he figured the smile had never been there.

Again, they lapsed into silence. It was slightly less tense than before, giving Owen a sudden spark of hope. He noticed that she didn't seem to be treating him as harshly as she usually did. Instead she seemed more willing to hear what he had to say. Maybe . . . maybe that was a sign of something good. A new, better start.

"Okay, I know I said I didn't want to do the whole talking thing," Charm said abruptly, turning to face him. "And I _really_ know I will regret asking this, but . . . are you _actually_ sorry about lying to me?"

Owen was so surprised that he didn't say anything for a moment. He stared at her, not quite trusting where this conversation was going. "Yeah! Yeah, of course! I'm really, _really_ sorry about that."

"Can you not say that word?"

"What word? 'Sorry'?"

"That's the one." Charm grimaced. "I don't like it when people apologize to me."

"Okay, sorr— I mean, uh, I'm _not_ sorry?" Owen could already tell this conversation was going to be an absolute trainwreck.

She looked uncomfortable. "But, uh, we're on the same side, so . . . I guess we'll have to make a truce."

Owen started to smile, feeling like all the weight was lifting from his shoulders. "What? You're _forgiving_ me?"

"Just call it a truce, okay?" Charm said. "For now, it's temporary. I'm not sure if I'm ready to forgive . . . all of what you did, but I took a while to think things through, and . . . I might be ready to move towards that." She gritted her teeth. " _Please_ stop smiling at me. You're not making this any easier."

"Sorry," Owen said, biting on the inside of his cheek to hold back his grin. "But why do you even want to forgive me?"

Charm went silent for a bit, contemplating his words. "I guess maybe I'm . . . tired of holding grudges. And I realize that you _might_ actually not be as big of a liar as you used to be."

"I'm not — I mean, thank you!" he said, smiling at such high praise. "That was really the only time I ever . . . lied that much. And I feel _horrible_ about that, by the way. I usually never lie, unless I'm trying to sneak out for a book club or something. But that was completely different. I-I'm just _really_ glad you're considering this. You have no idea how much I've hoped you'd forgive me."

" _Not_ forgiving you, remember?"

"Right, not _yet_!" he said, then forced down some of his excitement, out of fear that Charm would take everything she'd said back. He took a shaky breath. "Look, I . . . I've thought about what happened a lot, too." He looked down in shame. "I'm sorry for what I did. I _really_ am. I hurt you, and that's something I never wanted to do. I pretended to be your friend when I really wasn't. I was just being selfish."

He frowned, suddenly thinking of Fowen. Before everything bad had gone down, Owen had trusted Fowen fully. Fowen was, well, _him_ — so Owen had believed his fictional self had good intentions. But he'd been very, very wrong. Fowen had betrayed him, and as painful as it was, it'd given Owen an idea of what Charm had felt.

It hurt when people lied to you, betrayed you and disregarded your feelings. But while Fowen hadn't cared when he'd betrayed Owen, Owen had never wanted to hurt Charm. That was the difference.

"Anyway, I know how much it hurts to have someone you trust let you down," Owen continued.

She looked surprised. "You do?"

"Yeah! I mean . . . after you go through something like that, how can you ever trust anyone again?"

"I don't know," Charm said quietly. She didn't meet his eyes, sighing. "I don't really have much luck getting close to people or . . . trusting them."

"That's okay." Owen managed a smile, shrugging a bit. "I-I don't have much luck getting close to people, either. Before I met Bethany, I only had a few online friends but we only talked about books and stuff."

"I don't really _want_ to know what that is, but what's an 'online friend'?"

"Someone you meet on the Internet," he said, sitting up straighter. "The internet — it's kind of like your Nalwork. But where I'm from, everyone uses it. It makes it easier to communicate with people online."

"I see," Charm said, her gaze intense. "But I'm sure the Nalwork is much better, with your world having worse technology, and all. Unfortunately, the best you've got is a _cell phone_."

Owen laughed a little too loudly. He quickly went silent, hoping she didn't go back to thinking he was a weirdo or a freak. Granted, she probably _did_ think those things but now that there was the possibility of her forgiving him, he didn't care so much anymore. He hadn't realized how relieved he felt, like a thousand boulders had been lifted from his shoulders.

Things were looking a lot better. Better than he'd hoped, because he figured it'd be years before she even talked to him again. He'd forgotten how much he'd missed this — him and Charm being friends. Even if she didn't think of _him_ as a friend, he was just happy they weren't fighting anymore.

After a few more seconds of not talking, he spoke up. "Oh, um, I kinda owe you a thank you, actually."

She stared at him. "For what?"

He took a deep breath. "Remember that time we were sitting in your space ship, right after I found out I needed to get my heart taken out?"

"You mean right before you found out _Kiel_ needed his heart taken out?" Charm corrected, raising her eyebrows. "But yes, I remember. Being the smartest person in the universe, I never forget anything."

"Oh." She never forgot _anything_? Owen inwardly cringed as various embarrassing memories flooded his mind, but he pushed them aside. "Well, I . . . I wasn't feeling so great about getting my heart taken out. I-It was a big deal for me, and suddenly the idea of being a hero didn't seem so nice. All I wanted to do was go home. And then, you talked to me about it. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had the courage to go through with it. So thanks."

Charm nodded awkwardly. "I had no choice. You _looked_ pretty scared. I wasn't used to it."

Owen smiled. "Kiel wouldn't have been scared, right?"

"If he was, he wouldn't have shown it. Or talked about it."

"Yeah, he _never_ talks about that stuff." He paused. "By the way, do you . . . do you really think you're ready to forgive me? It's okay if you're not." His voice faltered, his confidence waning. "Really, it is."

"I only said it was a _truce_. I never said I was ready to forgive you."

"Truce. Okay!"

Charm smiled for real. "Don't make me regret this, Conners."

He laughed. "Trust me, I won't. All I've ever wanted was to be your friend."

"I still wouldn't call you a _friend_."

"Well . . . someday I hope I can be. I . . . I think you could always use more people to count on."

She snorted. "Other than Kiel, you mean. Who I can never count on for _anything_."

"He's not _that_ bad," Owen said with a grin. "But yeah. And about what I said earlier?" He shook his head. "Y-You're not that scary. Not to me, anyway."

There was a strange expression on Charm's face. She was watching him carefully, her eyes glinting in the dark room. "Do you really think that?"

He only smiled in response, and even without responding, he knew she'd gotten the message.

* * *

Kiel had no idea how he'd gotten so lost.

One moment, he'd been in the jail cell with Kara, ready to look for their friends. And the next, he'd sprinted to the Boy Scouts camp. While some things that he did surprised even _him_ sometimes, this topped all of it.

It only left him with a number of questions. Why did he come here in the first place? Why wasn't he helping Kara look for their friends right now? And why, most of all, did he run five miles for no apparent reason?

Well, maybe he _had_ been looking for their friends. Despite being pretty sure that Owen and Charm were locked up in the same jail that he and Kara were, he wasn't sure about Gwen and Orion. Where could they be, since they were here? A part of Kiel was hopeful that they'd be in the jail, too.

One good thing about that would mean they weren't brainwashed yet, which was a crazy concept in itself. Kiel almost laughed at the idea of _Orion_ being brainwashed. Despite the danger of it, it'd be amusing to see Orion act happy and carefree for once. He was even more uptight than Charm, sometimes.

As quickly as he could, Kiel headed back over to the Girl Scouts camp, unable to help feeling annoyed at himself. As naturally athletic as he was, his legs still ached painfully from his run. That was another reason he chose to walk the way back. If he ran any more, he might not look as impressive.

The bright moon glimmered down as he made his way up the red dirt trail, to the identical camp next door. Boy Scouts smiled as Kiel passed, so he returned it with the occasional wink or grin, trying to seem like he was enjoying himself. It wasn't too hard to pretend he was, anyway. His concern for his friends was what pulled his worries to the surface, but he'd always been good at hiding it.

For whatever reason, the sound of a bell chiming echoed loudly across the campsite, making Kiel jump. As it did, he noticed that all of the Scouts seemed to move towards a certain direction — back in the direction of the cabins. As someone who broke the rules constantly, it was a little weird to see how they all listened to that bell. He wasn't sure why they were going that way, but at least he had a better chance of not getting caught with fewer people around.

Kiel had just arrived at the camp's exit — a tall, ten-foot gate, and moved to climb up it. But he hadn't made it one step before a voice called out, "What do you think you're doing?"

He froze. Slowly looking over his shoulder, he saw a camp counselor — a woman wearing an adult version of the Scouts uniform. The expression on her face was a contrast to two days ago, and the woman did _not_ look happy. Then again, most adults tended to look at Kiel with some level of disapproval. This was nothing new.

Instead of taking his foot away from the fence, Kiel left it there. He glanced at the woman behind him, tightening his grip on the fence. "Oh, you know, just climbing a fence!"

"Why are you doing that?"

"Uh . . ." He forced a smile. "For fun?"

"Well, the time to have fun is not now! Didn't you hear the bell? Everyone is supposed to be in their cabins."

Kiel's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, _that's_ what that bell was for? And why do they— _I_ have to go to my cabin?"

"To go to _sleep_."

"Sleep?" he remarked. "Who needs _that_ when I could be doing something better? Like — hopping fences, for instance?"

The woman didn't look amused. "I'm not sure why you didn't listen to the bell, but you need to get down from there and go to your cabin! I _don't_ want to ask again."

Carefully, Kiel removed his foot from the fence, trying to make it look like he was listening. If he climbed the fence with the woman watching, she'd _know_ he wasn't brainwashed. And Kiel wasn't planning on getting caught. Being as talented as he was, he could easily pretend he was brainwashed — at least until the woman left.

"Sorry about that!" Kiel told the woman, forcing a wink. "Won't happen _ever_ again. I promise I'll go straight to my cabin."

Good thing she didn't seem to understand sarcasm.

He started to walk as casually as he could away from the fence, back in the direction of the cabins. He stuffed his hands deep in his pockets, feigning a relaxed attitude. Just to make it more believable, he even started to hum a cheerful tune under his breath. Kiel had lots of experience with pretending, so he was confident he must've looked convincing. 

All the while, the woman kept a watchful eye on him. She didn't walk away like Kiel had hoped she did. She didn't even _look_ away. And worse, she'd slowly started to follow him, meaning he didn't have a choice but to go where she'd told him to. He needed a new plan.

Kiel reached for his wand-knives, only to realize that they weren't there. He bit back a groan. Someone must've taken his wand-knives when he was knocked out! But why would they do that? To anyone who didn't know what magic wands looked like, they'd probably looked like sticks. How could the people here know his wand-knives were dangerous?

Obviously, they couldn't have known. So they shouldn't have just taken them from him! Without his wand-knives, coming up with a solution was less easy for Kiel. He'd be able to remake them with magic, though he didn't want to do it out in the open, with the woman watching him like a hawk. And once he remade the wand-knives, he'd still have to relearn a spell before actually casting magic.

The good news was, he still had his belt, which had some magical properties inside. His spell book was among the items in his belt — shrunk down to a size where he could store it easily. This meant he could still cast a spell . . . once he got the chance to relearn whatever spell he was casting.

An idea occurred to him, one he surprisingly hadn't thought of before. What if he just teleported to the other camp? That would make escaping a lot easier — and quicker. He searched through his belt some more, his fingers reaching for the small button— but it wasn't there. Just like his wand-knives, they were gone.

Kiel frowned. Okay, that was weird. _And_ concerning. His wand-knives being gone made sense, but his teleportation button, too? How could that be missing, when everything else in his belt was still there?

_Charm_ , he thought. _She_ must've had it! Kiel figured she did, because how else would they have gotten from the meadow to the parking lot earlier? Only his teleportation button could've gotten them there so fast, and he wouldn't be surprised if Charm or even Owen had come up with the idea of using it. Now, though, he really could've used it. They could've at least given his teleportation button _back_.

The other option, one that would take a lot faster, would be to make a distraction and hop over the fence as quickly as he could. The idea sent an exciting thrill down Kiel's spine, as a part of him really craved the danger. But, he reminded himself, he couldn't get caught. So if he jumped the fence now, he'd have to make sure this woman wouldn't come after him.

A distraction. _That's_ what he needed. And he might not have a spell ready, so he did the next best thing.

"Hey," Kiel said, glancing back at the woman. "Do you smell that?"

The counselor furrowed her brows. "Smell what?"

"That smoke!" he said, pointing at the sky. Sure enough, the remnants of smoke from the bonfire were still there. If he was lucky, the party would still be going on. "I think I saw kids having a bonfire over there!"

" _What_?"

"Yeah!" Kiel pretended to be flabbergasted. "I-I saw them earlier. They were having a party. It looks like they're still having it now! Can you believe they were doing that, when they should've been in their _cabins_? Didn't they hear the bell?" He scoffed. "Oh, and I should probably tell you — there was a girl there too. Wouldn't that mean she's in trouble for not being in her own camp?"

It was better to throw someone else under the bus, after all. Though he felt a small twinge of guilt about placing the distraction on the only other rule-breaker in this camp. He had to admit — now that he remembered Girl Scouts _weren't_ allowed inside the Boy Scouts camp, he admired that girl for breaking the rules. At least _one_ person here knew how to do it, despite being brainwashed.

For a split second — a weird, fleeting moment — Kiel found himself wondering if he'd ever see her again.

Out of everyone at the bonfire, she'd been the only one that stood out to him. Not that he had a clue why. He didn't even _know_ that girl, so why was he thinking of her? He'd already forgotten what her face looked like, but he remembered the feeling he'd gotten when he'd looked at her. It'd been unusual, yet somehow, strangely familiar.

But the thought quickly passed, going to the back of his mind. It really wasn't important. Not in the slightest.

The woman tensed up. "Yes, she's _definitely_ in trouble. And so are all those other boys, if that bonfire is still going on!"

"Good!" Kiel said, nodding. "Great."

He watched as she started storming off in the direction of the bonfire, momentarily forgetting Kiel. He waited until she got far enough away, then turned and bolted for the fence. He was unable to hold back the smug smile that appeared on his face once he heard the woman's surprised shouts behind him — quickly turning into anger.

Then, at the bottom of the fence, he heard, "You will suffer serious consequences if you keep disobeying me! Get down from there _now_!"

Already more than halfway up the fence, Kiel glanced down to see the woman running over, a glare in her eyes. He bit his tongue to hold back the pun he'd just thought of. Although he really wanted to say it, now didn't seem like the right time. Or was it?

"I might. Might not." He winked. "I'm kind of on the _fence_ about it."

He went back to climbing, just reaching the top of the fence when he heard the woman speak again. "I need backup!" Her voice was an angry hiss. "There's a boy here who's trying to escape! He must've not been washed yet!"

He glanced over his shoulder to see that the woman was talking into some sort of black box. It didn't look like the cell phone that Owen had, so Kiel wasn't exactly sure what it was. But it seemed that somehow, the woman was able to communicate with the other counselors there.

The good part? It was dark. And Kiel Gnomenfoot, magic thief and savior to Magisteria, was very good at hiding. He was an expert at it, in fact! Of course, it'd be easier to hide when he was wearing black, like he usually did, but he could make it work.

So, with a tone that indicated confidence, he replied, "Good luck catching me!" and leaped from the fence. He kept his arms outstretched, trying not to lose his balance as he hit the ground. Throwing one last glance at the furious camp counselor behind him, he headed down the path that'd lead him to the Girl Scouts camp.

The hill of the crossroads rose up, revealing two paths: one that led straight to the parking lot and an empty cabin, which was where he and his friends had first registered into the camp. The other was off to the left, snaking through the thick forest and eventually leading to the Girl Scouts camp.

His heart pounded fast. Kiel darted past the parking lot, veering off towards the pathway to his left. Then he paused, quickly backpedaling as an idea came to mind. Since the camp counselors thought he was escaping, they'd probably come to the parking lot first to look for him. And just to give himself more time, it'd be best if they where he _wouldn't_ be.

So, swooping down to pick up a large rock, Kiel threw it. The rock sailed through the air, smashing one of the car's windows. Immediately, the car's alarm went off, sounding like a wailing siren. It was so loud that it made Kiel jump a little. Then, he smiled at his handiwork. _That_ should keep them busy for a while.

With that, he turned on his heel and continued down the path. Trees were on either side, their branches so close together above his head that they almost formed a canopy. They rustled in the wind, making crackling noises as the branches brushed against each other. The bright moon shone through the cracks in the branches, bathing the ground in silver moonlight.

It didn't take long before he saw the gate of the Girl Scouts camp — identical to the one he'd just climbed. Now that he knew how this might go down, a part of him had no desire to go in there. But finding his friends was far more important. And who cared about the danger? Kiel certainly didn't! The danger was thrilling, and he was too awesome to be brainwashed.

_This would be a lot easier if I didn't have to climb so many fences_ , Kiel thought, wishing he had a spell that could just take him to his friends. Or if he had Gwen's jet pack (which he'd always kind of wanted to use) he could easily fly over the fence. _Not_ that Kiel was doubting his own abilities. He was amazing at climbing fences _and_ looked great doing it.

But, he had to admit that he was getting tired. He'd been running around all day, especially in the last hour. And now that it was nighttime, his energy was fading. Kiel hoped that once he got his friends and got out of here, he'd at least have some time to sleep. Would could he say? Being this heroic was exhausting!

It didn't take long for him to get to the other side of the fence. Once he did, he booked it for the Girl Scout's jail. In his haste to leave earlier, he didn't really remember the way to it. But he did remember that it'd been miles away from the entrance, a small building that hid behind what looked to be an amphitheater.

He assumed none of the campers knew there was a jail here, because no one had ever mentioned it to him. Either that, or they didn't care, since they were brainwashed.

As he walked, Kiel held his palms up in front of him. A spark of light burst from his hands, growing bigger and bigger. When it quickly faded, two identical wand-knives were in his hands, resembling his old ones exactly. He stuffed his wand-knives back into their sheaths. All he had to do now was learn some spells, though he wasn't sure when he'd get the time to.

He glanced up. From what he could tell, the camp was completely deserted. Not a single person was around; everyone must've been in their cabins. Even so, he made his footsteps as quiet as possible, trying not to drawl too much attention to himself. From what the woman had said, he expected people would be looking for him soon enough.

Being a boy in a camp full of girls suddenly didn't make blending in feel so easy. Too bad the jail wasn't in the Boy Scouts camp. If it was, he'd have fewer concerns about standing out . . . even if all the brainwashed kids were in their cabins.

Kiel had only made it a few feet, however, before he heard the sound of a door swinging open, it's wooden hinges creaking loudly. He turned, eyes widening, to see a camp counselor step out of the cabin closest to Kiel. _Shoot_.

Opening the door, the camp counselor's narrowed eyes immediately landing on him. Kiel swallowed hard. Since when did everything turn so serious? During the day, when the Scouts were out, the atmosphere was filled with excitement. But whatever excitement the camp counselors showed during the day was gone. He had a feeling their good moods were just for show, a mask they wore in front of the campers.

The man picked up the same black box that the woman had, unhooking it from his belt and lifting it to his mouth. It had some kind of antenna sticking out of the top. "I found the boy. He's in section 'A' of the Girl Scouts camp, in front of the 'Tumbleweed' cabin."

"Isn't that a little much?" Kiel asked, crossing his arms.

The man looked at him with a grim smile. "Not when we have business to do."

"Business," Kiel repeated, nodding along. "So _that's_ what you're calling brainwashing! Good to know. But if you'll excuse me, I have some of my _own_ business to do. You know, things like breaking my friends out of summer camp jail, saving them from being brainwashed . . . that kind of thing."

"Too bad. You're coming with us."

Kiel's heart jumped in his throat, but puffed out his chest to appear more confident. "Us?"

The man only nodded, then raised his voice. "Girl Scouts! Take this boy to the medbay! And don't let him get away!"

_Girl Scouts?_ Kiel thought, confused. He'd thought everyone had been asleep! But his questions were answered once the door behind the camp counselor opened again, and about ten girls walked out. They all walked over to Kiel, their eyes unfocused. Before he knew it, he was surrounded. Ten against one, plus the camp counselor.

Kiel felt a small jolt of fear, but quickly pushed it down. He could handle this! He might not have access to magic at the moment, but fighting a bunch of girls should be easy— not to say that girls weren't as strong and capable as he was. In general, he just believed he could win any fight he came across. This would be _easy_.

And either way, he had to win. He didn't know what'd happened to his friends yet. Last time he'd talked to Kara, she'd gone off to search for Owen and Charm. Hopefully, she'd found them by now. But if she'd gotten caught, she'd need Kiel's help. And there was always the chance that his friends were being brainwashed at this very moment, so he really had to get back to them.

"Do you really want to embarrass yourselves fighting me?" Kiel asked, surprised when tiredness seeped into his voice. He forced his eyes open wider, determined to keep his energy up.

One of the girls laughed, as if Kiel had said a joke. "Who says _we'll_ be the ones embarrassed? _You're_ the one who's going to lose!"

They thought _he_ was going to lose? Kiel narrowed his eyes. "Bring it on!"

With that same dazed look in their eyes, the Girl Scouts moved forward to grab him. A hand latched around his wrist, and Kiel pushed the person hard, sending them sprawling backward. A second later, someone grabbed him from behind, harshly pulling his arms behind him.

For a moment, Kiel was unable to get his arms free. The sensation of his arms being yanked back hurt a little, but he ignored the pain, fighting back against the girl holding him. Grunting, Kiel lifted his knee and kicked the person's legs several times, causing them to let go and slip to the ground.

Returning his arms to his sides, Kiel looked up to see two more girls coming for him, their arms outstretched. Quickly, he ducked, rolling in a way that he hoped looked impressive. He jumped back to his feet, loving the adrenaline that the fight gave him. Even without magic, he was _still_ great in a fight!

And then, just as he thought he had everything handled (as he usually did), something slammed into his knees from behind.

Kiel hit the ground with a gasp. Shockwaves rippled down his spine. For a second, he felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. Hands grabbed his shoulders, holding him down forcibly. Blinking, Kiel looked up to see about six girls and one camp counselor looking down at him. The camp counselor had been the one to knock him down, _and_ the one holding Kiel by the shoulders.

"Hey!" Kiel exclaimed. "Let go of me! I haven't won yet!"

"That's funny!" a girl said. "He thinks he can still win!"

All of them giggled. All except Kiel, who for once, was finding something very much _not_ funny.

"It's time to stop fighting," the camp counselor assured him. "There is _no_ need to try leaving again. In a few minutes, you'll only care about one thing."

"Punching you?" Kiel suggested. "Saving my friends? _Not_ getting brainwashed?"

"Nope. None of those."

"Oh. Okay. I can keep going. The list is _endless_ , really. How about my well-being? Or my good looks? Or defeating this guy named Nobody? I'm sure you don't know him, but I kinda have to help my friends defeat him and being brainwashed _really_ won't bode well with that. There's also—"

"Do you _ever_ shut up?" the man cut him off, looking much more annoyed.

"No, thanks for asking!" Kiel forced a grin. "It's all part of my charm."

The girls around him laughed loudly, and he noticed that the sound made the man distracted. His grip on Kiel loosened. Taking advantage of this, Kiel used all his strength to sit up, pushing the man's arms away. He rolled to the side and scrambled to his feet in the process, shoving a Girl Scout out of the way.

"Gotta go!" Kiel shouted as he sprinted away, the wind blowing his hair off his forehead.

In seconds, the group was hot on his heels. He would've thought that after being chased several times today already, the next time would at _least_ be tomorrow. But, as fate decided, Kiel wouldn't have a moment to breathe. And his legs might've been tired, but being a fast runner, Kiel _knew_ he could outrun them.

Still, a part of him just hoped he could lose the Scouts on the way to the jail. That would make things a lot easier, so Kiel could find a better way to sneak in the jail, as well as to avoid getting brainwashed. Or if he could run while he simultaneously learned spells, that'd be helpful, too.

Kiel considered this, but with how gigantic and heavy the spell book was, he doubted that would be a very good idea. So his best bet was to lose them somehow, which would be a lot easier if the cabins were less spread out. He needed some way to get them off his trail.

And then, as he neared the amphitheater, he scrambled to a stop. Because yet another, much larger group of Girl Scouts were _right there_ waiting for him. They all smiled as he stared at them, his breath catching in his throat. _Really_? As flattering as it was that they seemed to want Kiel to join them so badly, this was getting out of hand. Was the whole camp going to look for him now?

"We've been waiting for you," they said in unison.

"How thoughtful," Kiel said, unable to keep the annoyance from his voice. It wasn't very often that he got annoyed, but this? This was the _worst_. Couldn't he at least have time to learn some spells, first? It'd only be fair.

A few seconds later, he heard footsteps coming up behind him. Whipping around, he saw the camp counselor, as well as the Girl Scouts who'd tried grabbing him earlier. They moved in on him, smiles on their faces. He was trapped, and it was about _thirty_ against one this time.

Something came to mind. What if there was a way to _un_ -brainwash all of them? Clearly, they weren't themselves. They were blindly following the camp counselors' orders, trying to capture other people to brainwash. And during all of it, they acted completely happy, as if nothing was wrong. If Kiel could snap them out of it . . .

His eyes lit up. _Magic_. Now was the perfect time to learn a new spell. It was now or never.

"There's nowhere else for you to run," the camp counselor said, slowly walking closer to Kiel.

"You're right." Kiel sighed heavily, trying to sound like he'd given up. "I should've realized that from the beginning. Can I . . . have a moment before you brainwash me?"

"To do what?"

"Well, I'm a really big reader. I want to read one page of my book before I . . . stop caring about it."

The man stared at him for a moment, looking surprised. Then, he guffawed. "You — you want to _read_ before—"

Kiel just sighed again. "Yes! I have to. It's my _favorite_ book."

The man was still snickering. "You won't stop caring about _reading_. You'll just focus more on being a Boy Scout!"

"Exactly. I know that once I care more about that, I won't have any time for my book!" He gestured at the Girl Scouts around him. "Any of you have time to read while you're busy being Girl Scouts?"

The girls glanced at each other. Some of them shook their heads, so Kiel exclaimed, "See? _They_ don't! How will I?"

Slowly, the man's laughter faded. Finally, he nodded, giving in. "Fine. Read your page. But after that, you're coming with us. Got that?"

"Yeah."

Kiel had to bite his lip to keep from grinning. He sat down on the ground, hunching over as he muttered some words under his breath. Instead of allowing the book to magically float out of his belt (which would definitely raise suspicion) he dug his hands into his belt.

His fingers found the spell book, curling around the hard edges. He pulled it out, adjusting it in his arms as he struggled slightly with its heavy weight. Letting it slip onto the ground, he took a deep breath. It was a good thing it was dark out, or else they might've questioned just how gigantic the book was.

Closing his eyes, Kiel gently placed his fingers on the spine, willing the book to give him the perfect spell. The pages began flipping on their own, slowly at first, then faster and faster. A few seconds later, they rolled to a stop. Kiel leaned forward to see the words. Under the light of the moon, the words at the top were, "Spell of Remembrance."

A _remembering_ spell? That made no sense. Why would _that_ be the first thing to come up? That wasn't even the spell he needed!

"Come on, book," Kiel whispered firmly. "I don't need that spell! Give me something that'll get rid of these Scouts!"

With extreme reluctance, the spell book flipped forward a few more pages. Once he saw the spell it'd landed on, Kiel found himself smiling. _Perfect_. With this spell, he actually had a shot of getting out of here. He placed his hands on the book, trying to ignore how clammy they felt. A warm glow seeped up his arms, washing over his body like a comforting summer breeze.

Closing his eyes, Kiel made sure he had the spell. The words were there in his mind, ready to be used. He felt a spark of hope, as well as a rush of newfound confidence. Oh, he was _so_ ready to take these Scouts down. Kiel slammed the book shut, placing it back inside his magical belt.

"You ready now?" the camp counselor asked. Kiel looked up to see that he, along with all of the Girl Scouts, were still standing in a circle around him, their eyes never leaving him.

He nodded. Climbing to his feet, he allowed two of the girls to grab his arms. This time, he didn't try to escape. He stumbled as they pulled him along, their grips surprisingly strong. They surrounded him at all sides, blocking him if he were to try to escape again. Even though he had a great plan up his sleeve, being escorted like this didn't sit well with Kiel.

It reminded him of all the times he'd been almost been arrested by Science Police. He'd always been afraid of them, even though he refused to show it. Once they arrested a person, that was it. There was no seeing them again. In general, Kiel had never been a fan of the police. Even the idea of being arrested by _nonfictional_ police wouldn't make him feel better.

And while the Scouts weren't police, Kiel couldn't help but see the similarities. In a way, getting brainwashed _was_ like never being seen again. Under the rare circumstances that he got brainwashed, he'd never want to leave this place. And as fun as this place was during the day, never wanting to leave was kind of a buzzkill.

Kiel was a free spirit; someone who _needed_ to do what he wanted, to have adventures and travel. He wouldn't be able to stand staying in one place forever. Also, he just couldn't imagine himself _not_ breaking the rules. Even a brainwashed version of him would be rebellious.

They led him some distance away, only to stop once they'd reached a cabin. From there, they pulled him up the steps and opened the door. Letting go of his arms, they pushed him inside. The first thing that Kiel noticed was how dark the inside of the cabin was. Instead of lights hanging overhead, only a few lit candles were positioned around the room.

"So, this is where all the brainwashing happens?" Kiel asked.

The camp counselor, who'd followed him inside, nodded. "Here, in the Girl Scouts camp. There's another cabin in the Boy Scouts camp. But traditionally, we go in _here_ to do it."

Locking the door behind him, he moved past Kiel. The man leaned down, pulling at a string that was connected to the floor. Kiel hadn't noticed it before. Surprise filled him when he saw a square piece of the floor lift up, revealing a ladder that led into darkness. It was a trap door!

"You'll stay down there until we grab your friends and take them here, too. It's easier to brainwash many people at once. Saves time."

While the man wasn't looking, Kiel made a face. "Yep. Totally."

"You go first," the man said, pushing Kiel hard between his shoulder blades.

Kiel crinkled his brows. "If you say so!"

A plan forming his head, he walked over to the trap door. He dropped to the floor next to it, turning himself around as he put one foot on the ladder. Slowly, he started to climb down. But before he could get too far — far enough for the camp counselor to follow him — Kiel reached down, grabbing one of his wand-knives. Pointing it up at the man, he quietly recited the spell.

An instant later, a sparkling mist soared out from the tip of Kiel's wand-knife. It flew towards the camp counselor, spreading all around the cabin and seeping through the cracks in the door. A dazed look appeared in the camp counselor's eyes as he stared at Kiel, only for his eyelids to flutter closed. He fell to the ground, asleep.

Kiel beamed. _Yes!_ If his spell worked right, everyone within miles should be asleep by now. They'd wake up in a few hours, but by that time, Kiel hoped he and his friends would be gone. He started back up the ladder, only to pause. He should just leave now. No one would be chasing him, so he should escape while he still had time.

But right below him was where people got brainwashed. Even if this wasn't his story at all, he couldn't sit back and let the camp counselors brainwash _more_ people. It wasn't right. He needed to find a way to destroy this place before he went back to his friends. And an explosion sounded like a pretty awesome idea to Kiel.

First, though, he'd better climb down the rest of the way. Just to make sure no one was there. As excited as Kiel was to set off an explosion, he didn't want anyone to get hurt in the process. Only the brainwashing equipment, or whatever it was that the camp counselors used.

So, he shimmied down the ladder. Darkness enveloped him on all sides, which made it slightly harder to see where the ladder rungs were. It wasn't for about five minutes before his foot touched down on the smooth floor. Releasing his grip on the ladder, he stepped off. Time to destroy this so-called "medbay." And also, it'd feel good to save a community again, to be the hero of a world _other_ than just his own.

But when he turned around, feeling considerably uplifted, it was to see a fist aiming for his face.

* * *

_"I'm gonna find my way back to your side. Like ships in the night, you keep passing me by . . ."_


	49. Cabin Fever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wOW so this chapter actually took so long to write, sorry for the holdup everyone!! I’ve had a lot more time to write now that the coronavirus is going on, so hopefully will get through this fic way faster lol (again, hopefully)
> 
> thanks for all your reads, kudos, and support!! <3

**_Hideaway (by Grace Vanderwaal)_ **

_“The day is gonna come when there's no time left to waste. But we'll never grow up, I say we hide away . . .”_

* * *

The Scouts’ jail was unlike any other prison that Kara had heard of or been to. While there had only been a few jail cells in the hallway she and Kiel had been in, there were many more cells than she realized. And all of them were empty.

It was weird, though. Why so many empty cells? She guessed that since everyone here must be brainwashed, there was no use for so many, anyway. The jail was still much smaller than the TSA’s had been; Kara didn’t think there were more than a hundred cells here.

Is this where they kept kids who weren’t so easily brainwashed, when they first got to the summer camp? Or — the more likely story — had this prison just been here before the summer camp was built? She wasn’t sure. She figured that the only people who’d recently been here were her, Charm, Owen, and Kiel. And Gwen, Bethany, and Orion, if they‘d been here, too.

As Kara crept down a hallway, a shiver went down her spine. It was strange to be back inside a jail. A few weeks ago, it was crazy to remember that she would’ve _purposely_ stayed in one, just to prevent the end of the world from happening. Things had changed so much since then, and Kara herself, was pretty sure she’d changed.

Locking herself into prison was past Kara’s solution, to stop a prophecy from happening. But now that she wasn’t in her own world, it was a little easier to stop blaming herself. Destruction usually followed Kara wherever she went, but here, it seemed she really _wasn’t_ to blame. But still, seeing the pure possibility caused a heavy weight to sink into her shoulders, so familiar that it stuck to her like a gum underneath her shoe. 

It was familiar, because Kara had seen it before. Past times when she’d traveled to the future, all that was there was this white nothingness, which stretched on for miles and miles. No people, no buildings, not even a sign of _life_. And she’d blamed herself, because who _else_ could’ve wrecked the future so badly that the entire world disappeared?

Only her. Kara Dox, the paradox girl.

Until, through Owen, she’d learned about Nobody. Through she still had a difficult time believing that none of this was her fault, she could easily place the blame on him. She just couldn’t imagine _wanting_ to destroy the world. Kara had been so careful in her efforts to save it, yet here was Nobody, a man who literally had no cares whatsoever about destroying the worlds.

The time agents, the Countess, Dolores — _everyone_ — should’ve been blaming _Nobody_ the whole time, instead. But they hadn’t known about him. No one had. They’d just known about Kara, the girl predicted to destroy the future. And while that certainly had been true, maybe Kara had been wrong about some things. Sure, she’d destroyed the world in every timeline. But in this chapter of her life, it was Nobody wrecking the future, instead.

Maybe it’d always been that way, but Kara had just never realized it. Kara and her future selves had only known themselves to be the culprits, not anyone else. Knowing that Nobody had caused this took some pressure off her shoulders, though not that much.

Despite knowing about Nobody, Kara still had her doubts. Living through her worst fear — remembering the look of terror on everyone’s faces, on _Owen’s_ face — kept the doubt creeping in, that this could always be her fault. To think that this time could be different was shocking. Being immune to paradoxes meant her fate could never be changed, so naturally, Kara wasn’t having the easiest time accepting the idea that none of this was her fault.

What made it harder was the truth: if _all_ of this was Nobody’s fault, that meant Kara had nothing to do with the destroying-the-world part. If so, was it really possible _she_ could save the world? From every single past experience, she knew that one way or the other, saving the world was _not_ her thing. _Trying_ to save it? Sure, totally. That’d been crossed off the list for thousands of times, over millions of timelines. But succeeding? Not a chance.

If it was possible, she needed to try saving the world again. No matter how crazy it sounded, to keep trying again and again when all she got were the same results. Maybe the mummy had been right. Maybe she _was_ insane to keep trying. That was the definition of insanity, to try something over and over again, while expecting different results.

The only difference was that Kara had tried _so_ much that she always expected the _same_ result. Even when she hoped for a different one, she’d grown to expect that no matter what she did, the world would suffer. At least it’d be her and Owen against the world, as her future selves had told her. But in every scenario, Kara always ended up alone, everything destroyed around her.

But this time, she wasn’t alone. She had Owen. Not only him, but she had Charm and Kiel, two of her newest friends. And once Kiel found Bethany — who’d probably know where Gwen and Orion were — they’d have seven kids to save the world! A big shift from just Kara, who was used to doing it alone. And failing. Many, many times.

The sound of a door slamming surfaced Kara from her thoughts. She was standing right in the middle of the hallway, walking fast. But this made her freeze. The sound hadn’t come from her hallway, but from somewhere beyond it. Could that be Kiel and Bethany, or was it more camp counselors? Given Kara’s luck? She guessed it’d be the second option.

Her hand instinctively went down to her wrist. To get out of any situation, Kara always turned to her time bracelet if she needed the extra help. She was so used to it being there that she actually felt surprised when her fingers touched her bare wrist. _Right_. She didn’t _have_ a time bracelet anymore. Just a lot of broken pieces.

If she had a working time bracelet, Kara would’ve sent herself forward in time by 1:01 seconds, so she’d be invisible to anyone who saw her. Too bad she couldn’t use it now! That always did the trick for getting her out of sticky situations.

But since she didn’t have the option, she’d have to improvise instead. And luckily, Kara was pretty good at that. She’d improvised through almost everything in her life, and while it hadn’t led her to the best of places, at least she’d ended up in one piece. So that’s what she’d do. Whatever it took to not get brainwashed.

Kara slowly moved towards the wall, wear a line of cells were. She hovered there, listening. And there, just beyond the door, she heard footsteps. The sound got closer, until Kara was sure that whoever it was, the person was just on the other side of that door. The knob began to turn, and her heart jumped.

Assuming that it probably _wasn’t_ Kiel, Kara figured she should find somewhere to hide. Just in case. She grabbed the nearest door of a jail cell, throwing herself just in time for the door to open. Her feet scuffed against the floor, and she quickly lowered herself to the ground, trying not to make any more noise.

A few feet away, she heard breathing. Heavy footsteps coming closer, walking so fast that Kara barely had time to hide. Through the darkness, she watched as a man came into view, wearing a hat just like all the other camp counselors. As he passed the cell she was in, Kara leaned further back, hoping he wouldn’t see her.

Key word there was “hoping”. Whenever Kara was in trouble — or anywhere, really — she stood out. She always had, and it wasn’t like she didn’t want to. Even her hair stood out, looking out of place no matter what environment she was in. Kara had always liked standing out. She’d been different from the day she was born.

But in this case, being different meant getting caught. Getting brainwashed. Out of all the prisons she’d been to (which hadn’t been many) So if she got caught, there had to be some way to fool them she was the same as everyone else.

Just act . . . happy and obedient, right? She could do that! The happy part wouldn’t be too difficult. She could just think about how she felt around Owen, and project that onto the camp counselors.

But being obedient? Kara wasn’t so sure. No matter how hard she tried following rules, she always seemed to do the opposite. At least, that’d been with time travel, where there were _way_ too many rules. Granted, this was different. If she didn’t follow the rules it wasn’t like she’d be able to time travel away.

Even if being obedient was nearly impossible for Kara, it looked like she’d have to try to be. Especially if, within the next ten seconds, she got caught.

In front of her, the man was walking by. Time seemed to freeze as he passed, and Kara held her breath. She was sure, for a moment, that anything she did would get her caught. She always got caught. If there was anything that could help her now, it was her immunity to paradoxes. That could contribute for something, right?

Surprisingly, the man didn’t turn his head. Not even a glance in Kara’s direction. He just kept walking, whistling a low tune under his breath. Slowly, Kara stood. She shifted to the end of the cell, silently watching him through the bars. _How_ hadn’t he seen her? Was it possible that it’d really been too dark for him to tell?

Either way, who cared? This was the perfect chance for Kara to get out of here! So she waited. And waited some more. As soon as the counselor got to the end of the hallway and opened the door, Kara seized her chance. She pushed on the jail cell door, the hinge squeaking loudly as it moved. She didn’t care who heard. She ran for the door, threw it open, only to see—

Two camp counselors, coming down the same hallway she’d just entered. Their eyes locked on her. Kara’s heart jumped. Letting the door slam behind her, she stopped abruptly in her tracks. If she kept running, there was no way she wouldn’t get caught. Okay, what would a brainwashed person do? _Think, Kara!_

“What are you doing out here?” one of them asked.

Kara hesitated, just for a second. Then she reminded herself to smile. “Hello! I’m really glad I ran into you guys. I, um, I think I’m lost. I wanted to see what this _weird_ , huge building was and now I can’t get out! It’s seriously like a maze down here.” She glanced around, as if confused. “What is this place?”

The counselors looked at each other before looking back at her. She couldn’t tell if they’d believed her or not. One of them smiled politely. “How did you get in here?”

“I don’t know. I wandered inside.”

The woman’s smile was slipping. “Past the guards?”

She shrugged her shoulders up and down, trying to look as relaxed as possible. Not exactly the easiest thing to do while under pressure, but Kara hoped her acting skills were good enough. “I guess they were on their dinner break.”

Now, they just looked suspicious.

“The guards don’t _have_ dinner breaks,” the other counselor said. “We bring the food to them so they can eat while they work.”

Kara just stared at them. Okay, that sounded like overkill. What kind of job didn’t offer you at least a twenty minute break? To eat, to stretch, to do _something_? Wow, the counselors must’ve _really_ taken their job seriously here. And they were keeping kids in jail for all the wrong reasons. Not even because they were dangerous, but to brainwash them.

“I think they might’ve been going to the bathroom, now that I think about it,” Kara said quickly.

“That sounds more likely,” the counselor said, nodding to herself.

She looked at the other woman and whispered something in her ear. To Kara’s dismay, the other counselor whispered something back. This went on for a few seconds, with Kara staring at them, wishing she could hear their conversation. If they were about to take her to the brainwashing area, Kara really wanted a heads-up.

Finally, they turned back to Kara with equally bright smiles.

“I’ll take you back to your cabin,” one of them said. “You shouldn’t be wandering around getting lost.”

Back to her cabin? Kara bit her lip, her relief fading a little. Oh, shoot. This wasn’t how her plan was supposed to go! Granted, her only real plan had been to lie her way out of this, and throw the counselors off her trail so she could find Owen and Charm. _She_ might be safe, but her friends were still locked up! There was no way she could leave Owen behind. Not again.

“Um, thanks! But can you tell me what this place is, first?” Kara asked. She bounced on her heels. “Maybe . . . give me a tour? I just wanna—“

Suddenly, one of the loudest noises Kara had ever heard blasted through her ears. It sounded like a bell chiming, only it was ten times louder than any bell she’d ever heard. Kara jumped in surprise, instantly smacking her hands over her ears. She noticed the camp counselors perked up as they heard it. It must’ve meant something important, like a fire drill or something.

The chiming slowly faded. The camp counselors stared at Kara, as if expecting something. Kara shifted on her feet. Was she supposed to be doing something? The “brainwashed” Kara, that is? She probably should, though she wasn’t sure what. Back in the time prison, there’d been a similar bell system that woke the prisoners up every morning. But she was pretty sure this was different.

“Oh, there’s the bell!” Kara said, forcing a smile. “Guess I should, uh . . .” She trailed off, hoping the camp counselors would finish. Unfortunately, they didn’t. Well, _that_ gave her absolutely no clues.

The woman glanced at each other before looking back at her.

“It’s past curfew,” one of them said. “I’ll take you back to your cabin.”

“Thanks, you’re really sweet.” Kara looked over her shoulder, praying she’d spot Owen or Charm in one of the cells. “But about that—“

“Come on!”

The camp counselor started walking, leaving Kara with no choice but to follow. She noticed that the other counselor hung back, probably to keep patrolling. Her heart sped up. She couldn’t _leave_. She had to stay here somehow, just long enough to find her friends.

“Are you sure that was the curfew bell?” Kara asked as she hurried to catch up with the woman.

The woman smiled. “Very sure.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t just the fire alarm?”

“No.”

“A police siren?”

“No.”

“What about a bear? Or a tiger?”

The camp counselor looked at her incredulously. “There are no bears or tigers here! You kids are perfectly safe.”

_Safe? Really?_ Kara wanted to retort, but held herself back. “That’s good,” she said instead. “I like being safe.” She glanced forward to see they were a few feet away from another door — one that led to the outside world. Kara wracked her brain for more excuses.

“Is a curfew really necessary?” she asked, glancing back at the woman.

“Well, yeah. Curfews are needed so all of you Scouts are in bed at a certain time.” The woman checked her watch. “It’s 10 o’clock. Why, what do you think the curfew should be?”

“None! I say _out_ with curfews!” Kara exclaimed, throwing out of her arms. In her effort to be enthusiastic, she nearly smacked the camp counselor in the head by accident. She quickly lowered her arm before she did something she couldn’t undo. Time-travel-wise.

By now, they’d almost reached the door. Just a few more steps from it. And Kara didn’t think she’d have another chance to sneak back in here, unless she either ran into her friends or miraculously fixed her time bracelet. She glanced over her shoulder again. She considered making a run for it, or maybe just tripping the counselor. Or both.

“We _all_ need curfews,” the counselor was saying. “Or else everyone would be running around until three in the morning!”

Kara felt the urge to disagree. She eyed the door. “Uh, when do the camp counselors go to sleep?”

“Once all the kids do.”

She almost snorted. At least for her and Kiel — the only escapees — there would be no sleeping for a _while_. It could be hours before she found her friends, and even longer before she found some time to sleep. There _had_ been two beds in each cell, not that she was about to go back there and sleep right now.

The woman continued speaking as they reached the door, though Kara wasn’t listening anymore. Her eyes were on everything. She tried to figure out what to do, what her best option could be for getting out of here. In the end, there was only one thing she could think of.

Holding the door open, she let the camp counselor go through first. Then, Kara threw her arm out and pushed the woman hard. She stumbled forward. Kara bounced back and slammed the door shut. She could hear the camp counselor shouting on the other side of the door, the knob jiggling.

Kara locked her hands tightly around the knob, pressing her whole body against the door. She frantically scanned the door. There had to be some kind of lock! There, on the knob, she saw it sticking out in the darkness. Still pushing forcefully against the door, she used her other hand to turn the lock.

“Hey!” the woman shouted, her voice muffled. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“This would be a lot easier with my time bracelet!” Kara muttered to herself. She struggled with the door a bit longer until — _click!_ It finally locked. Breathing hard, she carefully lifted her body from the door. The knob continued to turn, over and over, yet it wasn’t budging. _Whew._

Kara backed away from the door, shouts of, “Open this door _now_ , young lady!” following her. Unable to help herself, she opened her mouth to give a cheeky reply, only to remember that there were still camp counselors here. If they were nearby, they’d hear her. No doubt about it. And the woman could alert the guards at any moment — if she wasn’t already — which meant Kara had better start running.

So she did. She flew down the hallway much quicker than she had before, caring less about who saw. As she turned the corner, her ankle jerked in pain. Kara winced, remembering she _probably_ shouldn’t be running since her leg wasn’t healed all the way yet. Not that she had a choice.

_Owen, Charm, where are you?_

“Hey!”

All of the sudden, Kara heard a familiar voice. _Charm’s_ voice. It was faint, though loud enough to make it out. Yeah, it was _definitely_ her. And from the sound of it, there was trouble.

“Let him go, and give me my _ray guns_ back! If you don’t let me out of this cell—“

Kara‘s eyes widened. Okay, that didn’t sound good! By “let him go”, was Charm referring to Owen? Were the camp counselors taking him? The very idea set Kara’s blood boiling. And she’d be lying if she said it didn’t make her feel more panicked. She didn’t hesitate. She started sprinting.

Every step sent another small jolt of pain up her leg, though she tried her best to ignore it. If she couldn’t save her friends, no one would. And it’d probably be a while before Kiel got back, so it was up to Kara to do the saving. Time to do what she did best: cause chaos. And kick some camp counselor butt.

She wasn’t exactly sure where her friends were, but she went in the direction she thought she’d heard Charm’s voice. It’d sounded a little farther away, most likely a few more hallways down. Kara kept running, throwing open doors and wincing with every step. Turning another dark corner, she heard voices. Much closer now than ever.

Though it wasn’t Owen she saw, or even Charm. Just two camp counselors, standing next to a closed door. It looked like they were standing guard outside it. Before they could see her, Kara ducked back behind the wall. Her heart pounded. What was going on? Where was Owen?

Kara clenched her fists, preparing to dart forward. Owen had to be in that room. Where else would he be? Despite not having any weapons, she’d do everything she could to protect him. But how could she get past the guards? And what about

Charm, where was she?

Again, Kara peeked around the corner. The door that the camp counselors were guarding was at the very end of the hallway. On the other side of the hallway wasn’t much — just a few more rooms that resembled offices. So if Charm was anywhere, she’d must’ve been nearby. Still inside one of the cells, from the sound of it.

Kara debated just rushing into the next hallway, throwing punches at the camp counselors and breaking into that room. But her impulsiveness didn’t always work out in her favor without her time bracelet. She needed help. So did Owen, of course, and Kara _would_ help him no matter what.

Yet, Charm also needed Kara for help. Charm was actually her friend now. She couldn’t leave her locked up, not when she couldn’t get out. At least if Kara found the keys to the cells, she could provide some assistance. That way, both of them could fight the camp counselors and rescue Owen. A pretty great plan! That is, if Kara could make it work.

Keeping close to the wall, she stepped out into the hallway. Luckily, the guards hadn’t noticed her yet. And she’d want to keep it that way. Quickly, Kara tiptoed to the closest door. It was closed. So were the other four doors along the hallway, and none of them had labels. Not ones that she could see, anyway.

Kara tossed another glance at the guards, who were whispering about something she couldn’t hear. Hopefully, they’d be too deep in conversation to notice her. She faced the first door again and turned the knob very slowly. She cracked open the door, pushing it open at an even slower pace to avoid making noise.

Once the door was opened wide enough, Kara squeezed through. She stumbled into the room, then quietly closed the door behind her. As it shut, it made a small creaking noise. Kara cringed. Hopefully the camp counselors wouldn’t hear _that_. Either way, she had to hurry.

She turned back to face the room. It was pitch black inside, offering no light whatsoever. Not even moonlight from a window. Kara shifted to the wall. She moved her hand against it, feeling around for a light switch. Just like the cabins, she noticed, the wall was made completely out of wood. Huh.

After a few seconds of searching, Kara’s fingers finally caught on a light switch. She flicked it up. Light flooded the room, dim enough that it didn’t burn Kara’s irises or (hopefully) attract more attention. She glanced around, sort of surprised to find it only looked like an office. Aside from a desk and a chair and a bookshelf on the wall, there wasn’t much else to it.

Still, she quickly walked over to the desk, hoping there’d be something useful in there. She tried the drawers. All three wouldn’t budge. They were locked. Biting her tongue, Kara reached into her pocket. Her hand found the broken pieces of her time bracelet; she’d carried them around everywhere since it’d gotten destroyed.

Bending to her knees, Kara pulled out one of the wires. She fit it into the bottom drawer’s lock. She wasn’t the biggest expert at picking locks, so it took longer than it had earlier for Kiel. Really, the only reason she knew how to do this was because her older selves had taught her. Without her older selves, Kara wouldn’t have learned _half_ as many skills as she knew now.

She heard a click. She pulled the drawer open and ruffled through it, only to feel disappointment when all she found were old files. _That_ couldn’t be any help. Slamming the drawer closed, an increasingly frustrated Kara lifted her wire to the drawer above it. Seconds bled into minutes as she struggled with the lock, until finally, something clicked.

The drawer opened. There were a few pencils inside, a map, a few flashlights. Nothing she needed. Nothing important. Though she grabbed a flashlight anyway, just in case. She stuck it through the loop on her belt; it wouldn’t hurt to have one when it was practically almost midnight.

Furrowing her brows, Kara pushed the drawer clothes. Just by sheer luck, her eyes lifted to the wall and . . . _ah-ha!_ There were the keys!

Eyes widening, Kara leapt to her feet. It was the largest set of keys she’d ever seen, and that was coming from the girl who’d been to a few prisons in her lifetime. What looked like hundreds of keys hung from a hook on the wall. Kara reached for it, then clutched them in her hands to keep the keys from jingling.

After turning the light switch off again, she poked her head out of the room. Just down the hallway, the camp counselors weren’t in front of the room anymore. Maybe they’d gone into that room, or had left to go guard something else. She just hoped that wherever they were, they weren’t hurting her friends.

And if they were, it was about time she found them. Kara might not have a time bracelet anymore, but she had a fistful of keys and she wouldn’t stop until she freed Charm. Or saved Owen. Whichever came first.

She was running again. Cells whipped past her, looking just as dark and lonely as she remembered them. She glanced at each one, but only for a second. Only to see if Charm was there.

Kara turned another corner, and she stopped short. Sitting in the first cell to the left was a prisoner. The first person she’d seen who was _actually_ being held captive here. Eyes wide, Kara walked closer. Under the moonlight, she could just barely make out that it was Charm.

“Charm?” Kara said, putting her hand on the bars.

Charm looked up. Her expression had been angry, though she appeared relieved when she saw Kara. “Kara! About _time_ you showed up. Do you have my ray guns?”

“What?” Kara shook her head. “No, I don’t. I got out of my cell a little bit ago. Kiel, too. He ran off to find Bethany.”

Charm sighed. “Of course.”

“It was an emergency! But he’ll be back soon with her. And with Gwen and Orion if he finds them.” Kara dropped to her knees in front of the door, starting to fiddle with the keys. She fit the first one into the lock, but it didn’t budge. “Okay, this is gonna take _forever_.”

“You’d better hurry,” Charm said, her voice low. “They took Owen.”

Kara looked up, her shoulders tensing. “What did they do with him? They didn’t hurt him, did they?”

“I have no idea. They said they were taking him in for . . . questioning. I’m guessing they’re going to brainwash him. He won’t stand a chance.”

Kara nodded. “Thanks, Charm. That makes me feel tons better!”

Charm rolled her eyes. “It’s _true_. You know he can’t fight that good, right?”

“I know.” Kara tried the next key. That one didn’t work, either. Worry gnawed at her. _Owen,_ please _be okay._

“If they’d taken me first, they’d _all_ be knocked out by now.”

A chuckle escaped Kara’s lips. “They _should’ve_ done that. That basically would’ve solved everything!” She switched to another key, biting her lip as she struggled to fit in through the lock. “Okay, we _have_ to help Owen. And I have a plan. I figured if I let you out first, both of us could—“ 

The sound of footsteps from outside the door made Kara freeze. “Someone’s coming!” she said. “Catch!”

She hurled the keys through the jail cell’s bars. Charm easily caught it with her robotic hand. As Kara quickly jumped to her feet, Charm remained hidden in the shadows, beginning to sort through the keys.

“Go find Owen,” Charm said quickly. “Once I get out, I’ll get my ray guns and meet yo—“

The door burst open. Kara whipped her head around to see two guards entering the hallway, both dressed slightly differently than the camp counselors. Their outfits were less friendly, as was their demeanor. Over green polo shirts, they wore black vests that said “security guard” on them. Both guards wore earpieces, and had belts that contained things like a radio and a flashlight.

Even worse, they carried long sticks that looked like weapons. Kara remembered the TSA guards carrying tasers around, and she wasn’t sure what was worse. She couldn’t help being surprised, though. Would the guards really use that on her, even though she was just a kid?

The TSA guards hadn’t cared about hurting Kara, though it seemed that since these guards were apart of a summer camp, they should be less willing to hurt kids.

Hopefully.

Behind them, a woman walked through the door. It was the same woman from earlier, Kara realized. And she did _not_ look happy.

* * *

When Owen used to think that hypnotists were cool, it was the _fun_ kind of hypnotist, the kind that made you do silly things in front of other people. He’d seen a hypnotist show once when he was little, and while he liked to imagine that the guy who’d clucked like a chicken was _still_ clucking like a chicken to this day, this was ten times beyond that.

And a lot scarier.

Owen wished they’d never come here. He should’ve _never_ listened to Fowen, and should’ve never let Bethany go on that quest! So many things would be different if he just hadn’t listened — to either of them. And what had he done? He’d listened. Next time Bethany was about to do anything reckless, Owen really needed to learn how to talk her out of it, instead of her talking _him_ into it.

Not that he really blamed her. Neither of them had known anything like this would happen. And Owen knew that if Bethany’s plan really _had_ gone right, she, Gwen, and Orion would be with them right now. Then, they never would’ve even gotten in this whole mess. Kiel never would’ve had to risk his own memories (though luckily, nothing bad had come from that), and they wouldn’t be stuck inside a jail.

Oh, and he probably wouldn’t be about to get brainwashed.

After getting taken by guards, Owen had been dragged to the lowest floor of the Scout’s jail — which he guessed was underground. Then, they’d taken him to an empty room and had shoved him into a chair, strapping his wrists and ankles to it. Before Owen could even stop them (not that he had a choice), they’d walked out of the room, leaving him sitting there alone.

It’d probably hadn’t been more than ten or twenty minutes, but Owen felt like he’d been sitting here _forever_. It only made him more nervous, since it gave him time to look around the room. It was eerily similar to a doctors office, the only difference being that there were hypnotist posters on the wall — like the ones he’d seen in movies — instead of posters for anatomy. 

This was so _typical_ of doctors. Not that the camp counselors were actually doctors (was brainwashing a profession?), but they sure took their time. Every time Owen had been to the doctor’s office, it seemed that they took ages just to come into the room.

It’d been long enough that Owen had already stopped shaking, due to how long he’d been sitting here. He was pretty sure his body was getting exhausted from all the fear and danger he’d been experiencing. Also, he took back everything he said about the fictional world never being boring. Right now, he felt pretty bored.

Not to say he wasn’t nervous. The more he waited, the more terrified he became. Yeah, the anticipation now was _much_ worse than it was at the doctors office. Owen had a feeling the walls were soundproof, because he couldn’t hear anything on the other side. Before he even had time to prepare himself, someone could be opening the door right—

Suddenly, the door burst open, making Owen jump. He was half-expecting a doctor to be standing in the doorway, though all he saw was a camp counselor. Carrying a clipboard, the man quickly entered the room before closing the door behind him.

“Hello!” the man said, giving Owen a broad grin. “My name is Charles. How are you today?”

“I-I’m okay,” Owen said weakly. He cleared his throat. “Just, you know, being held against my will.“ 

Charles patted him on the head, making Owen flinch. “And soon it’ll _all_ be over!”

Owen’s eyes brightened. “You mean you’ll let me go?”

The camp counselor laughed. “Once I’m done brainwashing you!”

Well, _that_ didn’t make him feel any better.

Owen watched as Charles set his clipboard down on the counter, then began sorting through the cabinet, as if looking for something. It wasn’t long before he pulled out some kind of device. Owen’s eyes grew wide once he realized what it was. A _pendulum_! He hadn’t read too many books about brainwashing, but he knew it was one of the ways to hypnotize people.

Owen began to panic. He shifted around in his chair more, trying to move his arms and legs. “You can’t do this!”

“Oh, there’s no need to be so nervous. This is standard procedure. I’ve worked with hundreds of boys _just_ like you. And you know what?”

“What?” Owen asked, not really wanting to know.

“By the time it was over, they had no idea what they were so afraid of!” Charles grinned.

“Y-You’re _brainwashing_ people! That’s not even cool, that’s just _wrong_! Doesn’t the government know what you’re doing? I’m not an expert but I think this is illegal! What about free will? A-And don’t the parents of these kids know what’s going on? Don’t they wonder why their kids never want to leave—“

The camp counselor cut him off. “After we’re done, what type of candy would you like?”

Owen stared at him, his mouth opening and closing in surprise. Finally, he whispered, _“What_?”

“I said, what type of candy would you like?”

He opened a drawer and pulled out a large bag of candy, like the ones Owen’s mom would buy for Halloween. The man held it out for Owen to see. Just by looking at it, Owen could already feel his mouth watering. When was the last time he’d eaten again?

He shook his head. _No!_ He couldn’t get distracted. Getting out of here was the biggest priority. Sure, he wouldn’t mind taking some candy. As long as he could eat it _without_ getting brainwashed. Considering he even got out of this.

Owen swallowed hard. “I don’t want any of your candy. Just let me go!”

Charles frowned, placing the bag back in the drawer. Closing it, he walked over to a terrified Owen. He pulled at the straps holding his arms down again and again, but it was no use. _Nothing_ worked.

“Try to stay still,” the camp counselor said, though Owen wasn’t even listening anymore. He kept struggling, trying to get free. The man’s expression was quickly turning frustrated, and he held up the pendulum, forcefully grabbing Owen’s face with his other hand. “You would make this easier if you would stay still!”

“Ow!” There was a sharp, sudden pain in Owen’s face. He grunted, trying to move away. He looked anywhere but at the pendulum, terrified of getting brainwashed. “L-Let go of me!”

Owen prayed that something awesome and heroic would happen, like maybe his time powers would come back and he’d save the day. Or, the more likely option, Charm would burst through the door, raygunning the man. Or even Kiel or Kara would show up to rescue Owen. _Anyone_.

Unfortunately, no one came.

“Stop fighting,” Charles was saying. “There’s no need to be afraid.”

“Says the guy who’s trying to murder my brain!”

The man ignored him. With more effort, he moved Owen’s face, forcing him to look at him. Before Owen even realized it, he accidentally found himself staring at the pendulum. No. _No, no, no, no, no._ This couldn’t be happening.

Even though Owen just considered himself the sidekick — or well, a minor, unimportant background character — this would _never_ happen to the hero of a book! Which, he guessed, was why it was happening to him. If Kiel or Bethany were in his place right now, they already would’ve knocked out the camp counselor and backflipped out of the room! (Although, the last one was more Kiel’s style).

_Look away!_ Owen shouted to his brain. _Look away right now, before you get brainwashed!_

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t drag his eyes away. He used every ounce of willpower, desperately trying to make himself look away. He tried squeezing his eyes shut, _anything_. It was as if he couldn’t control his own body anymore. His eyes were glued to the swinging pendulum in front of him.

And just like that, he found himself relaxing. Slowly, he stopped moving. He stopped fighting altogether as a feeling of peace washed over him. Something about this felt like it _should_ be wrong but . . . Owen was having trouble remembering what’d been so bad about it.

Wait, what had he been so stressed out about? This was . . . nice. _Really_ nice. Owen felt completely unworried, safe, and carefree. The best he’d felt in a long time — maybe all his life! Like he was experiencing all of his most exciting memories, all of his favorite things, all rolled into one.

It was like he’d just become the person he’d always wanted to be. As if he was a boy magician and a High King of Narnia and Spider-Man all at once. He was the most popular (and confident!) boy in school. He could do magic just by snapping his fingers. He was never nervous about anything. He was the world’s greatest hero, and _everyone_ wanted to be his friend.

A million exciting things raced through Owen’s head — things like hogwarts acceptance letters, magicians, time bracelets, magical portals, white rabbits, talking lions from Narnia. Why had he ever thought life was boring? _Nothing_ was boring! Even the real world was fun! So were chores and homework and school and literally _everything_ else in the world. Wow, life was _incredible_!

Through his dream, Owen heard Charles speak. He sounded thousands of miles away. “How do you feel?”

Owen beamed, his heart racing happily inside his chest. “I’ve never felt better.”

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“No, I feel great!”

“And where do you want to be?”

“Here!”

“Very good.” There was a pause, long enough that it should’ve seemed strange. But Owen didn’t notice it. He was brought back into focus once Charles spoke again. “Would you like to sit here quietly while I deal with something?”

A smile formed on Owen’s lips. “Nothing would make me happier.”

“Someone else will be coming in to get brainwashed, and they’ll need my _full_ attention. Don’t say a word to them, alright?”

“Okay!”

And then, there was silence.

* * *

Her heart pounding, Kara backed away from the guards. Inside her pocket, her fingers fiddled nervously with her broken time watch. “Hey, guys. What’s up?”

“You were just playing along,” the woman said, her eyes narrowed. “Pretending to be brainwashed. Weren’t you?”

Kara tried to remain unfazed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

The woman nodded to the guards. “Take her.”

“Run, Kara!” Charm shouted. The guards and the woman glanced to the side, as if noticing her for the first time. Kara noticed that Charm had hidden the keys behind her back. At least she’d escape, and that made Kara feel better.

While the group wasn’t looking, Kara made her decision. Next thing she knew, she was running again. Heart racing, she glanced over her shoulder to see the guards running after her. And they were _fast_. Usually Kara could be pretty good at running away from trouble, though it was a lot harder now with her injury.

_Don’t stop running!_ she told herself. Getting captured meant not being able to save Owen, and that was worse than anything. Who would she be if she gave up now? But to her dismay, the guards were only speeding up. It didn’t take long before Kara heard their footsteps getting closer, and she felt a tug at her shirt collar.

Kara screamed as she was abruptly pulled back. Two hands were clenched tightly around her elbows, preventing her from running anymore. She balled her hands into fists, trying to punch anything she could get her hands on. But she couldn’t reach the guards faces from here, much less knock them _out_.

“Hey!” she said, thrashing around wildly. “Let me go!”

The camp counselor appeared in front of her. “Oh no you don’t. You’re not going anywhere this time.” Kara only struggled some more against the guards, and the woman smiled. “You don’t listen very well to authority, do you?”

Kara slowly breathed in and out. “That’s an accurate assumption.”

“Soon, you won’t have so many . . . concerns about leaving.” Her eyes trailed down to Kara’s leg. “And if you don’t put up a fight, we’ll give you _two_ brainwashing sessions. For the pain.”

“I’m not in pain,” Kara said, then winced as her ankle jolted again. It was true — the pain had reduced a _lot_ since Toby had given her the cure for it. Though he’d also told her that if she didn’t rest her leg, it’d prolong the healing by a few days. From all the running she’d been doing lately, she wasn’t surprised the pain disappeared yet.

“I can see that.” The camp counselor smiled again. “It’s understandable that you’re _unsure_ about being brainwashed, but once you wake up tomorrow, you’ll feel better than ever before.”

“Yeah, well there’s one flaw to your plan!” Kara replied, keeping her chin up.

The woman’s eyebrows rose. “And what might that be?”

She paused for a few seconds, trying to think of one. Comebacks came easily to Kara, though embarrassingly, nothing came to her now. She shrugged. “I don’t know. Isn’t there always a flaw to these kinds of plans?”

The woman laughed before snapping her fingers, her expression once again serious. “Guards, take her to the medbay!”

“No!” Kara shouted, thrashing around even more. She glared at the woman, who only smiled as the guards led her out the door. It reminded her all too well of the time prison, of being dragged by guards towards her gloomy cell of solitary confinement. Was this worse? She couldn’t decide.

She had to get free! There was a chance that Charm might be able to help her, though Kara didn’t know how long that would take with the amount of keys there were. No, she’d have to get out of this some other way. And really, she was less concerned about her own safety. More about—

“Owen?!”

After taking her down a ladder that led underground, the guards had escorted her into a room with no door. That was when Kara had finally stopped fighting, and not because she’d given up. Sitting in the small room they’d entered, tied to a chair, was Owen. Only, there was something different. He didn’t look like himself.

Owen just stared at her, a smile plastered to his face. His eyes were half-lidded, unfocused, as if he wasn’t really there. Kara stared back, horrified. Was she imagining things, or had his expression barely changed since she walked in? Realization hit her like a train. Her eyes darted to the table next to him, covered with brainwashing gadgets.

Oh _no_.

“Owen,” Kara repeated, as the guards led her to the chair next to his. “W-Why aren’t you answering me?”

“Because I told him not to,” a voice said.

For a moment, Kara thought one of the guards had spoken. But they’d been silent the whole time — it couldn’t be them. Her eyes landed the only other person in the room, yet another camp counselor. She’d been so distracted by Owen that she hadn’t even noticed the man in the corner.

“What do you mean?” Kara demanded, her head swiveling from the camp counselor to Owen. “Why would he . . .”

It dawned on her, like a wave crashing onto the beach. There was a reason why Owen wasn’t acting like himself, and it horrified her. He was brainwashed. _Brainwashed!_ She felt like such an idiot. Why couldn’t she have gotten to him sooner? If she’d just gotten to him faster, he wouldn’t be like this.

Kara frantically looked back at Owen. “No, _no_! Owen—“ She strained against the guards as they pushed her into the chair. Automatically, iron straps locked around her wrists and ankles. Eyes widening, she jostled around. “You can’t do this! Let me go!”

“No can do,” the man said cheerfully, nodding to the guards as they walked out of the room. He closed the door behind them. “You know, your friend here said much of the same thing before I brainwashed him. You feel much better now, don’t you—“ His eyes slid to Kara before looking back at Owen. “ _Owen_?”

Owen’s smile widened. He continued staring straight ahead as he said, “Yes, sir.”

Okay, that was creepy.

“You have to bring him back!” Kara shouted furiously. “Do whatever you want to me, but don’t hurt _him_!”

“Too late.” The man smiled at her. “And I _will_ be brainwashing you, too.” As he turned his back on her, beginning to look through drawers, Kara struggled harder against her bonds.

“But don’t worry, he won’t be like this for long,” he continued. “Once I snap him out of his trance, I’ll take him back to his cabin. When he wakes up tomorrow, he’ll be happier than he’s ever been! I’m not hurting him by giving him happiness.”

Kara narrowed her eyes. “Listen closely, mister. Sure, Owen likes summer camps! But he talks about books _all the time_ , so you know where he’d be happiest? In a _library_. Your little brainwashing thing? It can’t last.”

The man raised his eyebrows, looking back at her. “It lasts for as long as I _say_ it lasts. And your friend won’t know the difference. Neither will you!”

Kara clenched her jaw, wanting to yell some more. She sat back in her chair, slowly looking back at Owen. It was weird seeing him so unresponsive. Seeing him like this made her heart hurt. She needed to bring him back somehow, but how? As much as Kara knew about time travel, she hardly knew a thing about brainwashing.

“Don’t worry, Owen,” Kara whispered. “I’ll stop this. I’ll fix you.” She stretched her hand out as far as it would allow, just enough that she was able to squeeze the tips of his fingers.

“No touching!”

Kara glanced up, glaring at him. “Or what? You’ll brainwash me?”

Without waiting for an answer, she turned back to Owen, guessing she should probably just listen to the man. She wouldn’t _normally_ listen to authority figures in these types of situations, but she didn’t want him to hurt Owen further.

So, she attempted moving her hand back. To her surprise, though, his fingers had wrapped around her’s, squeezing her’s ever so slightly. She hadn’t even noticed it. He wouldn’t let go. Her heart skipped a beat, a feeling of hope blossoming in her chest. She bit back a smile. Was he still in there? Was it not too late?

“Did you hear me?” The man’s tone was more forceful.

“Yep,” Kara grunted. “I heard.”She stuck her tongue out when he wasn’t looking. It took some effort, but she managed to drawl her fingers away. Her hand suddenly felt very empty without his. She shrugged her shoulders, turning back to the man. “He didn’t want to let go of my hand.”

“That can’t be possible,” the man protested. “He doesn’t even know you’re here right now! He’ll do anything I tell him.”

“Did you tell him to act like a zombie? Because that’s kind of how he’s acting right now.”

The camp counselor ignored her. As he went back to looking through drawers, Kara innocently asked, “So, how does brainwashing work?”

The man waved a hand at her. “Very funny. I know what you’re doing.”

“No, you don’t!” Kara said. “I’m just really curious. How’s it work?”

A plan started to form in her head. If she could get him to say anything about how to break the hypnosis, that’d be the perfect way to free Owen! Get him back to normal. He was still in there somewhere. Kara _had_ to find a way to fix him.

“I use this.” He held up a pendulum, showing it to her. “That’s how I brainwash people.”

“But isn’t there more to it? Like special words to make people go into their trances?”

“Of course. _Everyone_ knows that. A hypnotist chooses one word to induce hypnotic suggestion, and another word to break it—“ His eyes widened. He marched over to her, the pendulum in his hands. “You know, normally I’d offer you candy first but I’d better brainwash you now. Before you _ruin_ anything.”

One word? Kara’s mind raced. That actually made sense, though what could it be? There were thousands in the alphabet, and it wasn’t like she had an encyclopedia nearby. It’d take _forever_ to find the word to break it! Time travel would’ve been _so_ useful right about now.

“Not so fast!” Kara said, leaning forward. “What word did you use on him?”

“You’ll never find out,” the man sneered. “You think I would tell you that?”

She nodded. “Well, yeah. You told me how brainwashing works!”

“And that’s _all_ I’m telling you.” He pushed her back into the chair, despite Kara fighting against him. “Now, try to relax. And _don’t_ ask me any more questions, or I won’t hesitate to hurt your friend.”

_Haven’t you hurt him enough by_ brainwashing _him?_ Kara wanted to retort, though she stayed silent, knowing better than to push it. She clenched her jaw as the man lifted the pendulum in front of her eyes. Kara threw another frantic glance at Owen.

_Snap out of it!_ she thought. _C’mon, I need you!_

“Look at the pendulum,” the man ordered with forced enthusiasm, but Kara kept her eyes locked on Owen.

Sighing, he grabbed her by the shoulder, trying to move her. Kara felt a rush of anger wash over her. In one brief moment of impulsiveness, she head-butted him as hard as she could. The man scrambled backwards, shouting in pain. Pain rocketed through Kara’s _own_ temples, but she did her best to ignore it, feeling some satisfaction. Another trick she’d learned from her future self.

“How dare you!” the camp counselor shouted, all pleasantness gone from his expression. He stormed over to her, pulling her roughly by the hair. Kara gasped. Again, the man held up the pendulum. “You can make this easier for yourself! Look at it, and this can all be over!”

“Hey!” a voice shouted. “Look at _this_!”

Both Kara and the man looked over to see Charm standing in the doorway, holding her ray guns. A grin spread across Kara’s face. Charm aimed one of them at the man, sending him flying backward. He hit the wall and slid to the floor, groaning.

The next laser beams struck the straps holding Kara’s wrists and ankles down. A mild burning sensation entered her skin, in the areas where the laser had come near. But a second later, it was gone. Jumping out of her chair, Kara shook out her arms and legs. Smoke was everywhere, making it harder for her to see.

Lasers whizzed across the room. Kara turned to see them strike Owen, releasing him from his straps as well. He only slumped back in his chair, so Kara reached out and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him towards her. He stumbled onto his feet. His expression was calm and unbothered, like they weren’t in the middle of a room filled with lasers.

Through the smoke, Charm ran over to them. Her robotic eye scanned over Kara, stopping at her feet. “You don’t have any serious injuries, but your ankle got 35% worse since we left the cabin.”

“It’s fine!” Kara assured her, though now that she was standing on it again the pain never seemed to cease. “No big deal. I just have to rest it.”

Charm nodded. Her eyes shifted to Owen. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s brainwashed,” Kara said, nudging Owen in the shoulder. He didn’t even react, which made her frown. Only stood there, a happy smile on his face.

Charm’s eyes widened. “Fascinating. His brain chemicals must’ve broke down to the point where he can only feel serotonin!”

“Sero—what—in?”

“It’s specifically called 5-hydroxytryptamine, if we’re being technical.” When Kara just stared blankly at her, Charm sighed and added, “It’s the brain chemical for happiness.”

Kara nodded slowly. “ _Oh_. That makes sense.”

There was a glint in Charm’s eyes. “If I can get a brain scan of him, I could study the change in brain patterns—“

“No, we have to fix him! There’s no time!” She tilted her head. “Unless my time bracelet was working but, you know. We can’t leave Owen like _this_.”

Charm looked disappointed. “Right, fine. So, how do we get him back to normal?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out,” Kara said. “That guy told me he used one word to put Owen under hypnotic suggestion, but there’s another word to break it. We have to figure out what word the camp counselor used! But . . . how would we even start? It’s not like I can go back in time to find out, and there are thousands of words it could be.”

“I know how,” Charm said, an evil smile coming to her face. “ _Interrogation_.”

Kara brightened. With Charm helping her, that idea might actually work. “That is a _great_ idea. I wonder if he’ll actually give us answers this time.”

She clicked her ray guns. “Oh, he will.”

Kara turned to see the camp counselor stumbling to his feet. Funnily enough, his hair was sticking straight up from being stunned by Charm’s ray gun. It reminded Kara of a mad scientist from some old sci-fi movie she used to watch as a kid. Though in this case, the guy wasn’t even a scientist. Did you have to be a scientist to brainwash people? Kara assumed so.

“Where did you get that weapon?” the man cried, looking a lot more afraid now.

“I built it,” Charm told him, pointing a ray gun directly at him. “Move even an inch, and you get rayed.”

He nodded vigorously. Feeling hopeful that she might get some answers, Kara walked over to him. “Tell us what the word was.”

Strangely, he smiled. “You think I’ll give it up that easily?”

“Do you want another laser to the face?” Charm suggested, waving her ray gun at him.

The man’s eyes widened. “No, _no_.” He held his hands up in surrender. “Okay . . . I’ll tell you. But first—“ Before Kara could stop him, he ran behind the chairs and slapped a button on the wall. The sound that followed was so loud that Kara clapped her hands over her ears, though Charm didn’t look fazed. Lights started flashing, going from bright to dark to bright again.

“What did you do?!” Kara demanded.

He gave her a wide smile. “I brought company. In less than a minute, you’ll be surrounded. And our security guards — they have weapons, too.”

Charm groaned. “Kara, lets go. We can fix Owen later.”

“We need answers!” Kara shouted. “We can’t fix him without the special word!”

“Don’t be an idiot! I’ll figure out a way to fix him, Kara! With _science_.” She backed away, to the door. “Let’s _go_.”

Having no idea what to do, Kara nodded. Charm was right. There was no time to interrogate the man and ask what the word was, not when a ton more guards were about to swarm in. Vowing she’d fix Owen somehow, Kara threaded her fingers through his and dragged him out the door.

Only, before she or Owen had exited the room, she heard, “Owen, take that girl’s gun! And don’t let the other one get away!”

Faster than Kara could react, Owen ripped himself out of her grasp. He lunged for Charm. The half-robotic girl’s back was turned, and even _she_ didn’t have fast enough reflexes. Before Kara knew it, Owen was holding Charm’s gun. Whirling back towards Kara, he shoved her hard, making her fall to the ground. Then, he closed the door and locked it, only a second before Charm could enter.

Breathing hard, Kara stared up at Owen. On the other side of the door behind him, she heard Charm shouting insults, one after the other. Kara could barely wrap her mind around what had happened. She was horrified. Had Owen really just done that?

“Thank you, Owen.” The man grinned. “And shoot your friend, would you? She’s been very uncooperative. She deserves it, don’t you think?”

Owen smiled brightly. “Yes!”

The tip of the ray gun turned on Kara. Still on the floor, she backed away. “Owen, no! Stop! It’s _me_! Don’t—“ A bright laser collided into her. Kara screamed as she flew backwards, her head slamming hard into the wall. She crumbled to the ground, feeling as if every cell in her body was on fire. Her muscles wouldn’t stop twitching.

Weakly, Kara pushed her head up. Her hair had fallen all across her face, making it hard for her to see. Standing above her, Owen just stared at her with a smile. She held back tears. How could she let this happen? He didn’t deserve to be controlled like this!

“Owen,” Kara whispered. “I-It’s _me_. It’s me, your friend. Kara. Remember?”

“He remembers you,” the man said. “He just doesn’t care anymore. The only thing he cares about _now_ is following my orders.”

She slapped the ground. “Owen, stop listening to him!”

“Didn’t you hear me the first time? He won’t listen to anything you tell him.” He turned to Owen. “Now, stun her again. When I try to brainwash her again, I want it to work this time.”

Owen nodded. Kara held her hand up weakly in defense, though it wasn’t enough to stop him. The next laser barreled into her, sending shock waves across her entire body. Again, Kara slumped to the ground. The pain was worse than anything. She groaned quietly, the pain so intense that she had to squeeze her eyes shut. Tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Keep going until it knocks her out,” the man told Owen, though to Kara, he sounded miles away.

“Okay,” Owen said cheerfully, his eyes squinting happily.

As Owen pointed the gun at Kara again, she panicked. She forced her head up again, her arms shaking violently. “Owen,” she whispered. “Please, if you’re still in there — I-I _miss_ you. I don’t know if he promised you, like, a lifetime of happiness or something, but this isn’t what makes you happy! _Books_ make you happy! You like a-adventures and bubblegum ice cream . . .”

She sat up further, the words pouring out of her mouth now. “Y-You’re _obsessed_ with this movie called _Star Fights_ , and I think I know half the lines to that movie since you’re always telling me about it. You love Spider-Man! You’re like, terrified of dinosaurs but you think dragons are cool, but—“

She shook her head slightly, almost laughing. “I don’t know _why_ you think that. Dinosaurs are way cooler! Also, your favorite book series is the Kiel Gnomenfoot books! And you would never hurt a fly in your life, because you are _way_ too nice for that. I know you never believe in yourself very much b-but I believe in _you_. And whatever happens, I know that somehow, you’ll get through this with flying colors.”

Owen blinked. The blank look slowly faded from his eyes. He glanced around, a surprised expression taking over his face. “Where am I?” His eyes fell on Kara, and he stared at her, open-mouthed. “Kara?!” He quickly scrambled to help her up. “Are you okay? Why are you on the ground? Did I black out or somethi—“

Kara let out a joyful laugh. “You’re back!” she shouted again and again.

While she was still fairly weak, it didn’t stop her from grabbing his waist and squeezing him hard. She didn’t care who saw. Smiling, he held her without hesitation. Kara realized just how comfortable Owen seemed to be around her, compared to how awkward he’d been when they first met.

“Back?” Owen exclaimed. “Where _was_ I?”

Kara laughed again. “You were brainwashed.”

He was the first to pull away, his eyes huge. “I _was_? D-Did I hurt you? If I did, I’m _so_ sorry—“

“No,” Kara lied, giving him a tired smile. “I’m okay! You didn’t do anything.”

“You’ll pay for that,” the man growled. Kara’s eyes widened when she saw the man was holding a gun. Not just any gun — one of _Charm’s_ ray guns. Owen must’ve dropped it. “How did you know the word to wake him up? _How_?”

“I didn’t!” She stared at him in shock. “What . . . what was the word?”

”’Color’,” the man said flatly. “The word was ‘color’.”   
  


_Wow, and I_ guessed _it?_ Kara thought, feeling proud of herself. That feeling didn’t last for long, though. 

The man pointed a shaking finger at them. “Now, I’m going to put _both_ of you into your hypnotic states, and if either of you try to stop me, I’ll shoot—“

Suddenly, he dropped to the floor. Owen leaped backward in surprise. Kara’s first thought was that the man could’ve had a heart attack or maybe had just fainted out of nowhere (random, but possible!). Then, she heard snoring coming from the man’s mouth. He wasn’t dead or unconscious — he was _asleep_!

Kara’s mouth dropped open in shock, which quickly turned to amazement. How . . .? She glanced around in bewilderment, expecting to standing there Kiel with his wand-knives, but no one was around.

She was stunned. She was at a loss for words. She turned to Owen, who looked just as speechless as she was. He glanced at Kara, reluctantly forming his words. “. . . Think he actually knew how to use that gun?”

Kara opened her mouth to answer. At that moment, Charm barged in through the door. She aimed her ray gun at Owen. “Steal my ray gun _again_ and I’ll—“

Owen quickly waved his hands in protest, while Kara jumped in front of him. “Don’t shoot! He’s normal! He’s not brainwashed anymore!”

Charm lowered her ray gun. “Oh. Good. I didn’t want to deal with a hypnotized Owen for the rest of the night. I _really_ would’ve ray-gunned him then.”

“Um, that was only because I was brainwashed, right?” Owen said, his voice uneven.

Charm didn’t answer, though Kara noticed a slight smile on her face. She must’ve been happy that Owen was back to normal. The smile faded quickly. She shook her head, actually looking shocked for once. “Anyway, you guys need to see something. My scans aren’t picking up the source of it, but the _weirdest_ thing just happened in the hallway."

“You’re telling me!” Kara exclaimed. She pointed to the camp counselor on the ground. “He just fell asleep.”

Charm leaned down, plucking her ray gun from the man’s fingers. “So did the ones I was fighting.”

Owen‘s eyes widened. “ _What_?”

They stepped out into the hallway. Kara gasped. Charm was right, it hadn’t just been one camp counselor. Ten security guards laid across the hallway floor, and not because of Charm’s ray guns. _All_ of them were asleep.

All the sudden, footsteps came from down the hall. The three of them whirled around. Charm held up her ray guns, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. But the person who ran around the corner wasn’t a camp counselor or a Scout. Not a real one, anyway.

“Hey, sorry it took me so long to get here,” Kiel said, looking out of breath. “Turns out — the underground tunnel I went in led to you guys! And I was just looking for something to explode.” He chuckled, then looked around, as if seeing their surroundings for the first time. “What’s going on?”

“A lot of things! I got brainwashed!” Owen replied, his eyes still very wide. “And now I’m back to normal, but um, I think I’m okay. Are you sure you’re not—“

Kiel shook his head. “Nah. I’m too awesome to be brainwashed.”

“Whew,” Owen breathed, a grin forming on his face. “ _That’s_ a relief. Literally everything’s been going wrong today. _Everything_.”

“Did you use a spell to make everyone fall asleep?” Kara asked, gesturing to the camp counselors on the floor.

Kiel’s gaze swept through them, and he grinned a little. “Oh. Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?”

Charm looked at the boy magician in surprise. “Wait a minute, what happened to your face?”

Kara did a double take. She hadn’t noticed until then that there was a deep cut on his lip. Clearly, someone had punched him. Maybe even a few times, if she could guess.

“What?” Kiel asked, quirking his eyebrows. “Do I look more handsome than usual?”

Charm rolled her eyes, ignoring his comment. She lifted a hand to Kiel’s mouth, who winced once her hand came in contact with it. “Who finally punched you?”

He pretended to look offended. “Are you saying I deserved it?”

“I _know_ you did. Who did you annoy?”

“No one!” Kiel insisted with a laugh. “I just got in a fight with this security guard. Then, you know, I knocked him out with magic. Easy-peasy. And get this — it wasn’t just him who tried that! The Girl Scouts were fighting me _too_. It’s getting pretty bad out there. Apparently, the Scouts will do anything the camp counselors tell them. Including trying to knock me out so I could get brainwashed.”

“I hate to say this,” Owen said slowly. “But . . . with the way things are going I _think_ our friends could be brainwashed by now.”

“I was thinking the same thing!” Kara exclaimed. “I didn’t see them anywhere in the jail when I was looking for you guys.”

“Come on.” Charm started to move forward. “Let’s find them.”

“Wait.” Kara paused as she realized something. Her eyes widening, she looked at Kiel. “Where’s Bethany? I thought you were going to find her!”

Kiel’s expression morphed into confusion. “Who’s Bethany?”

* * *

_“But we'll never grow up, I say we hide away. Don't make me grow up, I say we hide away . . .”_


	50. Catch You On The Flipside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER 50 IS HERE!!!
> 
> I actually didn’t realize this was chapter 50 until I posted but omg. This is so insane & I can’t believe I’ve reached this many chapters!! I never would’ve imagined reaching this many chapters but now I’m like?? how many chapters will I be at when I’m finally done?? who knows!!
> 
> Also I wrote this while being super stressed bc online school HAHA but since school ends in basically 2 weeks, I’ll be able to write a lot more then.
> 
> Hope u guys enjoy!

**_ All The Right Moves (by One Republic)  
  
_ **

_ “All the right friends, in all the right places. So yeah we're going down . . .” _

  
  


* * *

The next morning came like a warm welcome to anyone who hadn’t been unfairly brainwashed the day before. Or, in Bethany’s case, it was the opposite. She _had_ been brainwashed the day before, and since she still was, the morning only brought her excitement.

It was the sound of a bell that woke her from her sleep, and she didn’t even feel grumpy about it like she normally would. As the other girls started to wake, Bethany pushed herself up to sit against her pillows. Already, things were perfect and peaceful. Birds sang from outside, louder than ever. The sun blazed outside the window, scorching the grass and simmering the summer camp in a haze.

Bethany couldn’t help looking forward to what today would bring. Her heart yearned for adventure, for anything remotely thrill-seeking. Would she earn some badges? Climb a tree? Go camping? The thought of it was enough to set her heart racing with excitement. This day would be _awesome_.

She’d only even awake for about ten seconds before the loudspeaker clicked on, and the camp director shouted, “Rise and shine, everyone! It’s going to be a _beautiful_ day!”

No one groaned, frowned, or even complained. From where she sat on the top bunk, Bethany noticed every single one of the girls grinning. Her included. Was there a better way to start today? She could try imagining one, but she was sure she wouldn’t come up with anything.

“Alright, girls!” said a camp counselor in their cabin, an upbeat woman named Katie. “Let’s get out of bed and get ready for breakfast!”

Every cabin in the summer camp had to have a camp counselor sleep there as well, to chaperone the campers. Bethany didn’t mind. She actually felt safer with the camp counselor in the cabin, guiding the girls around and instructing them on what activities they could do.

After changing into her Girl Scout uniform, Bethany joined the other girls at the door. Katie, the camp counselor, had set up a schedule that morning. They’d eat breakfast, go horse back-riding, paint banners, have lunch, play kickball, sell Girl Scout cookies, and eat dinner. After all that, they’d sing around the campfire. And _then_ they’d go to sleep.

Bethany liked having the schedule. It filled her with a type of certainty, knowing everything was planned out. Following the rules, sticking by them through everything — it was her thing. Of course, there might be times where they’d have activities she didn’t _want_ to do, but for now that’d never been the case.

And the summer camp didn’t just have that. It had even more activities piled up, a different schedule for each day. They had things here like swimming, gaga ball, arts and crafts, rock climbing, canoeing, dodgeball, softball, volleyball, and even capture the flag. It was impossible to get bored here.

The only activity she’d never done was horse back-ride, but it seemed like it’d be fun. She was sure she’d get the hang of it easily, too. It had to be just like riding a bike. A very large, hairy, _breathing_ bike. All it’d take was some practice, and hopefully she wouldn’t fall off on her first try.

After a quick breakfast, the camp counselor led Bethany and her bunkmates to the camp’s stables. The stables consisted of a small wooden barn, just on the other side of a lake. Before she’d even gone inside, Bethany could already smell the stench. Was it the smell of horses, or something else? She wrinkled her nose. Whatever it was, it smelled _bad_.

“Anyone know how to ride a horse?” Katie asked cheerfully as they walked inside. A couple of girls said yes or no, while Bethany just shook her head. She might not know how, but she was _so_ ready to learn.

“Okay,” the camp counselor said. “Well, it’s very easy!” She waved her hand. “Now, follow me to the back. All of your horses are already waiting for you.”

As they got to the back of the barn, there was an opening in the wall, which led to the outside world. A colorful field stretched beyond it, which rustled in the warm wind. Just like the camp counselor had said, there were about ten horses waiting next to the barn. A burst of excitement filled Bethany.

“Since I’m sure many of you are not experts, we’re only going to be walking through the woods today,” Katie told them as they walked across the field. “No cantering or galloping. We won’t be needing to go that fast anyway. Everyone is to stick together. Is that clear?”

Everyone nodded obediently, excitement dancing in their eyes. Appearing satisfied, the camp counselor smiled. “Good! Let’s get ready to go!”

Twenty minutes later, they were riding through the forest. Sitting on a horse was very strange to Bethany. For a while, she’d clutched the reins tightly, thinking she might fall off if she didn’t. Plus, she’d had a hard time steering it at first. But she’d gotten the hang of it, just like she thought she would.

And she’d been wrong. It wasn’t at _all_ like riding a bike.

Also, she loved walking through the forest. All of the colors seemed brighter here. The leaves were greener, the flowers more vivid, and every stream they passed seemed to sparkle like diamonds. Above her head, the sky was dusted with puffy white clouds.

Their pace was slow for a while, everyone being fairly close to each other. They were walking — practically in a straight line — across the forest‘s path. It was nice, but now that she’d been sitting on a horse for a while, Bethany already wanted to go faster. What had the camp counselor said, something about trotting? Whatever that was, it had to be a step-up from a regular walk.

Luckily, one of the other girls beat her to it. “Can we go a little faster?”

Katie glanced over at the girl, looking unsure at first. But she relented. “. . . Okay. You can go faster, but not _too_ fast. And don’t go anywhere off the path! And don’t go too far away from our group!”

Bethany’s eyes lit up as she watched some of the girls press their heels into their horses’ stomachs, making them go faster. Just like the camp counselor said, it hadn’t been _too_ much faster. And even though she was inexperienced, she wanted to try it. Especially now that Katie was allowing them to.

So, once Bethany had enough room in front of her, she kicked her heels like the other girls did. At first, her horse didn’t move. It only kept moving at a crawl. Her smile faltered. Maybe she had to kick it harder? Thinking this might be the smart decision, Bethany pressed her heels a few times into her horse’s stomach.

And suddenly, she was flying.

The impact sent butterflies flying through Bethany’s stomach. Eyes widening, she held on tightly to the reins, leaning her body forward like she’d seen professionals do in horse movies. She realized two things: one, she was going way faster than those other girls were, and two, despite being inexperienced and all, she _loved_ it.

Normally, Bethany would think she’d be terrified. But no, she was _never_ scared or worried here! It was kind of hard to feel terrified when she was having so much fun. Her hair blew back from her face, and Bethany grinned. She raced past her group and past the other girls up ahead.

Shouts of surprise followed behind her, but they all blended together. She didn’t care what they were saying; it was white noise in the background of her mission. Plus, with the wind and ringing in her ears, Bethany didn’t hear any of it. She just kept going, never wanting this moment to end.

Her horse seemed to know where it was going, which was good, because Bethany wasn’t sure how to navigate through the forest. Luckily, the horse stayed on the path, just like Katie had told them to. It probably was easier for the horse to move around, anyway, since the forest around them was dense and littered with trees.

As they rounded a corner, Bethany glanced over her shoulder to see that they’d lost the group. She beamed. Sure, she knew she’d have to slow down soon, but she wasn’t too far away, so getting back to them would be easy.

Her fingers still clenched to the reins, Bethany turned back just in time to see a branch coming for her head. Quickly, she ducked. She laughed as she straightened back up. That’d been close! She couldn’t imagine getting smacked in the head when she was going this fast — not that the idea really worried her.

Her heart racing happily, Bethany closed her eyes. The wind blew against her face, warm and reassuring. She wished she could ride through the forest all day, never looking back on reality. Just living in this wonderful dream forever, without a care in the—

Suddenly, she heard a loud neigh. Bethany’s eyes snapped open as her horse abruptly halted, raising its two front legs off the ground. Too surprised to hold on, Bethany fell backwards with a scream. The next thing she knew, she’d landed hard on her back. All of the wind knocked from her lungs.

What had _that_ been for? She slowly sat up. Her entire body was filled with pain, but it wasn’t that she was focused on. She stared, mouth open, as she watched the horse gallop back the way they’d come. Okay, that’d been weird. Clearly, it was agitated about something.

Then, she turned her head the other way, and she saw something completely unexpected. Through the trees, a fog was creeping in. But it wasn’t just any normal fog. Not only was it so thick that she couldn’t see through it, but it seemed to stretch all the way into the sky. _Weird._

For some reason, Bethany’s insides twisted at the sight of it. Out of confusion, she smiled. Her horse had run off because of that? If her body didn’t hurt so much, she might laugh. Now it’d take her longer just to get back to the group.

As she slowly stood up, dusting herself off, Bethany heard a voice. A girl’s voice.

“Bethany.”

Her smile faltered. She looked around, trying to see through the trees. She didn’t see anyone, though. It could’ve been a camp counselor somewhere, but it sounded too young to be one. Maybe it was a Girl Scout? Maybe she was hiding behind a tree or something?

“Bethany,” the voice repeated, louder this time. It sounded strangely familiar. “You have to get out of here!”

Bethany glanced around again. Where was that voice coming from? Was she going crazy?

“What . . . who is this?”

“Listen to me, okay? You‘re brainwashed! This isn’t where you’re meant to be. You need to let it go and come back to reality.”

“No,” she whispered. “Why would I be brainwashed? I’m not brainwashed! I’m actually really happy here—“

“No, this isn’t real happiness.” The voice grew more urgent. “Remember real happiness? Remember what life was like before now? Do you remember what hugging your father was like? Being with your friends? Jumping into books for fun?”

Bethany tried, for a moment, to remember. But after a second, she stopped. She didn’t care to think about her old life. That life hadn’t been good. It hadn’t brought her happiness, only pain! She’d had _so_ _much_ responsibility, and she’d always been in danger. At least now, she was safe, and life was exciting. This was how it always should be!

“All I care about is my life _now_ ,” Bethany said. “This place never makes me feel bad!”

“I know, and that’s a _great_ feeling. Being here might make you _think_ you’re happy, but it prevents you from saving the world. And if you don’t, a lot of people will die. Imagine what that would be like. Will you let all of that happen — just because you don’t want to leave this place?“

“No one is going to die!” Bethany said, almost laughing.

“Not everyone will, that’s true. But if you don’t snap out of it, Nobody will wipe out everything! Including the rest of your friends.”

She waved the voice off. “Who cares? I like being here! I’m always accepted for everything I do, and that’s something that’s never happened to me! I don’t care what you say! I’m staying here and you can’t make me leave!”

“You’re right,” the voice said, now sounding sad. “ _I_ can’t. But there are people counting on you, people who really love you. You can’t let them down.”

Bethany laughed. “People? _What_ people?”

“Your friends. Owen and Kiel are in danger.”

“My friends?” she whispered.

Owen and Kiel? The names formed images in her mind, immediately filling her with some sense of comfort. She’d shared memories with them, hadn’t she? Weren’t they just some Boy Scouts from the camp? Then, their images shifted. Their Boy Scout illusions fading, revealing a boy who knew magic and another, very normal boy. A boy who loved books. Her best friend.

Wait. Her best friend! _Owen!_

The realization almost knocked Bethany right off her horse. The fog in her head cleared, the good feeling zapping from her body. Her friends! How long had she been away from them? How long had she been _brainwashed_? And how could she let the pure possibility come this close?

It all came hurtling back to her. The pure possibility. Gwen and Orion vanishing. The rest of her friends ditching her, leaving her in the dark, without a clue of where they could be. And most of all, her horrible, horrible plan. Her horrible plan that had led to this, to getting brainwashed, to losing her friends, to her _enormous_ guilt.

And her friends, they were in danger. They’d been in danger ever since she’d brought them here. She felt horrified. What had she done?

Bethany didn’t speak. She wasn’t sure she could. Her hands and feet had turned to ice. It was like she was frozen, unable to do anything. All she could do was stare up at the pure possibility, her heart starting to race so fast that she couldn’t even think straight.

Just like that, the day was ruined before it had really begun.

And then, behind her, a voice called, “Catherine?”

She glanced over her shoulder to see the camp counselor sitting on her horse, her brows furrowed.

Oh, right. Bethany had told them her name was Catherine. She didn’t know why she had she just . . . _had_. The lie had slipped so easily out of her mouth. After all, that was the name she’d gone by when she first registered into the Girl Scouts camp. At least she’d still had the decency to lie about her name while being brainwashed.

“Where’s your horse?” Katie asked.

Bethany swallowed hard, her mouth so dry it tasted like sandpaper. “I-I’m not sure. It ran away.”

“You _let it_ —“ The camp counselor sighed deeply, only to wipe a smile across her face. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll get it back! I’m glad it ran off, anyway. These woods can be dangerous, you know? It was probably a sign.”

Bethany most definitely did not believe in signs or karma or any of that stuff. If karma was real, why did these bad things keep happening to her, her family, her friends? Why didn’t people like Nobody get what they deserved?

Maybe the karma was all for Bethany. She’d lost Gwen and Orion, so in return, she got brainwashed. She made a bad mistake, so she made another bad mistake. But either way, she wanted nothing to do with karma. It didn’t make any sense to her.

She got what the camp counselor was saying, though. If the horse hadn’t stopped, Bethany probably would be inside the pure possibility wave right now. And she never would’ve been un-brainwashed. Or heard that weird voice. Who’s had it been? She still didn’t know.

“Yeah, um, probably,” Bethany muttered, not sure what else to say.

“Why did you wander off?” the camp counselor asked. Bethany thought she heard disapproval in her voice. Only that. Not even concern.

Seeing her now made Bethany remember she’d been under their control. She’d been _brainwashed_. That made this place suddenly a lot scarier, but it was almost nothing compared to the fear the pure possibility gave her. Especially because it was right in front of her, ready to wipe out the world just like it’d wiped out Gwen and Orion.

“What?” Bethany said, hoping she didn’t look as panicked as she felt. She wiped her sweaty hands on her uniform. _Pull it together, Bethany._

The camp counselor shook her head at her. “From now on, no wandering off from the group. It’s against the rules, you should know that.”

She didn’t care about their rules.

She cared that she’d forgotten _hers_. 

* * *

With help of Kiel’s magic, finding a place to sleep had been surprisingly easy. Throughly exhausted, Owen and his friends had dragged themselves out of the Scouts’ jail. From there, Kiel had quickly built them a cabin — an exact replica of all the others — so they could sleep somewhere _other_ than the forest floor.

And another bonus? Owen remembered that every actual cabin had a camp counselor there to supervise the kids. After everything that had gone down last night, he never even wanted to _talk_ to a camp counselor again, much less sleep in the same room as one.

Brainwashing did wonders for changing your opinion about summer camps.

Because they were in the Girl Scouts camp, Kiel had also placed a simple disguise spell over him and Owen. Just so they wouldn’t get separated again. It’d been Kara who suggested it, and neither of the boys were super thrilled about pretending to be girls.

Before casting it, Kiel had modified the disguise spell, so only the people outside their friend group (aka, camp counselors and Scouts) could see it. He claimed it’d make it easier for them to recognize each other, although Owen figured Kiel had just wanted to keep looking like himself.

Still, Owen thought it was kind of cool. Maybe not as exciting as disguising himself as a boy magician, but it was pretty close. Last time he’d pretended to be someone else was when he’d disguised himself as Kiel, and he’d had to actually _pretend_ to be Kiel. To know his mannerisms by heart, which luckily, Owen did.

In this case, Owen was glad he could still be himself. Just . . . a much happier version, since they’d also made sure to act like they were in good moods. Another way to avoid getting brainwashed again. And above all, Owen hated the idea of _that_ happening again.

That wasn’t all that was bothering him, though. Before he’d gone to sleep last night, it’d hit him. If Kiel — the only one who’d truly known where Bethany had been — hadn’t been able to find her in time, then it might already be too late. The world was supposed to end today, and as it was, they needed a plan for how to stop it.

But Owen didn’t _want_ another plan. He didn’t want to do this without Bethany, Gwen and Orion. But what choice did they have? Time was running out! All Owen wanted to do was keep searching for them. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t stop until he was hugging his best friend again.

Speaking of Bethany, Owen asked, “Are you sure you don’t remember _anything_ about her?”

He and Kiel were sitting at a table in the dining hall. Kara and Charm were still in the long line to get food. He looked down at his plate, an assortment of deliciously-smelling breakfast food. Despite almost feeling too anxious to eat, Owen had decided to get food anyway, knowing he might not get a chance to eat later (when, you know, the world was about to end. That kind of thing).

He’d kind of expected the summer camp to have mediocre food, like the school cafeterias did. But surprisingly, it was the opposite. The food was warm and tasty, and last time he’d actually had food this good was during the last meal his mom had cooked for him, before their town got destroyed.

In the middle of eating some oatmeal, Kiel looked at him. ”Owen, this is the tenth time you’ve asked me this. I really don’t know who she is!”

“And you’re not making a joke?”

He snorted. “If I were would I keep telling you the same answer? And wouldn’t I have told you it was a joke by now?”

“I don’t know!” Owen said. “That’s the thing, maybe you didn’t! Please, I just _need_ you to say if this is a joke! Because we haven’t even found Bethany yet and you forgot all about her and how are we going to explain to her what happened?!”

His friend frowned, but Owen could tell he looked a little guilty. “Stop freaking out, okay? I’m sorry, but I don’t remember her. There’s nothing else I can say.”

Owen felt like banging his head on the table. “This _can’t_ be happening.”

“Hey, it isn’t so bad!” Kiel tapped his hand on Owen’s arm. “At least I didn’t forget who _I_ was.” He winked. “That’d be so much worse, right?”

“No!” Owen’s face began to heat up once he realized what he’d said, and he quickly added, “ _Yes_ , I mean, no — ugh— Kiel, if this is a joke it isn’t funny.”

“It’s not a joke!”

“But it . . . but it _has_ to be . . .” Owen put his head in his hands, groaning. “I knew this was a dumb idea. I never should’ve let you use that spell!”

“What spell?”

“Wha— you don’t remember even _that_?” He looked up, bewildered. At the confused look on Kiel’s face, Owen shook his head. “Never-mind. You used a pretty dangerous spell. A soul-connecting spell.”

“Wow.” Kiel grinned a little. “I’m impressed!”

“About what?”

“Oh, I’m just impressed with myself. I remember the Magister casting that, and he’s even more powerful than I am.” He chuckled, lifting a cup of water to his mouth. “ _Obviously_ I cast it perfectly, or else it wouldn’t have worked so well.”

“Um, no. No, you really didn’t.”

“Well, it worked, didn’t it? Wouldn’t I have told you guys where this girl was once I got out of the spell?”

“Yeah, you were about to,” Owen said. “And then we got taken to the Scouts’ jail, so I had no idea that . . . that _any_ of this was going on. But Kara said you told her where Bethany was, and something about not being able to say her name.”

“Oh,” Kiel said, his voice growing quiet. “Yeah, I . . . don’t remember that, either.”

Owen nodded. He felt sick. Like, throw-up sick. It was to the point where he wasn’t even sure he could eat anymore, because of how stressed out he was. He glanced down at his plate, pushing it away for the moment. All he could think about right now was Bethany. The look on her face when he’d have to tell _her_ what happened.

One thing was for sure. Bethany was totally blaming _him_ for this. Both him _and_ Kiel. And Owen was tired of messing everything up, just digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole. He was tired of letting everybody down.

“So.” Kiel took another bite of oatmeal, his appetite much more intact than Owen’s was. “Anything I should know about this girl, in case we run into her?”

“Bethany,” Owen said quietly. “Her name is _Bethany_.”

“Right . . . Bethany.”

Owen shifted in his seat. He felt weird to tell Kiel about Bethany. What was he supposed to say? He could tell Kiel everything he knew about their relationship, but he didn’t know every detail. He didn’t know what they talked about or did, all those times they hung out without him. And that had been a _lot_ of times.

“I don’t know,” he began. “I mean, you guys are — _were_ — best friends. The three of us are. Um, you guys met when I accidentally set the Magister _and_ you loose into the real world. You guys fought the Magister when he turned evil.”

Kiel looked confused. “I thought I did that by myself.”

Owen shook his head. “But then after she stuck him in a math book and you guys rescued me, we started jumping into books together. Remember how she’s half-fictional?”

“Yeah, uh, that means she can fall into books?”

“Jump into books, yeah! Also, she never read your books. You should know that. And she doesn’t really like to have fun — it’s not really her thing! Also, for a while we were helping her look for her dad, but turns out he was a villain in the Doc Twilight comics—“

“You told me that last night.”

“Oh, right. Um, she’s kind of a superhero on the side, even though she doesn’t even read any superhero comics! She has these really cool shapeshifting powers and she uses them to fight crime and stuff. You guys used to jump into books without inviting me. You did that a lot.”

“Why?”

Owen shrugged. “I thought you guys just wanted to spend alone time. I thought you might’ve had a crush on her or something.” He quickly looked away. “Anyway, when she got split in half by Nobody, you created this spell to go to my world. Really ironic — she didn’t remember who _you_ were back then.”

“Wow, that _is_ ironic!” Kiel said. “Wait . . . why didn’t she remember me?”

“Oh, her nonfictional half didn’t remember anything about the fictional world. That’s why she didn’t remember you.” Owen paused, almost out of breath from talking so fast. “You sure there’s _nothing_ you remember about her?”

Kiel paused, looking lost-in-thought for a moment. Then, he shook his head. “She sounds like a great person, but no.”

“Awesome,” Owen said faintly. Gosh, what _was_ he gonna tell Bethany? Considering they even found her and their other friends, which at this point, might never happen.

He wasn’t sure what else to say, so he picked up his fork and started eating his assortment of waffles and eggs. He’d wanted to get pancakes, too, but Kara had promised to share her’s with him. He just hoped she wouldn’t put syrup all over his and make _him_ eat it with his hands, too. He’d eaten breakfast with her a few times — mostly back in the time prison — and it was like she’d never learned to eat pancakes with a fork!

“Funny seeing _you_ guys here,” Kara said, coming up to their table at that moment. She pretended to look shocked. “What are the chances we’d be at the same summer camp, eating breakfast at the same time in the same place?”

Owen smiled weakly. “Probably rare.”

She smiled back. She sunk into the seat across from Owen, her short hair bouncing in synchronization. Her tray of food slammed into the table with a light _thud_. Owen wasn’t surprised to find nothing but pancakes on her plate. Weirdly, he’d expected it.

“Here.” She pushed her tray close to Owen’s and grabbed the pancake at the top of the stack, moving it onto his plate.

“Wait!” Owen exclaimed. “Not on the—“

It was too late. The pancake was big enough that it covered all of his eggs and waffles. He stared down at his plate, watching as the pancake bent and broke down the middle. So much for keeping his food neatly separated.

“Plate,” he finished. He glanced up to see Kara smiling guiltily at him.

“Oops. Sorry.” She picked up a bottle of syrup, hovering it over his food. “Want some?”

“No, I’m good,” Owen said quickly, trying but failing to separate the pancake and the waffle.

Kiel gestured to his food. “Why don’t you just eat all of it at once?”

“I — _what_? I can’t mix it!”

He laughed. “Well, you can’t get the pancake off your plate, either.”

Owen glared at him. “Just eat your oatmeal.”

“Sure thing, Detective Conners.”

“ _What_?”

“Detective Conners?” Kara exclaimed, suddenly grinning. He turned to see a rolled-up pancake in her hand, looking entirely too syrupy. She was already halfway done eating it.

“He was interrogating me about that girl I’m supposed to remember,” Kiel said, acting like he was annoyed about it or something. Owen was shocked. If Kiel _really_ knew just how important Bethany had been to him, he’d stop acting like he didn’t care.

“Good!” Kara said, and Owen felt satisfaction at the look on Kiel’s face. “We need to try jogging your memory back before we find Bethany.” She looked at Owen, cracking a smile. “Thanks, Detective Conners.”

Owen stared, mouth open, as both Kara and Kiel started cracking up. “I’m not a detective! I hate mysteries! I’m not even _close_ to being a detective!“

Kiel snickered. “Whatever you say, detective.”

“Yeah, keep grilling him with questions, detective!” Kara said with a grin, poking him with a syrupy finger. Owen made a face, leaning out of her reach. She took another bite of her pancake. “Seriously though, keep grilling him.”

Owen grimaced. “Already on it. And please don’t call me ‘detective’. Can’t you call me Spider-Man or something? Or Luke Skywalker? Or _anything_ cooler than that?”

“No,” they both said, sharing another chuckle.

“But maybe we could, if you start swinging off of buildings or flying spaceships!” Kiel added with a wink. “Well, uh, there aren’t any buildings here, but maybe you could swing from the trees! Like that Tarzan guy who lived in the jungle.”

“I’d have to get bitten by a radioactive spider _first_ ,” Owen said thoughtfully. “Like Peter Parker did.”

Man, what he’d give to be bitten by a radioactive spider right about now. Having Spider-Man’s powers against Nobody? Not only would that be awesome, but that would help Owen win for _sure_. He’d have superhuman strength, all the endurance he needed, Spider-Sense, and best of all — web-shooters!

If he had Spider-Sense, though, Owen had to admit he wouldn’t even be here right now. It would’ve warned him of the incoming danger _ages_ ago, another thing that would’ve been helpful before Bethany, Gwen, and Orion had vanished.

Maybe this was why he always messed stuff up and got thrown into dangerous situations. He just needed to get himself a Spider-Sense.

“ _That’s_ how he got his powers?” Kiel asked, looking surprised. “I thought he got it from the sun.”

“No.” Owen shook his head. “That’s Superman. He can fly. Kinda like how Gwen gets her superpowers, actually!”

“Wow, I thought she got her’s from eating a spider,” Kara said, completely straight-faced.

Owen turned to stare at her in disbelief. “W-Wha—“

Suddenly, Kara laughed. “Kidding. If that’s how you get powers in comic books, I’d probably get mine from eating a spider.”

Owen felt uncomfortable at that idea. “Or . . . you could just be _born_ with your powers. Like, there’s Jericho, the Flash, Wonder Woman — they were born with theirs.”

Kara took another bite of her pancake. “Nah, eating a spider sounds cooler. A _time-traveling_ spider.”

Owen cringed. “How can you eat when you’re talking about eating _spiders_?”

She shrugged. “Once you’ve seen as much as I have, it really doesn’t effect you.“

“It affects _me_!”

Kara smiled warmly at him. “Well that’s because you don’t know what you’re missing, Owen Conners.”

Owen blushed, though he wasn’t sure if it was from her words or from the way she’d smiled at him just now.

“I’m not missing _anything_.” He glanced at Kiel, deciding to throw the spotlight on him again. “And we should get back to the real issue here. I still wish there was some way we could recover your memories. There’s gotta be, right?”

“Didn’t you try the remembering spell?” a voice asked, and they turned to see Charm walking up to their table. Instead of a tray like the rest of them, she held only a small bowl of fruit. She sat down beside Kara, not even touching her food. She was staring pointedly at Kiel.

“Wait, there’s a remembering spell?” Owen asked. “This whole time there was a remembering spell, and we could’ve _used_ it by now?”

He gave up trying to separate the pancakes from the eggs and waffles. Like Kiel had suggested, he took a piece of what looked like all three and shoved it in his mouth.

Kiel finished chewing before he spoke. “Yeah, I’ve thought about using it.”

“So why didn’t you tell us about it?“

“Because the spell requires me to be close to whatever I’ve forgotten. So in this case, I’d kind of need to be next to this girl — sorry, _Bethany_ — while I cast it.”

“Oh. _Ohhh_.”

_Shoot._ That obviously wasn’t going to work, not unless they ran into Bethany. They’d used the location spell, the soul-connecting spell — they knew she, Gwen, and Orion were here _somewhere_. Why did this have to be such a mystery? Why couldn’t Owen just find them? The forget spell seemed so easy to cast. So why couldn’t the remembering spell be just as simple? 

“See? _This_ is why magic is unhelpful,” Charm said. “If I gave you a memory chip, or some shockwaves, I could restore your memory in seconds. Whether or not Bethany was here!”

Kiel frowned. “A memory chip? Do you even have one on you?”

“I have my _own_ , but no way am I giving that to you!” She picked up an apple and bit into it. “Also, there are tons on my ship. I could easily have gotten one if we were there.”

Owen sighed wistfully. “I miss the _Scientific Method_.” He blinked, realizing everyone was staring at him. Including Charm, who was only glaring at him. “I-I mean — yeah! It would have that! But uh, Kiel’s magic would work best as long as we find Bethany.“

“Yeah, that shouldn’t be hard,” Kara said. “I know she’s here, she’s probably just brainwashed.”

“Bethany wouldn’t get brainwashed,” Owen protested. He gestured at the unfortunate campers around them. “I mean, look at them! They don’t worry about anything, and Bethany worries about _everything_.”

“Okay, now you’re making her sound like a downer,” Kiel said. “I’m starting to think we weren’t friends! I don’t like downers.”

“Trust me, you like her. _Liked_ her. Whatever,” Owen said. “She just doesn’t have fun very often. Also, it’s kinda hard to imagine her having fun in a place like this . . . all the time.”

“Well, yeah!” Kara nodded. “Brainwashed people don’t have control over their own brains, so she probably doesn’t know the difference.”

“Right, but that’s only _if_ she’s brainwashed. She’s Bethany. She couldn’t be!”

Because if she was, if Gwen and Orion were too, he’d feel even worse than he did. It didn’t help that Owen was basically powerless to help them. If he found them, he’d have to be incredibly lucky. And knowing Owen, who messed everything up? He had to be the unluckiest person in the world!

“I wouldn’t give her that much credit,” Charm said. “The only person who wouldn’t get brainwashed is Gwen. She’d easily blend in here because of her natural ability to be happy.” She glanced at Kiel. “Aside from well, Kiel.”

Kiel leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, that’s true. And I’m too awesome to get brainwashed, anyway!”

“But not too awesome to lose your memories, apparently.”

“What’s so bad about it? It’s not like it’s the end of the world.”

Owen groaned. Okay, that was it with the _I don’t care I lost my memories_ and the _who’s Bethany?’s_! Owen felt the urge to stand up, take Kiel’s oatmeal, and pour it on his head. But before he could even consider it, his eyes landed on Kara, and the idea washed away.

He watched as she glanced over her shoulder, an uneasy look settling across her face. He was about to ask what was wrong, only for her to open her mouth. “Speaking of the world ending, I’ve been thinking a lot about it today. And I think I have an idea of how to stop it.”

Owen’s eyes widened. “Wait, really?”

Kiel leaned forward. “If it includes danger, I’m in!”

Kara smiled. “ _Definitely_.”

Owen watched as she pulled the broken pieces of her time bracelet out of her pocket. A pang of guilt hit him, knowing he was partly the reason why her time bracelet had gotten destroyed.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” Kara said. “Listen up.”

“This won’t get us all killed, will it?” Charm said dryly.

“No, and it’ll include _science_!” Kara said. That was enough to make Charm look as interested as Kiel. “I was thinking . . . maybe I should try fixing my time bracelet.” She smiled a bit, glancing down at her hand. “I have all the pieces with me, and a working time bracelet is always better than a broken one.”

“True,” Kiel said.

Kara reached over, tapping Owen on the arm, despite the fact that he was already staring at her. “So, okay, remember how the Countess’s glove works?”

Owen nodded, feeling almost sick as he remembered it. “Yeah, of course I remember. She tried to kill me with it!”

“And remember what it does?”

“Reverses a person’s age, right?”

“Yeah.” Kara seemed to grow excited. _“What if_ we can make the time bracelet do the same thing? Instead of just using it to send people backwards and forwards through time, what if we can reduce the pure possibility’s time somehow? Send it backward in time, so it’ll shrink.”

“That’s . . . a genius plan,” Charm said, nodding along. “And it’s been a while since I’ve had a scientific challenge! Should take us a few hours.”

“ _Hours_?” Owen‘s eyes widened. “When you made Gwen that jetpack, gave Bethany shapeshifting powers and me time powers, that took _minutes_! _And_ we were under attack from the shadows!”

“This is time travel,” Charm told him, rolling her eyes. “The formulas are trickier. It takes—“

“Time?” Kiel interjected. Owen couldn’t help but grin at him.

Charm leaned over, hitting him hard on the arm.

“Hey!”

“The good thing is, it shouldn’t take as long with two of us working on it,” Kara said. “With my knowledge of my time bracelet and your skills with science, I think we can pull this off!”

Owen found himself getting excited. Of all their plans, this actually sounded like a good one. Reversing time would replace everything the pure possibility had destroyed, right? Or would it just create some kind of paradox? 

Either way, if they had time to fix the time bracelet, they would have more than just a few hours to save the world. He remembered Kara telling him that the destruction of the universe _always_ happened in her world, no matter how far back she went in time. But this could really work! It could help to save all the worlds.

Owen looked down at the time bracelet, then back up at Kara. “Are you sure this is gonna work?”

“Nope! But if it does, we might have a way to reverse the effects of the pure possibility.”

“But what would happen to the parts of the world that have already been taken by pure possibility? And the people who’ve vanished — would they come back?”

Kara shrugged. “I don’t know. I _hope_ so.” She nudged Charm. “So, what do you think? Wanna help me rebuild the time bracelet?”

“I’ll help,” Charm said. “Mostly because you’d get nowhere without me.”

“What am I going to do?” Kiel asked. “Sit around and be awesome?”

“No. You’ll keep watch while we build it.”

“What?” He frowned. “But I have magic! That is extremely helpful, and you _know_ it! Remember that time when we were in the future? Our time machine had been destroyed by Dr. Verity’s great-great-grandson, but then we _embraced_ the bad to find the good!”

“Okay, what’s your point?” Charm snapped. “You never make any sense!”

“No, keep going,” Owen said, partly because he loved hearing this story, and partly because he wanted to see where Kiel was going with this. Usually, some kind of advice came out of these stories.

“Thank you, Owen,” Kiel told him with a smile. “We realized that if we changed the _future’s_ future, someone would eventually come along to stop us. So started messing up everything we could, and next thing we knew, the future’s version of the time police came along to fix things. As soon as they were distracted, we stole _their_ time machine and used it to get back to the present!”

Kara stared at him, looking impressed. “Wow! That is some A-plus time travel crime.”

“Thanks.” Kiel winked. “It was all my idea.”

“That’s not relevant,” Charm said, her voice laced with annoyance. “And I don’t even see how that has anything to do with this. You just made fun of the bad guys while I did all the work.”

Kiel put a hand to his chest. “Actually, _I_ did most of the work. It’s okay if you don’t want to admit it! I know it’s hard for you to admit how amazing I am.” He winked.

“I _will_ ray gun you,” she grumbled, as Owen stifled his laughter. He noticed Kara trying not to smile, too, which made his own smile grow.

“I think your magic could still be helpful!” Owen told Kiel. “What about for rebuilding the time bracelet? Couldn’t that fix it in seconds?”

“It _could_ mend it back together, but it might not have the accuracy that science has,” Charm said.

Kiel shook his head. “I could cast a spell to return it to its original state. That’s accurate enough!”

“How about this.” Kara placed her elbows on the table, folding her arms together. “What if we use both magic _and_ science to fix it?”

Owen found himself grinning. “That’s exactly what Magisteria and Quanterium should be doing! A mix of both! Like in the five years later epilogue in the seventh Kiel—“ He flushed. “I mean, um—“

“ _What_?” Charm said.

“Nothing,” Owen said quickly, not wanting to spoil the epilogue of the Kiel Gnomenfoot books. Even if knowing about it might not change anything. “But magic and science can accomplish a lot together. You guys have seen that. You’ve been working together for years, right?”

“Yeah,” Kiel said with a shrug. “Magic naturally makes everything better, so I guess I’m good with that.”

Reluctantly, Charm nodded. “Okay. Alright, fine. I’m not saying magic would be useful, but I guess it would . . . make the process faster.”

The boy magician grinned. “Of course it would!”

“Right.” She didn’t look too happy about it, but she didn’t argue any more. “Anyway, whatever I see gets saved in the robotic half of my brain.” She tapped her forehead. “I can help rebuild the bracelet, or at least a close approximation of it. Really, all we need to do is get the parts back together. But it might only work once.”

“Once is enough,” Kara said. “And once it _is_ fixed, we need somewhere with a lot of electricity to power it. And not too much, just enough to not overload it. Somewhere with a ton of electricity, like, um . . .”

“Power lines?” Owen suggested, blurting out the first thing that came to his head.

She grinned at him. “Perfect.”

* * *

As it turned out, gathering materials to rebuild to the time bracelet wasn’t as hard as Kara had thought.

Okay, sure, it’d be easier if they were in her own world. A _lot_ easier. Or, just somewhere that had a lot of science in general. But they’d found alternatives. First, by going to the other place that might have some helpful tools, a place that was easy to sneak into: the arts and crafts room.

The only problem had been all the kids who were already inside. A little over a dozen Girl Scouts were in there, working on arts and crafts of all kinds. The smell of paint filled the air, accompanied by laughter. It looked relaxing. Kara almost wanted to sit down and join them.

That is, if the world wasn’t about to get destroyed. Every time she thought about it, she felt a familiar knot in her stomach. The same voice in her head, telling her that in a few hours, it’d end how it always did. With the world crashing and burning around her.

And of course, she’d try to help everyone. To save everyone. But not everyone wanted to be saved. Or they did, but not by _her_. After all, who’d want the most destructive person in the universe saving them?

And then, she’d hear Owen’s voice, telling her the opposite. Pouring sense into her brain, like when he’d managed to convince her that all of this was Nobody’s fault. Or, when he’d told her that she wasn’t a monster. He didn’t get it, she’d told herself. Though he seemed to understand more than she thought.

Somehow, he saw something different that Kara didn’t see in herself. He was too good for her, she’d always known that. But even if he didn’t realize it, his talks _really_ helped. Replacing all her bad beliefs with hopeful ones . . . he was the only person who’d ever done that for her. Even if he wasn’t actually saying it, she imagined the words. It helped her to listen to him. Or she tried to, anyway.

So, despite the end-of-the-world hanging over her like a dark cloud, Kara tried focusing on the positive. What she _could_ do. She was glad she’d come up with the idea to fix her time bracelet. She’d never actually used it to transport an _object_ back in time. Or, whatever the pure possibility was.

The idea gave her hope. And that was a first. Kara didn’t remember the last time she’d had hope when thinking of the world ending, but she did now. If they got rid of the pure possibility, no worlds would be wiped out. Nobody wouldn’t be able to recreate the fictional worlds, either.

Kara only could hope their plan would work. It was probably the craziest one she’d had, but it wasn’t like she was running away or locking herself into time prison to solve all her problems. She was taking _action_. And action felt really, really good.

Thankfully, Kiel had an easy time getting rid of the Scouts. He’d yelled, “there’s a famous magician outside!” and all of the campers had raced out the door. If Kara hadn’t laughed so much, she might’ve jokingly told them the only famous magician here was Kiel. But that’d ruin the distraction, and they only had a little time before people came back inside.

Right away, they got to work.

Well, her and Charm got to work. As for Kiel and Owen, they were standing guard outside. Since neither of them knew how to fix a time bracelet, both Kara and Charm decided it’d be best for them to do something else. Something helpful. That way, the boys could warn them in case any camp counselor tried coming inside.

“You see a screwdriver anywhere?” Charm asked as she pulled out each cubby, looking through it before tossing it to the side, ultimately deciding that nothing inside was helpful.

“Nope,” Kara said. “One second! I’ll look.”

While Charm started looking for tools, Kara had cleared one of the tables so they could work on it. She’d laid the broken parts of her time bracelet onto it, some of which were large chunks while other pieces were tiny. She’d started organizing the pieces, trying to figure out where each part connected.

It was a puzzle, exactly like the types she used to play when she was bored. Except now, Kara was building a time bracelet and not an actual game. And she had an idea of where each piece went. She remembered where the buttons had been — luckily _those_ had all been intact, so at least they didn’t need to be glued back together.

Once they got the main pieces more or less together, Kiel was going to cast a spell to rebuild the rest of it. Charm hadn’t been into that idea, but that was only because she’d wanted to rebuild all of it herself. Kara knew they didn’t have much time, so they’d have to use both science _and_ magic to fix the bracelet.

The only problem would be getting the bracelet to stay intact once it was fixed. In the past when Kara had managed to fix her time bracelets, they hadn’t worked for very long after that. Charm was right; given how broken the time bracelet was now, it might only work once or twice. So it’d need to count.

Kara glanced up as Charm slammed materials down on the table. An assortment of superglue, tiny screws, paintbrushes, a few wires, and clay. Lastly, two safety goggles, one of which was already on Charm’s head. The goggles looked funny on her, making her eyes seem bug-like. Spider-like? Ha.

Charm handed one to Kara, who immediately slid it over her eyes. As someone who usually didn’t take her own safety into consideration, Kara wasn’t used to wearing safety goggles. The strap pulled at her hair a little too much, but other than that, it was pretty comfortable. And it made her feel like a scientist.

“Okay, we can work with this,” Kara said, trying to feel more optimistic than she did. It didn’t look promising, but it helped that she and Charm were working together on this. And Kiel’s magic would take care of the rest of it.

Charm nodded. “It’d be better if we had more wires and diodes to hold it together, but whatever. Let’s get started.” She projected various holographic screens in midair, which showed pictures of Kara’s time bracelet at different angles.

Kara pointed at it, a small smile forming on her face. “That’s _really_ cool. How are you doing that?”

Charm shrugged. “The robotic half of my brain allows me to project any images from my memories.”

“That’s useful,” Kara muttered. She glanced up at the holographic images, then reached for two of the largest pieces. “Okay. These have to go together _really_ carefully. Any piece that’s out of place could mess things up for us when we time travel. Like, fatally.”

Charm shook her head. “I’m not concerned. Time travel isn’t that hard to figure out.” One of her robotic fingers popped open, revealing a tiny wielding torch. Holding two smaller pieces in her hand, she used it to carefully mend them together.

Kara reached for a bundle of wire. After lining them up to their correct spots, she carefully starting to wrap the pieces together. “It’s important, though! You know the theory of relativity?”

Charm scoffed. “Are you kidding? Of course I know it.”

“Okay, good. Well, there’s a lot more to time travel than just that. Since we’re being effected by gravity and speed and space at three-dimensional—“

“I _know_ , Kara. A single miscalculation could mess it up, but I won’t be making any miscalculations.” Glancing at the pink-haired girl, Charm pushed her goggles further around her eyes. “Can we work in silence, please? I don’t like to have distractions when I’m working.”

Kara nodded, her short hair moving with her. “Sure.” She went back to wrapping the parts. “This is just . . . cool! I’m just not used to having someone to fix time bracelets with. Or talk about science with. Except for well, my future selves.”

“Me neither,” Charm muttered, after a short time of neither of them speaking. “Kiel can never understand science. Only my family did.” As she said the last sentence, Charm’s brows immediately furrowed. A frown traced her lips.

By that, Kara sensed, they weren’t alive anymore. She opened her mouth, maybe to ask what’d happened to them, but she didn’t want to offend Charm.

So, instead, she said, “You know, time travel is really helpful for making the present better. By changing the bad things that happened in the past.” She shrugged. “That’s something I could never do for myself, since I’m immune to paradoxes.”

Charm‘s shoulders tensed. “But you can’t change things. It can’t be _that_ easy.”

Kara only shrugged in response. The next minutes ticked by, going by incredibly slow as they hurried to fix the time bracelet. The conversation between them died, and they only broke the silence to debate where a certain piece was supposed to go.

In her mind, the process seemed to take forever. But it would’ve taken much longer if just Kara had been working on it. With Charm’s help, it must’ve just been ten or fifteen minutes that they’d fixed it together. Once they’d connected the pieces that _could_ be connected, the girls sat back, analyzing it.

All in all, the time bracelet was definitely still broken and there were only a few pieces that they’d managed to stick together. But that should be enough to hold it, at least for a while. And with Kiel’s magic, the time bracelet would be completely whole again.

Walking to the door, Kara poked her head outside and inhaled deeply. Someone must’ve been toasting marshmallows, because a slightly sweet, slightly burnt smell hung in the air. This camp clearly didn’t get the memo that campfires were usually a nighttime thing. Then again, this camp _also_ didn’t get the memo about free will. Must’ve been a coincidence.

She glanced around, taking only a second to spot Owen and Kiel on the front steps of the Scouts’ jail. They were talking about something; Kara thought she might’ve heard Owen say something about magic, but she couldn’t pick it up from where she was standing. She cleared her throat, and the boys turned.

“Hey,” Kara said. “We finished building the time bracelet. Well, most of it, anyway.” She nodded at Kiel. “We need you to fix the rest with magic!”

“Great!” Kiel said, standing up. “I was starting to think you’d be in there forever.” He brushed past Kara in the doorway, and she heard him say something along those lines to Charm.

Owen nodded. “Me too.” He met Kara’s eyes, only to grin and point at her face. “Nice goggles.”

_Oops_. She’d forgotten to take those off.

“Thanks,” Kara said. “I made them in time prison.”

“Wait, really?”

She laughed. “No.” 

With that, she followed Kiel inside, Owen right at her heels. She entered the room just in time to see Kiel murmuring a spell, his wand-knives balanced in his fingers. He must’ve already learned the spell beforehand to prepare for this.

Kara watched, fascinated, as the time bracelet levitated off the ground, as well as the tiny pieces that hadn’t been glued to it yet. The time bracelet vibrated and shifted, the pieces moving in certain directions. Clicking sounds filled the air as the time bracelet mended itself together, until it looked exactly like it had originally.

Except now, since Kara had modified it, there were a few new changes. By wrapping bands around it, she’d added more thickness to the time bracelet, to ensure it’d have a harder time breaking again. She’d also added a few new buttons, which would hopefully work for changing the time of a specific object. Aka, the pure possibility.

Once the spell was finished, the time bracelet floated gently back to the table it’d been sitting on. Eagerly, Kara reached for it. She picked it up, turning it over it her hands. “It looks amazing. Like it was never broken in the first place!”

“See what magic and science can accomplish together?” Kiel said, winking at Charm.

The half-robotic girl sighed. “So. About getting it to work, you said something about power lines?”

Kara looked up. “Yeah. The electricity from it should be enough to power it up. I can go—“

“Wait, isn’t the pure possibility out there?” Owen said, interrupting her.

She stared at him. “Yeah. You were there, Owen.” She nudged him with her shoulder. “I think you almost fainted when you saw it.”

His face reddened, but he quickly corrected himself. “No, I mean — it could be a lot closer to wherever the power lines are, and it’s not like you have a weapon to defend yourself with . . . in case anything happens.”

“Owen’s right,” Charm said. “Neither of you should go. You’re pretty useless right now in a fight.”

“What?” Kara said, unable to help feeling offended. “I could still fight!”

The half-robotic girl raised an eyebrow. “With what, your immunity to paradoxes and your leg, which is still not healed all the way?”

“She has a point!” Kiel said. “No offense, Kara.” He glanced at Owen. “You too, Owen. You have a broken arm, so, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Owen said, making a face. “But then, if me and Kara are staying here then what’re we going to do?”

Kara chewed on her lip. “We’ll need to create some kind of distraction, so no one notices the electricity.”

“Would it be that noticeable?”

“Yeah. Since it’s a lot being powered all at once, it could be really bright and loud, and we’d attract a _lot_ of attention.”

Kiel winked. “Hopefully the good kind of attention.” Putting his wand-knives away, he glanced back at Charm. “So, I guess it’s just you and me, then!”

“What?” Charm shook her head, looking against the idea. “No, I’m going alone. You would just slow me down.”

“No way! You think I’m letting you handle this by yourself?”

“You _should_. You don’t know how to power up a time bracelet with electricity. You don’t know anything about how to do this!”

“True,” he said. “But I have magic to help us out, which, by the way, has helped you how many times? That’s right! _Thousands_.” He smiled. “I’m coming, no matter what you say.”

Charm muttered something unintelligible.

* * *

Weirdly enough, it felt just like before. Like when Bethany, Orion, and Gwen had gone away to destroy the stone. But at the same time, saying goodbye to Kiel and Charm felt different. They’d planned it out, had decided exactly where they’d go and what they’d do.

Somehow, Owen felt slightly better about this. Only slightly. While earlier he’d felt _really_ good about this plan, there was always a catch. What if they didn’t make it? What if this was the last time he saw Kiel and Charm? After worrying sick about his other friends, the last thing Owen wanted was for that to happen.

So, they’d planned ahead. They’d get to the closest power line, and they’d head back as soon as they were done. If the pure possibility got close to them, that’s when they’d use Kiel’s teleportation button to bring them back. That was the only reason Owen felt slightly better, knowing they definitely had a way back.

Plus, Kiel and Charm were some of the most capable, heroic people he knew. Especially Kiel. So Owen knew nothing bad could happen while Kiel was around — not when he always had everything handled. In fact, he shouldn’t worry so much. He was starting to sound like Bethany!

They’d be back, because they were Kiel Gnomenfoot and Charm Mentum. He had faith in them. If it came to that, they survived every near death experience. And Kiel always came out of the most dangerous situations making jokes, so who was he kidding? They weren’t _totally_ invincible, Owen knew, but they were close to it.

After packing up the stuff they needed for the quest (which wasn’t much), the friends gathered outside the arts and crafts cabin. Owen’s throat tightened as he looked at Kiel and Charm, just two more friends he’d have to say goodbye to. It made his stomach do somersaults, just to think that the same thing that happened to their other friends could happen to them. Whatever _had_ happened to their other friends.

“So! This is it,” Kiel said. He was standing in front of Owen, Charm at his side. Out of all of them, he looked the most excited. Probably because he was ready to jump into danger, something that was right up his alley.

Owen threw his arms around him. “ _Please_ be careful.”

Kiel squeezed him a bit tighter. Kiel always hugged him tight, and it gave Owen a sense of security, of confidence. When he pulled away, Owen felt a little more hopeful.

“No need to worry about me!” Kiel said. “I’m _always_ careful.”

Owen shook his head. “Not really. But then again, if you were careful, you’d be a _lot_ less cool.”

Kiel grinned. “That’s the spirit!”

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Charm said. She took a deep breath, her eyes on Owen. “If you get brainwashed again, I’ll seriously ray gun you in the face. Got it?”

Owen laughed nervously. “Got it! Um, good luck.”

She smiled, something Owen thought he’d never see directed at him again. “I don’t need luck. I just need science.”

“And magic!” Kiel added.

“That, I _don’t_ need.”

“She actually does,” Kiel whispered to Owen, who nodded, still smiling. “She just has trouble admitting it.”

“I know,” Owen whispered back.

Charm gave them a look. “I heard that.”

She leaned into the doorway of the cabin, knocking sharply on the wall with her human hand. Owen winced. Even if she’d just knocked with her human hand, he couldn’t imagine it not hurting. Splinters were easy to get, especially when you were knocking on wood.

“Kara!” Charm shouted. “You got the time bracelet?”

“Yep! Just had to make some minor tweaks with the buttons,” came Kara’s voice. A moment later, she walked around the corner, holding the time bracelet in her hands. To Owen’s amusement, there were rims over her face from where the goggles had been.

She handed it to Charm, who stared at it before sliding it into her pocket. “Looks good enough.” She nodded to Kiel. “Let’s go.”

“Not so fast!” Kara leaned forward and quickly hugged Kiel and Charm at the same time. Kiel smiled, while Charm only looked uncomfortable. Awkwardly, she patted Kara on the back, who pulled away with a smile. “Okay, _now_ you can go.”

Owen frowned. Kara got to hug Charm and he _didn’t_? Then again, if he tried to hug Charm she’d probably ray-gun him. But judging from the conversation they’d had last night, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try. After all, this might be the only time he’d ever get to hug her.

So, he cleared his throat, looking at Charm. “Can I hug you, too?”

Charm’s eyes widened, as if surprised. Then, she grumbled, “If you hug me, I’ll probably punch you.”

Owen smiled weakly. “So that’s a maybe?”

She rolled her eyes. “Bye, guys.” Purposely, she started walking away, waving for Kiel to follow.

“Good luck with making a distraction!” Kiel said, flashing a wink in Owen and Kara’s direction. Before either of them could respond, he raced after her. They headed towards the forest.

Wasting no time, Kara turned to Owen. “Okay, you got any ideas for this?”

“Um . . .” Owen glanced around. “What about . . . oh! Capture the flag? I mean, it’d be a lot more fun if it was the _Percy Jackson_ version of capture the flag, but we could distract everyone with that.”

“No, there’s still too big a risk of people seeing it,” Kara said, putting her hands on her hips. “We’d need to find a way to get everyone inside somewhere.”

Owen wracked his brain for ideas. C’mon imagination, be helpful for _something_! Okay, from all the books he’d read, distractions usually worked best when there was something louder going on. Something flashy, something exciting, something . . .

An idea came to him.

“What about a magic show?”

Kara looked confused. “A magic show?”

“Yeah!” Owen said. “They’re perfect for distractions, and no one can resist magic. It’s too cool. Plus, we could have it inside. In, um . . . what about that amphitheater place? That seems big enough.”

Slowly, a grin formed on Kara’s face. “You’re a _genius_.”

Owen looked down, blushing. “No, I’m not.”

“No, you _are_! Okay, this is perfect. We just need to get costumes and props and—“

“Wait.” He felt regretful all the sudden, as he realized what they’d actually have to do. “ _I’m_ doing this too? Like — on stage? Doing a magic show?”

“Well yeah, it was your idea!”

“I was kind of imagining someone else would do it. Someone who knows what they’re doing, you know? Like Kiel. He could pull this off.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” She smiled. “We’re a team, Owen. We’ll do it together. I think I might know some tricks I can show off. And you can be my assistant, so you won’t have to do much anyway! You can just stand there and smile.”

_Uh oh_ , Owen thought. What had he done? He couldn’t stand on a stage and smile! He’d never even been on a stage! What if he tripped and embarrassed himself? What if people laughed at him? What if he tried to do a magic trick and messed it all up and people laughed at him _again_? 

Here he was, completely Kiel-less, without a winged cat or a spell book or wand-knives. And he was thinking about doing a magic show when he didn’t even know how to do one. Why had he come up with this idea? It still sounded cool, but there was no way Owen could pull it off. Kara could, probably. She could do anything. But him?

As Owen started to worry, Kara dragged him away from the arts and crafts area. “Let’s go make an announcement about this magic show somewhere. You think there’s a loudspeaker we can say it on?” She craned her head up. “Hmm. Maybe not. Maybe I’ll just shout it and everyone will hear.” She frowned. “No, that won’t work. We need _everyone_ to hear. Loudspeaker it is! Let’s go find one.”

Owen sighed, pulling his hand out of her’s. He stopped walking, not looking her in the eyes. She paused, turning back to him. “Are you okay?”

“What?” Owen blinked. “Oh, yeah. Nothing’s wrong.”

“Something is clearly wrong. What is it?“

“No, it’s okay. It’s just stupid.”

“You can tell me.”

He spoke reluctantly, telling her the worries he’d been keeping to himself. “I just . . . I don’t wanna have to save the world without our friends. And . . . mostly I just don’t wanna do it without Bethany. I _know_ this sounds stupid, but before everyone, it was just me and her. Our plan was . . . she wasn’t supposed to be missing and . . .” He sighed again, trailing off.

He hadn’t meant to say that to anyone. Not even to Kiel. He just didn’t think anyone would get it. Knowing his best friend was out there somewhere, probably in danger, made his stomach hurt. He wasn’t even sure how to fix this.

"Owen," Kara said softly. "There are infinite possibilities. You never know. Things could change! We just don't know if our friends will all be with us when we stop Nobody, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see them again. Heck, I don't even know if _I'll_ be—"

"Kara!" Owen interrupted. "Not funny!"

She smiled. "Kidding.” Abruptly, her smile faded. “But seriously, with what I’ve faced I can’t say that things will work out. I have no idea if things will actually be different this time. All I know is, right now we've got a plan of how to stop this, and we still have some friends with us. And . . ." She glanced down. "I still have you, so I kind of feel better than I usually would when the world’s about to end."

Owen didn't know how to respond to the last part, feeling a bit embarrassed by it. Instead, he asked, "How do you deal with the world ending so many times? How do you, like, face it over and over?"

“Trust me, I never wanted to face it over and over. I didn’t have a _choice_.” A dark cloud overtook her face. “Every time I face it I’ve just . . .” She shook her head slightly. “It never worked out.” 

"So, you really think there's a chance we'll—"

Suddenly, a loudspeaker clicked on, and an extremely cheerful voice shouted, “Good morning, everyone! Just checking in to make sure you are _all_ having fun! Make sure to smile, and do everything your camp counselor tells you! Have a great day!”

When it’d ended, Owen turned to look at Kara. “For a place that brainwashes kids the adults have a _really_ friendly way of threatening people!”

“Owen,” Kara said, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Did you hear that?”

Owen blinked. “Yeah, I just told you—“

“ _No_ , yeah, I know. That part was creepy. But are you missing the sign here?” He only shook his head, so she added, “The _loudspeaker_! If we find where it is, we can use it to announce our magic show!”

Owen’s eyes widened. “Oh! Yeah, let’s find it.” He looked around. “But where would it be?”

“Let’s ask someone.” Kara marched over to the nearest campers, a group of giggling Girl Scouts. “Hi. Do you know where that voice came from? The one over the loudspeaker?”

“Yeah!” one of them said. “The camp director.”

“She’s really great,” another girl said.

“I bet,” Owen said quickly. “Do you know where the camp director is? And where she does her announcements?”

“Of course!” The first girl smiled. “If you go past the volleyball court and make a right, you’ll find her house.”

“Her house?” His eyebrows rose. “She lives here?”

“Yeah! All the camp counselors live here all year-round, just like we do! And I don’t blame them. Living here is _incredible_. This is the best place in the whole—“

“Got it, thanks!” Kara cut her off, forcing a smile. “You’ve been super helpful.” She glanced at Owen, giving him look that said _what was that?_

As they hurried away, Owen said, “That was crazy! I thought maybe everyone just stayed here all summer and they weren’t allowed to leave, but they keep them here all year-round?” He shook his head. “This is so, _so_ bad.”

“I know,” Kara said, her voice hushed. “It’s a good thing you got un-brainwashed when you did.” She nudged his shoulder. “Or else you’d probably be saying the same thing.”

“In different circumstances, summer camps _are_ really fun to stay at,” Owen said.

They headed down the path, campers passing them at all sides. Owen wasn’t sure where the volleyball court was. Neither was Kara, although she had a better idea of where it was since she’d stayed here. They followed signs, asking other campers for guidance when they weren’t sure which way to go next.

With how helpful everyone was, it didn’t take long for them to reach their destination. Owen knew they’d reached the volleyball courts before he’d even seen it. He heard the sound of shuffling across sand, of laughter and the sound of the ball being smacked across the net.

They reached the volleyball court and turned to the right, just like the girl had told them to. And there, hidden among a patch of bushes and trees, was a small wooden house. It looked old, like it hadn’t been refurbished in decades. The only thing that looked new about it were the bright flowers planted around the house.

As they got closer to it, Owen frowned as he noticed a car in the driveway. He’d been hoping no one would be home. Hopefully, if the camp director was there she wouldn’t make a big deal about letting them use the loudspeaker. Or maybe she’d be excited at the idea of a magic show, and she’d announce it for them?

Kara headed up the front steps first, Owen trailing behind. She raised her fist to knock, but Owen grabbed her hand, pulling her back. “Wait! What if this lady tries to brainwash us again?”

“If she does, I’ll kick her a dozen times and you’ll run to safety,” Kara told him.

“That’s not a very good plan!“

“Well for _me_ , no. But you wouldn’t be in danger, so I guess it’d be worth it.” She squeezed his hand, and he smiled. Letting go of him, Kara turned back to the door. “It’ll be fine. We’ll just . . . tell her there’s a magic show and that she should make an announcement for it.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” Owen said. “Maybe she can get everyone to actually go, like with hypnotic suggestion or something.”

As horrible as that sounded, he hoped something like that _would_ happen. That way, he’d know for sure that everyone would come to the show. For Kiel’s and Charm’s sakes, so no one would notice if there was an electrical surge of some kind.

Lifting her hand again, Kara knocked on the door. A moment later, it swung open. A tall blonde woman stood on the other side of it, her mouth stretching into a grin that almost looked fake. “What are you girls doing here?”

Owen frowned. “I’m not a—“ Then he cut himself off, realizing what she was talking about. _Oh_. The disguise spell! Not having seen his reflection since this morning, he’d forgotten the people here thought he was a girl. Good thing he hadn’t finished his sentence.

“Are you the camp director?” Owen quickly asked, clearing his throat. He planted a grin on his face, but he was sure he looked more nervous than excited.

“Yes, I am!” the woman said, returning the smile. “My name’s Shelley. What can I do for you?”

“We’re just hoping you would make an announcement,” Kara said, clasping her hands together. “You see, me and my friend here want to have a magic show in the amphitheater.”

“It’d be really great if you’d let us announce it,” Owen added. “It’ll be awesome! There’s gonna be lots of magic tricks.”

“Right,” Kara said. “Like card tricks! And flying doves, if you have any.” She leaned closer. “Do you have doves?”

Shelley seemed to consider this. “Well, last time I checked . . . no.” She laughed loudly. “Actually, I think it’s a great idea you want to do a magic show. But you know we’d usually save that kind of thing for the end-of-the-summer talent show, right?”

Owen laughed nervously. “Yeah, w-we just really want to have it today. Better sooner than later, right?”

“Hmm.” She stared at him for a long moment, her nails tapping against the wooden frame of the door. “Look, it does sound exciting, but around this time each group has their own activity.” She peered at both of them now. “Where did you two just come from?”

“Uh . . .”

Owen and Kara looked at each other, before Kara jumped to their defense. “The arts and crafts room! We were painting these really great art pieces, but our camp counselor let us go when we told her we wanted to do the magic show. She thinks it’s a great idea, too.”

Slowly, Shelley nodded. “Okay, I guess I could make an exception for you. I haven’t seen a magic show in a long time. This’ll be a nice break for all of us. “The smile returned to her face, and Owen and Kara shared an excited grin. “What time were you thinking of having it?”

At first, Owen didn’t believe his ears. She was agreeing to this? She wasn’t going to brainwash them? The tension in his shoulders fell away, only slightly. It was weird for things to be going well for a change.

“Um, now?” Owen asked. “If that’s okay?”

The camp director blinked. “Right now? Okay. How about the show starts in thirty minutes, and you can get ready for it in the meantime?”

Thirty minutes? Thirty minutes sounded good. He wasn’t sure if Kiel and Charm would reach the power lines before that, but he didn’t think they would. Walking through the woods and all, it’d take them a while just to get to it. Long enough for Owen and Kara to distract the camp.

Kara glanced at him before nodding, a smile on her face. “That’d be really great.”

“Yeah,” Owen said, letting out a relieved breath. “Thanks!”

“Sure.” The camp director smiled at them. “I’ll make the announcement now. Good luck, girls!”

She closed the door, and Kara grinned at Owen. “That will never get old.”

Owen rolled his eyes, though he found it hard not to smile. “Ha-ha.”

He felt a little lighter as they headed back the way they came. Sure enough, they hadn’t made it too far before the camp director’s voice came over the loudspeaker, announcing their magic show. Owen noticed that the campers started to buzz with excitement. He couldn’t _believe_ their luck.

“I can’t believe it worked!” he said, shaking his head in bewilderment.

“Yeah, I’m kind of surprised too!” Kara agreed. “I thought she was going to brainwash us for sure.”

“So did I.” He shuddered. “So what now? Where are we going to get props for this? And how are we even going to pull this _off_?”

“We got ourselves halfway there, I’d say that’s a start. We just need to find some cards, maybe some coins . . . what about that magic trick where the assistant gets cut in half? Think we can do that?”

“ _What_?” Owen felt a pang of fear in his chest. “But _I’m_ the assistant!”

“Oh, relax. I wouldn’t _actually_ cut you in half.”

“But you don’t know how to do the magic trick, either,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Her eyes fell on something on the ground, and she picked it up. She showed it to him. It was a coin, glistening in the sunlight. “Our first prop!”

Owen smiled at that. They continued walking. “Okay, I might know some magic tricks. Mainly the only magic I know is _Kiel’s_ magic, but I did see a magic show once. I know we’ll definitely need magic cards, maybe a spoon, a hat, a rabbit . . . if we can find one—“

“And a dove,” Kara added.

He nodded. “Yeah. There’s also a cup method I learned about on YouTube. It looks like a cup is floating, but it’s actually not. It’s like magic!”

“No wonder you wanted to do a magic show!” she said, grinning at him. “You’re secretly good at magic tricks, aren’t you?”

Owen blushed. “No, it’s just that when I was younger and first started reading the Kiel Gnomenfoot books, I really wanted to learn magic. And when I _couldn’t_ , I kinda . . . learned how to do some magic tricks. I’m not that good at them.”

“Better than I would be.” They neared the dining hall, and Kara suddenly reached for his arm. “Let’s get a cup and spoon.”

The next thirty minutes were a blur. After getting some supplies from the dining hall, they’d made a beeline for the arts and crafts cabin, where they’d thankfully found some magic cards.

Owen had also spotted a top hat at the back of the room, which he’d given to Kara. She’d put it on immediately, claiming she looked like Abraham Lincoln. Owen agreed that, without the pink hair and the fact that she was fifteen-year-old girl, she _did_ kind of look like him. Kara had laughed at that.

They hadn’t found a pigeon or a rabbit, but Kara had discovered a spider on the way there. To Owen’s discomfort, she’d captured it in her hands and had stuffed it in her pocket, claiming they could use it in the same way that they’d use a pigeon or a rabbit. Owen only hoped he wouldn’t have to hold it.

By the time they’d made it to the amphitheater, the area around it was already packed. To his surprise, both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts were heading inside. Seeing so many people made Owen’s stomach do a flip, fear replacing his excitement from earlier. Why had he agreed to this?

He and Kara snuck in through the back entrance, which a camp counselor informed them would lead to the stage. Unlike every other building in the summer camp, the amphitheater was built out of cement. Or was it rocks? Owen wasn’t sure.

Either way, it reminded him of one of those Greek temples he’d heard about. Like from the Percy Jackson books. Plus, the place looked pretty old. If Owen didn’t know any better, it could’ve been built hundreds of years ago.

As if voicing his thoughts, Kara said, “This place is _ancient_. It reminds me of temples I’ve seen when I’ve time-traveled to the past.”

They were climbing up a set of steep stairs, which would lead them to the back of the stage. Only a little sunlight drifted in from the window above, which showed that the sky was gradually being covered with clouds. The smell of dust hung in the air.

“Really?” Owen said, hoping she wouldn’t notice his nervousness. “Did you see any Greek gods?”

She gave him a confused look. “Huh?”

“N-Never-mind.”

They reached the top, only needing to walk a short distance before they reached the back of the stage. The only reason he’d been able to tell was the curtain that hung from the ceiling, which separated them from the front of the stage. That, and the sound of conversation from the other side.

After setting some props down, Kara handed him the magic cards. In her own hand, she held the top hat, which she’d carefully placed the spider in. She turned to him. “Ready?”

Owen frowned. Was it this hot outside, or was he just _really_ nervous? “I have no idea.” He stared at her, biting his lip nervously. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Isn’t that one of those lines from _Star Fights_?” Kara asked. “I’ve heard you talk about those movies so much I feel like I’ve seen them.”

He wasn’t sure what to say to that. “You mean . . . _Star Wars_?”

“Oh, yeah. That. Mostly the only line I can remember is—“ She deepened her voice slightly, imitating him. “In a galaxy far, far away’.”

Owen laughed a little before glancing over at the curtain, his heart racing faster. “I’m _really_ not sure this’ll work, Kara.”

“It’ll work.” She smiled. “You’ll never know until you try.”

With that, she pushed through the curtain, walking out onto the stage. Owen heard applause on the other side. He waited there for a few seconds, his legs and arms shaking. Why was it so easy for her? Or it seemed to be, anyway. Kara must’ve had no trouble talking in front of crowds, but Owen? He wasn’t even good at giving _presentations_ at school.

He wanted to do nothing but run, but he knew he couldn’t do that. Kara needed him. He just had to push through his fear and be the best magician’s assistant he could be, no matter how impossible that seemed. Owen took a deep breath. Before he could change his mind, he stepped onto the stage.

* * *

_“Everybody knows, everybody knows where we're going. Yeah, we're going_ _down . . .”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay that last scene was honestly inspired by the Secret series (bc of all the magic shows they have) and I’m really excited to write the next part and see how it goes w the magic show. 
> 
> Also I promise things will move a lot faster in the next chapter! And I’ll have more Bethany pov. I already have like half of it written so I’ll try to get this one out faster. I have stuff planned and it’s gonna be crazy!


	51. The Disappearing Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Kiel and Charm go to power up the time bracelet, Owen and Kara try to host a magic show. Bethany realizes some things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So excited to finally post this chapter!! I had fun writing in Charm’s pov for the first time & esp exploring Charm’s and Kiel’s friendship (we really deserve more of that)
> 
> Also, shoutout to my friend Alex from the discord server who helped me so much with writing the magic show scene!! Please forgive my inaccuracies in writing about magic shows. I have never even watched penn & teller or any magic shows until now so hopefully I did an ok job :)

**_Start Again (by One Republic)_ **

_“Can't I just turn back the clock? Forgive my sins. I just wanna roll my sleeves up, and start again . . .”_

* * *

Charm couldn’t believe she’d let Kiel come for this. Bringing him along? That was a recipe for _disaster_.

Not to say she particularly minded his company, though. Okay, she did, but it was better than doing this with — say — Owen, which would just make her uncomfortable. Charm was used to going on quests with Kiel. They’d known each other since they were little, so they’d gone on practically hundreds together.

Not all of them had been by choice. And by choice, she meant _her_ choice. From the moment Charm met Kiel, she hated him. She thought he’d get a little less annoying or a little less dumb by the time he was older, but nope! No such thing. On lots of occasions, she even tried to ditch him while going on quests. He always seemed to find her, and then he’d make a joke about it.

Ugh. He was the _worst_.

If she hadn’t been there to help him, Charm knew, Kiel would’ve winded up dead a _long_ time ago. He tended to make decisions that usually led to them almost dying, so that always left Charm to fix things the logical way. _Always_.

Although, she had to admit that he was useful in a fight. He’d saved her many times with his magic, just not to the extent he liked to brag about. She would never say he was _as_ incredible as he tried making himself look, but he was one of the few people she sometimes liked having around.

This time, though? This was not one of those times.

“So, this is nice!” Kiel was saying. “Two lifelong friends about to power up a time bracelet. With electricity. Electricity is dangerous, huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “You haven’t known me _that_ long. And it can be, if you get electrocuted.”

“Sounds fun.”

Of _course_ he’d think it was fun. She held back a groan. Could he get any more annoying? After all the years they’d known each other, she’d think he’d be easier to deal with. But Kiel always proved her wrong. She might consider him her closest friend, but did that make him any less annoying? _No_.

“We shouldn’t have much farther now,” she said, keeping her eyes trained on the tall power lines in the distance.

While Kiel hadn’t been able to see it (no surprise there) Charm had detected it’s location easily. She told him she’d been able to see it from far away, but in reality, she’d just scanned the area for the largest amount of electricity. Once they got closer to the road, they’d be able to reach it.

Charm hoped she wouldn’t regret agreeing to this. If she did, she and Kara would have some _words_ when they saw each other again. But, as Charm had discovered, Kara was surprisingly smart. And that wasn’t something she could say about everyone, especially not Kiel. _Sometimes_ Owen, though she’d never tell him that.

They headed down the forest path, Kiel talking her ear off the whole way. So much, that she wished she had duct tape to put over his mouth. Or a sound-proof helmet, which she could build in five minutes if given the materials. Unfortunately, neither was an option, so she’d have to settle for trying to tune out his rambling.

Her head was bent as she stared at Kara’s time bracelet, turning it over in her hands. The properties of it were fascinating, unlike anything she’d seen in Quanterium. Of course, there was time travel back in her world, but it wasn’t very common. Charm wasn’t fascinated by much other than the most challenging aspects of science, and this was no exception.

She’d only done time travel once or twice when she’d built a machine here and there, but her machines were never small and portable, like Kara’s time bracelet was. The size made it even more intriguing. Not only was it easy to reuse, but there were _thousands_ just like this in her world? The idea of getting to study all of that gave Charm an excited feeling.

All of the sudden, hands grabbed it from her’s. Charm sighed as she looked over, only to see Kiel peering at the time bracelet. He was holding it loosely, tediously, making Charm worried he might drop it. “For something that’s made from science and basically has magical properties, this thing is _really_ cool.”

“Give that back!” Charm snatched it from his hands, giving him a sour look. “You’ll break it before we even get the chance to use it.”

“I wasn’t going to break it, I was just looking at it!”

Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Yeah, you were just _looking_ at a time bracelet that can easily break again.” She lifted the bracelet to his face. “You need to let me handle this.”

“Hey, I think you’re forgetting that I fixed it with magic,” Kiel said. “It _can’t_ break again with my skills.”

“We’re not taking that chance. So I’m holding it.”

He nodded. “So, what’s the plan for this?”

Her eyebrows rose. “What am I, a set of instructions? We’ve already gone over this!”

“We only went over the basics. Like how you modified Kara’s time bracelet so it can turn other objects back in time . . . even if they aren’t touching the time bracelet? And then you said stuff about space and matter and that’s all I got.”

“Exactly.” Charm snorted. “That’s as much as your brain is willing to comprehend. It’s not _my_ fault the only person who understands what I’m saying is Kara. You and Owen ask too many questions. And Owen wouldn’t stop bringing up superhero references into our plan, which was very irritating, by the way.” She sighed. “I don’t care that an ‘Infinity War’ copied our idea, whatever that even is.”

Kiel chuckled. “You like him now, don’t you?”

At his words, there was a strange tug on Charm’s heart. He was referring to Owen, of course. Charm didn’t have to be the smartest person in the universe to know that. She considered it. Ever since Owen had lied to her and betrayed her, well, all bets were off. She would _never_ forgive him.

They could work together for the sake of the universe, but they would _not_ be friends. Not even acquaintances. Owen was just a stranger to her. A stupid, human boy who’d tricked her by pretending to be someone he wasn’t. And that stung more than anything. She’d hated him, these past days.

Or she’d _wanted_ to hate him.

At first, hating him was easy. It was easy to shoot down every idea that came out of his mouth. He was stupid, she told herself. He was horrible and evil and made up everything bad in the world. He reminded her that no matter what, everyone just seemed to walk out of her life, whether theoretically or literally.

He was as worthless as the gum beneath her shoe. That’s how little she cared about him.

Only, as it turned out, she realized that she _did_ still care about him. Only slightly. Only enough that she didn’t want him getting killed, and that made her even angrier. Why would she even _care_ about him? She shouldn’t care whether he lived or died, but for some reason, she did. That bothered her. It bothered her a _lot_.

And then she’d see him smile, and she’d remember why a part of her cared. Because no matter how many times she told herself the opposite, he wasn’t evil. He was . . . kind, most of the time. He acted like he wasn’t someone who’d purposely hurt anyone, though Charm knew better. As far as she knew, Owen was still the worst.

And what made it worse was that she’d been vulnerable towards him. She’d never been great about dealing with emotions after the death of her parents and sisters, but meeting Owen (who’s been disguised as Kiel at the time) had changed her a bit. She became less stern, and more willing to open up to him.

She should’ve known better. Instead of opening up to her closest friend, it ended up being a complete stranger. A stranger who’d lied countless times to her, by the way. That taught her a lesson. It seemed that she had to keep her guard up. She just couldn’t be vulnerable with anyone.

Also, it didn’t help that he always acted weird around her. And he acted like he knew everything about her — and where had he learned that from, a _book_? She just had trouble talking to him without feeling awkward or angry or annoyed, or a mix of all three. He was _still_ a stranger, and he’d still betrayed her trust. She couldn’t withhold that grudge. She just couldn’t.

But something had shifted, just enough where Charm started to see Owen differently. She was still hurt by everything he’d done, but she could see that he was less evil and more . . . good. Not that she cared to be his friend, but he’d tried consistently to make things better with her. Things had progressed, just a little, to the point where Charm could talk to him without getting furious.

She still didn’t trust him, nor did she really _want_ to trust him. After what he’d pulled, the most logical thing to do was never open up to him again. Just push him away, like she did everyone else.

But strangely, she found herself wanting to forgive him. She wouldn’t admit it, but a piece of her already had started to. Owen wasn’t _as_ bad as she thought he was before — and when she’d talked to him last night in the Scout’s jail, she weirdly

didn’t regret her decision to make a truce. Not as much as she thought she would, at least. It just felt like the right thing to do.

And maybe in a very long time, it’d be a second chance for friendship. Other than Kiel, Charm had next to none friends. When her family died, even the idea of getting close to people sickened her. She yelled at everything. She got angrier. More violent. She shot everything within reach. Science was the only thing that helped her get through it.

But the possibility of trusting a certain optimistic human boy again — if he didn’t screw it up again — made her think things could change for the better. There was a very low possibility that he wouldn’t, but he’d seemed to be sincere in his actions. Charm might not understand him or like him, but she tolerated Owen more than before.

“I am _not_ answering that,” Charm said, giving Kiel a look. He only continued to look at her, so she sighed deeply and added, “I don’t trust him — I don’t think I ever _will_ — but I guess he’s a little less horrible than I used to think.” She pointed a finger at him. “But if you mention that to anyone, I will _kill_ you.”

Kiel grinned. “Noted. I’m glad you like Owen now.”

“What did I just say?!”

“He’s really great, and you know he’ll never make that mistake of betraying you again. He’s too good for that.”

“If you say so,” Charm muttered. “I still don’t like him, though.” Wanting you get out of the awkward conversation, she said nothing more of it after that.

As they walked, storm clouds started to gather in the distance. The wind seemed to grow stronger, blowing the trees around them. Charm kept a wary eye on the branches. Even if it was windy and it could just _look_ like they were moving, she wasn’t going to back down from shooting one if it tried grabbing her or Kiel. At the thought of that, she moved a little faster.

They reached the power lines not too long after that. Even if Charm hadn’t already known where they were, they weren’t very hard to miss. As they entered a wide field, which was covered by trees on all sides, Charm spotting a row of tall power lines, which sat at the top of a hill. As they got closer, the sound of buzzing filled her ears.

Kiel nudged her. “Sounds like invisible bees. You think that’s a thing here?”

Charm smacked him on the back of the head. “Those aren’t _bees_. It’s a phenomenon called corona discharge!” She smiled at the thought. “It’s an electrical discharge that occurs when a fluid surrounding an electrically-charged conductor becomes ionized.”

He raised an eyebrow. “A what?”

“Do you have to ask so many questions?”

“ _Yes_. Charm, science is your thing, and magic is mine. I don’t understand much about science. Or anything, really!”

“That’s clear,” she muttered. “It’s the sound the air that _surrounds_ the power lines makes as electricity jumps through it.” She pulled roughly at his arm. “Let’s go. If I have to explain another thing to you, we’ll never make it back.”

“Lighten up, you’re with _me_!”

“Exactly why I _shouldn’t_ lighten up.”

“I understand if you’re worried about timing, but I’m not. We’ll make it back before you can even say ‘Kiel Gnomenfoot is amazing’.”

“I’m . . . not saying that.”

“Suite yourself!”

Her feet found their way more easily up the hill, increasing the distance between her and Kiel. When she got to the top of the hill, she waited with impatience. Despite being just as tall as her, he clearly didn’t climb hills very fast.

Part of her wished she had not gone ahead, and had instead stuck with him. Ditching him suddenly felt kind of lonely. But sticking with him meant talking to him, and the only thing Charm cared to talk about right now was science, the time bracelet, and their plan. That was it.

After what seemed like a while, both of them reached the top. Kiel craned his head up, looking at the power lines. “I don’t see any electricity. How are we going to get it out?”

“Through the wires at the top,” Charm said. “We can drawl enough electricity out of them to power Kara’s time bracelet.”

Kiel broke out into a grin. “Sounds dangerous. I’m _so_ ready for this. I hope it causes some kind of explosion.”

She stared at him. “You think _you’re_ going up there?”

“Yeah, who else?” He patted her shoulder. “Sorry to break it to you, Charm, but this is a job that only the bravest hero can handle.” When she only glared at him, he added, “That would be me.”

Charm sighed. “No, you are _not_ going up there. You have no idea how to do it properly. I’ll go up. You stay down here, and don’t do anything reckless or stupid.”

She wouldn’t admit it, but she cared about him. Probably more than anyone. While Charm was okay with him getting a little hurt — just for her own amusement — she wouldn’t let him throw himself into more danger than that. He was always running off, getting himself almost-killed and acting like it was no big deal.

Charm, on the other hand, would be the smartest option for the job. Really, the _only_ option. Not only did she have a much better grasp of how to power the time bracelet, but she also was an expert on electricity. If Kiel went up there, he’d probably just get an electric shock or cause an explosion, being the idiot he was.

“Can’t I just create electricity with my magic?” Kiel suddenly asked. “One of my spells can conjure up lightning. We can save ourselves the time and power up the time bracelet that way.” He smiled. “Why didn’t I think of doing this before?”

“I’m glad you didn’t, you idiot!” Charm said. “A time bracelet can’t withstand that much electricity. A single bolt of lightning contains up to one billion volts of electricity.” She craned her head up, pressing a button on her forehead so she could scan the power line. Information popped into her brain. “This power line is a tall transmission line, so it contains about . . . 500 kilovolts.”

She could go on and on about electricity. And about science, and research, and all the inventions in Quanterium. Compared to those, electricity was just as basic as math. She’d learned all the forms of energy before she even knew how to talk. Normally it took more advanced science to excite Charm, but this was a special case. It wasn’t every day she got to power up a time bracelet!

“Uh, I’m not seeing how a power line is better. A kilovolt just sounds like a larger version of a volt!”

She sighed irritably, turning back to him. It was hard to be excited about science when Kiel kept ruining it. “One kilovolt is equal to 1,000 volts. This power line is 500 kilovolts, which means it’s 500,000 volts.”

Kiel laughed. “How is that better?“

“Less electricity, first of all. And second of all, it’s more controlled. We can get the electricity out easier if we drawl it out of the power line. We just need enough to get the time bracelet working, and nothing more than that.” She frowned. “It could come close to obliteration if I made even the slightest miscalculation.”

“Okay, well in case we need a much better plan, I can use magic to send the electricity into the time bracelet,” Kiel said. “After all, magic always does it better!”

Charm was about to disagree. Then, she slowly nodded. It might not be a bad plan. She didn’t have anything else that could jolt electricity through the time bracelet, and if she did it on her own it’d take longer. For once, magic was the only solution for this. But that didn’t mean she’d give him the satisfaction.

“Okay . . .” She narrowed her eyes. “That _should_ work if we take precautions to keep the electricity from overpowering the bracelet, but that would only be as a last resort. We’ll do that if the power lines don’t charge the time bracelet. It’s better if they do. We can’t let the electricity come in contact with the ground.”

“Why not?”

Why not? Was he really asking that? “Oh, you _don’t_ want to know why. It’s dangerous, and not the kind that you’d enjoy.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Kiel grinned. “Anyone else would be worried, but I enjoy _everything_ that’s dangerous.“

“Good for you.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyways, electricity will always try to get to the ground by the most direct route. If something is connecting the electricity to the ground, it would send an electric current into everything around us—“ She gestured at the hill they were standing on. “And both of us would be electrocuted. Less me, because my robotic parts would make for an _excellent_ conductor, being metal and all.” She had to grin. “But the electrical surge would surely kill you.”

“That’s really nice, Charm. You don’t want me to get hurt!”

She clenched her fists. “ _That’s_ what you got out of that?”

“Yep! You don’t want me to get electrobooted!”

Charm made a growling noise. “It’s electrocuted. _Electrocuted_!”

“I know.” He laughed. “I said that on purpose.”

She felt like punching him, and she almost did, but she backed down from it. She lowered her robotic fist. “You’d probably get yourself hurt _anyway_. Maybe I’ll just let you get electrocuted. That’ll shut you up.” She started to climb the metal pole. “And if you make any puns while I’m up there, I‘ll make _sure_ you do!”

That only seemed to encourage him. “Hey, at least I’m helping you free of _charge_. I hope my talent doesn’t _shock_ you.”

“Don’t say _another_ word.”

“You’re not very ec- _static_ about this.”

One ray gun pointed to the face got him to shut up.

Using her robotic arm to propel her forward, Charm climbed to the first power line without many issues. Above her, five different lines stretched across the sky, connected by each pole. Being this close to the power lines, she could practically feel the electricity against her skin. When she looked down, she saw that Kiel was far below her, his eyes squinted as he watched her. 

Turning back to the power line, she got to work. Charm took the time bracelet off her wrist, holding it in her hands. This was the part she wasn’t sure about. Not that she was worried, but she’d never charged anything with power lines before. This would be new, but it’d have to work. Charm wasn’t an expert at this for nothing.

She glanced above her. To pull this off without transferring the electricity to the ground, she’d have to keep touching the lines without holding onto anything else. If she accidentally touched something _other_ than the pole, that could cause a power surge.

But Charm knew what to do. This was science, so it’d be _easy_. She wouldn’t trust anyone else to do this job, no one except herself. She wasn’t sure how long it’d take for the time bracelet to charge up, but judging from the amount of electricity running through the power lines and the size of the time bracelet, it wouldn’t take more than five minutes.

Since her robotic arm could withstand any damage much more than her human arm, Charm used it to lift the time bracelet. Balancing on her toes, she leaned up and forward. Hoping (and assuming) that her theorizing was correct, Charm carefully touched the time bracelet to the power line.

There was no explosion, no power surge of any kind. Instead, she heard the satisfying crackle of electricity as it hit the time bracelet. The time bracelet started whirring to life. It vibrated in her fingers, gently at first, then much quicker.

She smiled. Could Kiel’s magic have done a better job? Not a chance.

In every situation, Charm stood by her opinion that science solved _everything_. And while she hadn’t been a hundred-percent sure this would work, she was now. She should probably keep track of the voltage, though — just to keep the time bracelet from exploding. That kind of thing.

Using her human hand, she flipped up a switch and tapped a small button underneath it. A holographic screen popped up before her, which showed floating equations and numbers that surrounded the time bracelet. Specifically, it showed how much voltage was getting sent into the time bracelet, so she focused on that.

The minutes passed by in a blur. To anyone else, it might’ve been boring to hold a time bracelet while an electrical current flowed into it. But to Charm, it was mesmerizing. The more complicated the science was, the more it interested her.

She sensed that the time bracelet needed some more time to charge, since the amount of voltage inside it wasn’t that high yet. The buttons on the time bracelet were starting to flicker and glow, ever so faintly. It continued to vibrate more and more. If Charm was holding it with her human hand, she probably would’ve lost her grip on it.

Another reason she was glad she’d used her robotic arm. Being super-strong, her arm never got tired. That made it easier for her to keep the time bracelet upright, and to keep her hand from shaking, which could mess things up.

She slid her eyes across the numbers. It needed just a few more minutes, now. This probably would’ve been quicker if the current was moving faster, but unless Charm had more tools, nothing could be done about that. She stood there and waited, pressing the time bracelet more firmly against the power line. Maybe that’d make it move faster?

“Hey, Charm?”

Charm ignored him. She was used to him trying to bother her while she was working on inventions, so this wasn’t anything new. She focused, instead, on keeping the time bracelet in the right position. She counted the amount of voltage in the time bracelet as it steadily rose, just a little quicker now than it had before.

“Charm, hey, you should really look at something.”

Charm clenched her fist. Did he have to be so annoying? Why did Kiel find it necessary to bother her when she was doing anything important? He was probably just trying to distract her or make a joke, just like he always did. She had to focus on this. So she ignored him.

Kiel didn’t stop, though. “Seriously, you’re gonna want to see this!”

He sounded a little nervous. Not that she really cared. Maybe she should look at whatever-it-was if it was making him nervous, because who knew _that_ would ever happen? But since she still didn’t care enough to look up from her much-more-important work, she didn’t.

“Don’t bother me when I’m working!” she snapped, without looking at him. “I’m trying to focus here.”

“Charm!”

“You know what I think? You’re wasting my time.” Growling in irritation, she made sure the time bracelet was steady before looking down at him. “ _What_?”

He pointed. Charm followed where he was looking, and she cursed under her breath. Coming straight at them, just past the field, was the pure possibility. She felt her annoyance rising. Why did it have to come _now_? The timing couldn’t have been worse.

“You know, it’s a lot cooler to look at when we’re further away from it!” Kiel called up to her, his hands cupped over his mouth. “I could _probably_ take it and survive, since I’m awesome like that, but I can’t say the same for you! I think we should get out of here.”

“Fine, but I need to finish this first,” Charm said, turning back to the power lines. The time bracelet wasn’t done yet, and she wasn’t about to leave before that happened. “Can’t you hold it off with magic?”

Some noises followed her response. She didn’t look over as she heard Kiel saying a spell, nor did she move when a bunch of bright lights and flashy spells whizzed by her. From the sound of it, they weren’t making an impact. Figures.

After a short while, Kiel called up to her again. “I could only stall it a little. As impressive as my magic is, it just dissipates when it hits it!”

“Great,” she muttered.

“Just come down! I’m sure we can laugh about this later, but the pure possibility _is_ getting kind of close.”

“There’s no time!” Charm yelled. “One more second! It needs more power!” She continued to hold the time bracelet there, gritting her teeth. It shook harder in her fingers. “Come on, _come on_.”

At last, the buttons on the time bracelet lit up. One by one, they started to glow in the light. She could feel it vibrating beneath her fingers, a sign that it was working. Feeling triumphant enough to smile, Charm stared down at her handiwork for a second longer before remembering where she was.

Right. The pure possibility.

Charm slid the time bracelet onto her wrist. She started to lower herself to the metal poles she’d climbed up, only to halt as she looked to her left. It was already too late. She had maybe twenty seconds before the pure possibility reached her, and even that wasn’t enough time.

Determination filled her. No, she could _do_ this. Physics overruled time. It couldn’t end this way. She wouldn’t accept it. If she could use her momentum to get down the ladder fast enough, she might just make it in time. And that was pushing it.

As fast as she could, Charm shimmied down the bars. “We won’t live through this,” she shouted down at Kiel. “But if we do, I’m going to kill you anyway.”

“Great!” Kiel said, and she didn’t have to look to know he was winking. “I’ll look forward to it!”

Landing on one of the bars, she bent over and did a flip onto the next one. “I don’t know if I’ll make it. Use your teleportation button to get back!”

“What?” He sounded surprised, only for a laugh to come from his mouth. “Oh, you’re making a joke! Sorry, didn’t recognize one coming from you! Good one. As if _I’d_ leave you behind.”

“I’m not making a _joke_ ,” she growled. “I’ll catch up.” She was almost halfway down now. Ten seconds. Her confidence in her ability to get down fast enough was waning. Physics might not win.

“No way!” he protested. “Hold on, I’ve got an idea.”

“It better not be a _bad_ one!”

“I’ve got just the thing for you, my friend,” Kiel said, raising his wand-knives. “One powerful spell, coming right up!” A few seconds later, a spark of red light hit the power lines above her head, but nothing happened.

Agitated, she shouted, “ _Nice job_ , Kiel. It didn’t _work_!”

“I have it under control! Don’t worry about it!”

“But nothing is _happening_!” Charm shouted angrily.

“Relax, give it a second!”

“We don’t _have_ a second!”

“Just wait!”

Charm didn’t wait. She couldn’t. She kept moving down the bars, hoping her natural speed would move things along faster. Then, something unexpected happened. The bars started to creak and groan. It was _moving_. But it wasn’t just the bars. It was the entire power line, which was connected to five _other_ power lines. And it was starting to fall sideways.

Uh-oh.

_Kiel, what have you done?!_

Charm’s eyes widened. She held back the numerous insults she’d thought of saying, instead yelling, “ _Why_ would you do that?!”

“I’m getting you down faster!”

“No!” Charm gripped the bars tightly as the entire structure started to fall. “The electrical surges in the power lines are too strong! Did you hear anything I said?! If it hits the ground it could cause a—“

She found herself hurtling to the ground, the air rushing up to her face. Before she could hit it, though, Charm leapt off. She fell six or seven feet before she landed, almost stumbling. Breathing hard, she ran towards the top of the hill. Towards Kiel.

“Are you forgetting to say something?” Kiel broke out into a grin. “How about— ‘ _thank you_ , Kiel’—“

“Take this.” She slipped the time bracelet off her human wrist and forcibly pushed it onto his wrist instead. “Now _g_ o! Before everything explodes!”

“ _What_?”

“Go!” Charm shoved him. Hard.

“NO!” Kiel started to shout something else, but his words were drowned out as he tumbled down the hill, hopefully far enough away for him to escape. They’d always protected each other, so it’d been an instinct to push him.

Of all people, Charm could _not_ lose Kiel. Despite how arrogant and annoying he was, he was her closest friend. Everyone was taken from her, and Charm would do what she could to prevent one more person from doing the same.

Without looking back, she leaped from the top of the hill. An explosion sounded from just behind her, strong enough to send her airborne. From the force of it, she would’ve soared off the hill and landed right next to Kiel.

But it wasn’t far enough.

Because at the same exact moment, a white wave of possibility washed over her head. 

* * *

There were way more people than Owen had expected. He’d thought maybe twenty people would be there. Maybe thirty. He’d hoped for it, even, despite the fact that they needed this for a distraction. To distract everyone in the camp, so they wouldn’t be around to see a bunch of electricity or hear any explosions in the forest.

But no, the entire amphitheater was _filled_.

Owen had been to lots of events like this before, where there’d been people everywhere, who were all gathered to watch something. Most times it was this crowded during the meetings in the school auditorium, or when he used to go to the movies with Bethany on Friday nights, or even during the one time he’d gone to a concert and his ears had practically exploded from the noise.

This time, he wasn’t sitting safely in a seat in the middle of a sea of people. He was staring at them, and they were staring at _him_. They all were. And by all, he meant hundreds. If Owen had been nervous before (which he had been, very much) he was ten times more nervous now.

He’d never had so many people looking at him before. In school, Owen was okay with following what everyone else was doing, with trying to be the kid that everyone liked while simultaneously never drawing _too_ much attention to himself. And this . . . this knocked that out of the ballpark. The overwhelming amount of attention made Owen freeze on the spot.

The only audience had ever performed in front of was the books in his room. And stuffed animals, back when Owen used to play with them. Learning magic — even if it wasn’t _real_ magic — was his only way to connect to the Kiel Gnomenfoot books back then. He’d read the books a dozen times. He’d gotten a cheap Kiel costume online. He’d even tried to recreate the wand-knives, and used his imagination to pretend he was doing magic.

At one point, it’d been his mom who reminded him he couldn’t carry the wand-knives everywhere, since apparently some teachers had complained about Owen being distracted in class. Why they’d cared about it, Owen didn’t know. All he knew was that he couldn’t pretend to be his favorite fictional character at school anymore, so school would get a _lot_ more boring. He’d have to find some other options.

After a while, Owen’s love for magic grew past the Kiel Gnomenfoot books. He poured over every book about magic he could find. And one day, he discovered a book about magic tricks. Magic tricks that might not come from a wand or a spell book, but they were just as cool. And they were the closest thing Owen would ever get to learning magic, anyway, so he decided to learn.

Once he thought he’d gotten better, he tried some tricks out on the kids at school. But it usually ended with Owen messing up the trick somehow. He tried to get it right but never quite succeeded with it, which usually ended with him getting embarrassed.

He’d only gotten a little better at magic tricks since then, but that’d been years ago. Owen wouldn’t be surprised if he couldn’t pull this off. In fact, he was counting on it! With all the things he’d messed up in the past few days, it was already guaranteed.

He could only hope his phase of learning magic tricks would pay off, and hopefully, everyone would buy it. Because the only person who’d let him practice regularly on them was his mom, and that wasn’t because she was interested in magic. It was just because she was obligated to, since Owen was her son. He wasn’t sure which was worse — that or getting laughed at.

Probably getting laughed at, which was exactly what would happen. Of course, there’d be way less of a chance of that happening if he had special effects. _No one_ could laugh at him if they were amazed. And most of the time, they weren’t, so Owen wouldn’t be surprised if everyone _did_ laugh at him. 

All the sudden, Owen felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, and the hand quickly retracted. Finally tearing his eyes from the crowd, he glanced over to see Kara. She looked a little hurt at his behavior at first, though her expression melted into concern.

“Hey.” Kara put her hand on his shoulder again. “It’s not as bad as it looks. You can _do_ this. Just follow my lead!” She leaned closer to him. “And if it helps, just imagine that everyone’s naked.”

He gritted his teeth. That didn’t help him at _all_. “I don’t want to imagine that!”

“C’mon.” She tugged at his hand, forcing him to walk further from the curtain and towards the front of the stage. There was already a microphone there, which was connected to a stand. Despite it being the morning, a bright spotlight had been thrown onto their faces, making it hard for Owen to see.

Kara leaned forward, putting her mouth close to the microphone. “Hi, everyone! Who’s ready for a magic show?” Her voice boomed across the amphitheater, so loud that he could feel the vibrations under his feet. In response, the crowd cheered.

“Hi, um, thank . . . thank you for coming,” Owen stammered. “Wow, this is a _big_ stage.” There were a few laughs, and he perked up a little. “I’m sure all of you are really excited about magic — so am I! Uh, anyway, this is my first time performing and . . . yeah. Uh, but I don’t think it’s my _friend’s_ first time—“

“It’s not,” Kara chimed in.

“Anyway, we — we should introduce ourselves!” He tried forcing confidence into his voice, trying to seem more like Kiel. But it was impossible with everyone staring at him. Only one minute in, and this was going _so_ badly already.

Owen quickly turned to Kara. “We need magician names.”

She glanced at him. “Like what?”

“Like . . . you say your name and then you say an adjective. Like John the Great or Marvin the Magnificent! Something like that.”

“Huh! Okay.” Kara seemed to think about it at first, then turned to smile at the crowd. “My name is Kelly the Incredible, and this is my assistant and _very_ talented magician friend . . .”

Owen stood at her side, shaking like a leaf. Realizing she was waiting for him, he leaned forward into the mic. “Luk— I mean, uh, _Leia_.”

“Leia?” she whispered, though she sounded amused. “Really?”

Ignoring her, he addressed the crowd again. “Leia, the, um . . .” He trailed off, trying to think. His heart pounded. Someone in the crowd coughed.

Kara quickly came to his rescue. “Leia the Lovely!”

Owen’s eyes widened, his face quickly heating up. Leia the _Lovely_? But that wasn’t a good magician name! And it was kind of embarrassing! He turned to look at Kara, ready to suggest something cooler like Leia the Unstoppable or Leia the Magical, but she just beamed at him, and the words died in his throat.

It was still embarrassing, sure, but it sort of felt nice to be complimented like that. No one had ever called him _lovely_ before. He quickly looked away, forcing himself to focus on more important things. Less on his fake magician name, and more on the magic show.

Time for the first act.

He glanced at the props around them. Aside from what they’d brought, there was a table in the corner, along with a chair. _That_ could be helpful. Especially for magic tricks like the classic “coin through table”. And of course, the cup trick.

He wasn’t sure what to start with, but he knew this would’ve looked much better with a fog machine. Fog machines made _everything_ look better, and not having one was a huge disadvantage right now.

Not to mention, he didn’t even have long sleeves! Not that he had a choice — because of the uniform — but most magicians used long sleeves to hide stuff, like cards or coins. Then again, since he only had short sleeves, that could look more impressive.

When magician’s wore short sleeves, it usually meant they were _really_ good at doing magic. It might look like a magician couldn’t hide anything with short sleeves, but maybe you _were_ hiding something — only, it was somewhere you wouldn't expect, like at the back of your hand or in a pocket.

That’s what he loved about magic tricks. They always kept you on your toes, mainly by using sleight of hand— that meant they used shifty hand movements to manipulate objects and deceive the audience. It‘s what made magic tricks work. Only, even without his cast Owen doubted he’d be very good at it.

He only hoped he’d be able to keep the audience on _their_ toes. He didn’t feel very confident about it, if at all, but he had to admit that this was one of the coolest things he’d ever gotten to do. Who knew when he’d get to perform a magic show again? Probably never!

After some thought, Owen decided to do the hat trick first. In other words, they’d be _pulling_ a spider out of a hat. Good thing Kara would be doing it, and not him. Lots of magicians started their magic shows off like that anyway, by making something appear. Ugh. They _really_ should’ve found a rabbit.

“What are we doing?” Kara whispered to him. Owen gestured to her hat.

Seeming to understand what he meant, she nodded and leaned into the mic. “Okay, now for some magic. First thing first, we‘re going to pull a spider out of— She pointed at the top hat sitting on her head. “—this hat! And yes, it’s a _real_ spider!”

There were a few murmurs of confusion — everyone had probably guessed that they’d pull a rabbit out of a hat, like how the trick was _supposed_ to go. That was way more impressive than pulling a spider out of a hat, unless the spider was a tarantula, which Owen wouldn’t want to touch anyways.

Luckily, he wouldn’t have to. Kara was pulling off the trick. On the way here, Owen had gone over the steps that were needed for it. It wasn’t as easy since he’d never gotten to practice this trick, but he _had_ watched a few videos on it. He had a vague idea of how to do it.

He watched as Kara walked over to the table and placed the hat there, following the instructions he’d given her. She held the hat above the table, flipping it over a few times so the audience could see the spider was _definitely_ not in there.

Then, as she placed the hat on the table, Owen noticed her other hand sliding underneath it, lighting fast. Another reason she was great at this — she had really fast reflexes from time traveling. If anyone could fool the audience, it’d be her.

Owen held his breath. Biting her lip, Kara quickly flipped the hat over. His heart skipped a beat. He’d expected the spider to fall out, but luckily, it didn’t. _Whew!_ Kara looked into the hat and smiled. Reaching in, she pulled something out. Balancing in the palm of her hand was a spider, which was half the size of her palm.

“I bet _you_ couldn’t pull a spider out of a hat!” Kara said, looking a little too proud of herself. The crowd clapped and cheered, seemingly impressed. She grinned at Owen, who gave her a wobbly smile back.

Wow. She was _good_ at this.

As she placed the spider and hat down, Owen pulled the coin out of his pocket. He could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He took a few shaky breaths, trying to calm himself down. _Okay, relax._ He could do this.

“T-Time for our next trick!” Owen said into the microphone. “See this coin in my hand?” He held the coin above his head for everyone to see, waiting a few seconds to make sure everyone was looking. They were. He tried to keep his voice steady. “Watch, and I shall make it disappear!”

This should be easy. Owen had learned how to do it when he was ten, and well, he’d practiced it maybe _thirty_ times. Enough to be good at it, right? But his hand was shaking so hard that when he tried to slip the coin between his fingers—

It dropped onto the stage with a loud clatter.

No one reacted, aside from a few coughs. There weren’t laughs or even cheers. Owen would’ve thought that since everyone was happy all the time here, they would’ve even responded positively to a mistake. But apparently not. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kara cringing.

“That’s not real magic!” a girl finally shouted. “We want _real_ magic!”

“Yeah!” someone else said. “You didn’t make it disappear!”

“Hey!” Kara shouted, putting her hands on her hips. She walked over to Owen. “Show my friend here some respect! Do you know who he—“ She quickly corrected herself. “ _She_ is? Leia’s the coolest, most awesome person I know! She’s so cool that she eats _magic_ for breakfast! It’s the most important meal of the day, I hear.”

No one seemed to care about what she’d said, though. The audience shouted enthusiastically in agreement. They started to chant. “Real magic! Real magic! Real magic!”

Owen winced. Of all the times for Kiel to be gone, it was _now_? He leaned towards Kara, whispering through gritted teeth. “This isn’t _working_.”

“I know!” she whispered back. “Try the coin trick again.”

“It won’t work!”

“Yes it will. You better believe in yourself, Owen Conners,” Kara said, putting her hands on his shoulders. “Or I _will_ toss that spider at you.”

She smiled at him then, and Owen gulped. But he nodded and picked up the coin again. It’d been a while since he practiced any coin tricks, but if this one worked out, it was about to look _really_ awesome. As long as he didn’t drop it again. He felt embarrassed enough after the first time.

“Okay!” Owen turned back to the ground. “Now, the coin will disappear for _real_ this time!”

His fingers were still shaking, so he held onto the coin tighter. Just like he’d seen in YouTube tutorials, he moved his other hand towards it, acting like he was grabbing the coin. Using his thumb, he quickly moved it between his first finger and middle finger, hiding the coin behind his hand. And it _worked_.

As Owen pulled his other hand back, he wiggled his fingers so the crowd could see. It hurt a little to move them — since his arm _was_ still broken and all — but the audience’s reaction made it worth it. They gasped in amazement.

“Where did the coin go?” Owen asked.

Trying not to smile too hard, he held both hands up, which appeared completely empty. Then, without moving the hand with the coin on it, he dropped the coin onto his other hand. He held it up for the audience to see, and the sound of cheering reached his ears.

He beamed, feeling all sorts of disbelief and pride. It’d _worked_!

Feeling a little less scared, Owen leaned into the microphone again. “Now, um, we need a volunteer! Can . . . is anyone okay with coming up here?”

Almost half the crowd rose their hand. Owen’s eyebrows shot up, and he felt a nudge at his side. Kara was grinning. “And you said _you_ couldn’t perform.”

Owen turned red. They looked back at the audience, and Kara leaned into the mic this time. She scanned the crowd. “How about . . .” She pointed to the right. “You! Boy in the second row!”

“There are a _lot_ of boys in the second row,” Owen said to her. “Can’t you describe them?”

“Well, I can’t address them _that_ well, Owen. They’re all wearing the same shirt!”

Huh. Good point.

“Okay, boy with the black hair. On the end of the second row.”

She pointed again, and a boy around their age stood up. Grinning widely, he bounded over to the stage and climbed the steps, where he walked over to Owen and Kara. The dazed look on the boy’s eyes bothered Owen, but he shook it off. He had a card trick to pull off.

Out of all the magic tricks he’d practiced when he was younger, this was the one he’d practiced the most. Sure, his only assistant had been his mom, but the only way to learn it was to practice on someone, anyway.

For this one, he’d be trying the most basic card trick. The easiest one to learn, at least for Owen. It involved letting someone pick a card without telling you, then finding the person’s card from the pile and guessing it correctly. A lot easier when he wasn’t trying it in front of an audience.

“What’s your name?” Kara asked the boy, as Owen pulled the deck of cards out from his pocket.

“Caleb!” the boy replied.

“Would you like to take a souvenir, Caleb?”

Owen saw her reaching into her pocket, probably to pull out the spider. His eyes widened, and he laughed. “No, I’m sure you don’t want that! L-Let’s just do a card trick.”

He fanned out the cards in his hands. It was a little difficult since his cast kept getting in the way, but somehow, he managed to do it without dropping any. He looked up at the boy. “Alright, pick a card! But don’t tell me what it is.”

The boy scanned the cards, and Owen clutched them tighter in an attempt to hide his shaking hands. That didn’t do anything, but fortunately, despite Owen’s hands shaking, the boy seemed to have no trouble reading the cards.

After a few seconds, the boy grabbed one of the cards. Owen felt a surge of excitement fill him, realizing he _might_ be about to blow this kid’s mind. He wasn’t very good at acting impressive, since he usually messed up everything he did, but hopefully this time would be an exception.

He scrunched the rest of the cards together, putting them back into a pile. Then, he cut the deck in half, holding the top half of the deck in one hand and the bottom half in the other. As quickly as possible, Owen peeked at the card at the bottom of the top pile. _A Queen._

Okay, now time for the tricky part. Grabbing the boy’s card, he placed it on top of the Queen. That way, guessing the card would be _way_ easier. It was common magic knowledge! Holding his breath, he merged the two piles again and fanned them out. His hands shook as he searched for the Queen.

_Please work, please work, please work._

The amphitheater was dead-silent. Owen shifted the cards in his hands until finally, he found the Queen. He moved his fingers to the card above it, plucking it out of the pile. Holding it up, Owen looked up at the boy and smiled. “Is this your card?”

The boy gasped. “ _Yes_! How did you do that? That’s incredible!”

Owen laughed and said a phrase he’d wanted to say his whole life. “Oh, you know, magic.”

Once again, everyone cheered. This time, it was loud enough that it roared in Owen’s ears. He blushed as Kara patted the boy on the shoulder. “Thanks for your help! You can go back to your seat now.”

Waving to the cheering crowd, the boy walked offstage. Owen had just thought though what magic trick they’d do next — the cup trick — when suddenly, the audience gasped. Kara did too. Everyone was looking at Owen.

“. . . Oh no,” Kara said.

“What?” He stared at her, confused. When she didn’t say anything, only continuing to stare at him, he repeated it. “ _What_?”

“Look at your clothes!”

Owen did. Then his mouth dropped open. Out of all the magic tricks they’d performed, this certainly took the cake. Because right before his eyes, his disguise was falling apart. His Boy Scout outfit was fading away, the green sweatshirt and jeans he’d been wearing before replacing it.

“Uh-oh,” Owen whispered.

* * *

“We have to go,” Bethany said as she stared at the pure possibility, which was moving fast enough that she had to back up every few seconds. “We seriously can’t be anywhere near here.”

“Good to know you feel the same way!” the camp counselor said, and Bethany looked back at her in surprise. “I have to get you back to the group, where you’re _supposed_ to be!” She looked confused. “I don’t know where this fog came from, but I guess we could wait until it dissipates before going further.”

Bethany’s eyes widened. “ _What_? No, it’s not safe!” She opened her mouth, struggling to form an explanation about the pure possibility and everything it was doing. But she couldn’t find the words, nor did she actually care if this camp counselor lived or not.

Gwen or Kiel or even Owen would’ve helped her in a heartbeat, but Bethany wasn’t exactly willing to help someone who participated in brainwashing. Or anyone who was a stranger, in general. What the camp counselors did was evil, and Bethany would be safer if she kept only _herself_ safe. She was pretty sure at least Owen would agree with her on that one.

The woman only smiled at her. “Of course it’s safe, Catherine. It’s just fog.” She let go of the reins, sliding off of her horse. “Why are you disagreeing with me?”

Bethany swallowed hard as she realized her mistake. With the pure possibility right here, it was easy to forget about little things like that. Right, a brainwashed person would’ve listened to the camp counselor. Believed everything she’d said. Only problem was, Bethany had a very hard time agreeing to _anything_ at the moment.

The only thing she cared about was getting out of here, finding her friends, and making Nobody pay for everything. So yeah, pretending to be brainwashed was the least of her worries now.

“You’re wrong,” Bethany pushed. “It’s not fog.”

She glanced over to see the pure possibility coming in even closer. In a few seconds, it’d reach where she was standing. She backed away again, until she was standing at Katie’s side. The camp counselor was looking at her funny, but if it was between that or getting a face-full of pure possibility, that was better.

Katie just stared at her. She grabbed the walkie-talkie from her belt and lifted it to her face. “We have a situation. One of our girls has woken up from her hypnos—“

Bethany wrestled it out of her hands and threw it straight into the pure possibility, where it dissolved instantly. There was a moment where no one spoke, and the camp counselor’s facade of friendliness abruptly faded away. She was glaring at Bethany now, a sneer on her face.

“Oh, you’re in big trouble, young lady. Looks like we won’t spend the rest of the morning horse-rising, after all.” Her eyes flashed. “I’m taking you back to the camp.” She reached for Bethany’s arm, but Bethany leaped back.

“Don’t even _think_ about it.” Bethany amazed herself with the uninhibited strength in her own voice. “You’re not going to do that to me again.”

“I’m not, am I?” The woman snorted. “And where will you go, Catherine? You’re surrounded. One word and I’ll get every single Scout to take you back there.”

“Here’s what you don’t understand about me,” Bethany said quietly. “I never make the same mistake twice.“

She turned and ran.

Or more specifically, she ran to the _horse_. Katie lunged for her, grabbing her around the middle. Bethany would’ve slapped herself if she could. She wished she had her shapeshifting powers. If she did, she could turn into sleeping gas or a jet-plane and she’d be gone.

“Let me go!” she screamed. The anger she’d bottled up, ever since losing Gwen and Orion, started to let loose. She kicked and elbowed. Her fists were clenched, but her arms were trapped underneath the woman’s. The harder Bethany struggled, the more the camp counselor squeezed. She couldn’t get free!

And then, suddenly, she could. Bethany didn’t look back. She stumbled forward and took off running towards the horse. With just her luck, the camp counselor would be gone in a few seconds. It was the first time Bethany actually wanted someone to get swallowed up by the pure possibility, but did she care? Not really.

Mounting a horse was much harder without some type of ladder to help her up, but luckily, this horse wasn’t very tall. After several attempts, Bethany managed to get her foot in the stirrup without falling backwards. Grunting, she threw her hands around the horse’s neck and yanked herself up.

“What is this?!”

Bethany looked up, and she gasped out loud. The pure possibility was right behind the camp counselor. Not only that, but her entire hand was gone. Quickly being followed by her arm, which led to the rest of her body. In just a few seconds, she was gone.

Just like the way it’d happened to Gwen and Orion.

She heard their goodbyes in her head. Gwen smiling at her, Orion holding her hands. Both of them, gone. All because of _her_. Bethany gritted her teeth in an effort to push it all away.

The camp counselor had vanished. Bethany was trembling and sick to her stomach, but vaguely relieved. The horse backed away uneasily. Realizing she should probably get out of here, Bethany grabbed the reins and forced them to the left. She pressed her heels into the horse’s belly, and just like that, they were flying.

The world spun as Bethany found her way through the woods. Now that she wasn’t brainwashed, riding on a horse this fast kind of terrified her. Okay, in any other situation, where she wasn’t getting chased down by pure possibility, it _might_ be fun. But because that’s exactly what was going on, it really was the opposite.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that the pure possibility was following close behind. Not at a crawl, like it had been before. And not _as_ fast as it had been yesterday. But it was definitely close, and if she wasn’t moving fast already, it would’ve reached her by now. She kicked her heels again into the horse’s stomach, willing it to speed up.

The lump in Bethany’s throat grew. Her breathing wasn’t right. It wasn’t regular. It was too shallow, too deep. The woods were so big. They weren’t going to make it. What if Bethany spent the rest of her life running from this? Shouldn’t she be facing it?

Yes, she _should_. But she needed a plan. She needed to defeat Nobody and get rid of the pure possibility, and she wasn’t exactly sure how to do either. It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea where she was going. She’d just automatically headed back towards the summer camp, which ironically seemed the safest place to be right now.

At least, until she could regain her bearings and defeat Nobody. She felt like she was on the verge of a panic attack, and was that good for defeating anything? Probably not.

Bethany forced herself to take deep breaths. She might not have her powers or her friends, but she could _do_ this. She just had to . . . _be more fictional_. The boy magician’s words sent a warm feeling in her heart, and even made her feel a little calmer. She missed him, but at least his advice was still with her. Embracing her fictional side always helped. 

In the path ahead, Bethany heard voices. It took her a moment to realize they were coming from the Girl Scouts, who were all facing towards Bethany as they stood in the middle of the pathway. Her eyes widened. She pulled at the reins, and her horse slowed down, just enough that she wouldn’t accidentally barrel into them.

“What _is_ that?” one of the girls exclaimed. Bethany realized she was referring to the pure possibility, which was only a few yards behind her now. She’d gained _some_ distance from it, but it wasn’t much.

Bethany sighed, clenching her shaking hands tighter around the reins. “Something you should _not_ be around. We need to go. _Right now_.”

“Go?” Another girl smiled. “But why? We’re having so much fun!”

“We _aren’t_ —“ She rolled her eyes. “The camp counselor told us to go back to the camp! Because we have to get away from _that_.” She pointed at the pure possibility.

“But . . . it’s fog!”

All the other girls nodded in agreement.

“It doesn’t matter what it is, okay? We have to go. You’re all going to disappear!” She pointed to the pure possibility. “ _See_? It’s wiping out everything! Don’t you care?”

“It’s just fog, it’s not going to hurt us!” one of the girls said with a laugh.

Her frustration rose. What could she do to convince them? She rose her eyebrows. “The camp counselor _ordered_ us to go.”

That seemed to change their minds.

Smiling as if this was exciting or something (which it was to them, apparently), they turned their horses around. To Bethany’s annoyance, they only started walking the other way, as if what they were facing _wasn’t_ dangerous. She wasn’t sure how to convince them that it was, but she did know she had to get them moving.

“She said we need to go as fast as we can,” Bethany urged, tossing another glance behind her. “It’s _really_ important.”

At her words, all of the Girl Scouts sped up. Bethany released a sigh of relief, but it wasn’t over. Even while moving fast, she wasn’t sure they could outrun the pure possibility. But they’d have to try.

The group galloped through the forest, the sound of hooves being the only thing Bethany could hear. Not having nearly any experience riding horses, she held on her dear life. She was at the front of the group, mostly so she could move faster. And to keep everyone following her.

She wasn’t sure why she was helping them, exactly. These girls were strangers. She’d never trusted strangers, or been one to help them. But they were brainwashed. They didn’t know any better, and if Bethany could guess, maybe none of them actually wanted to be here. They were innocent.

They didn’t deserve to get wiped away like Gwen and Orion had. She couldn’t stand by and let that happen to more people. Even if they didn’t care to be saved. The evil characters, though? She wouldn’t bother to help them.

The memory of Gwen and Orion disappearing made Bethany’s eyes sting. She blinked hard. She hadn’t thought about them at all since getting brainwashed. Or if she had, she didn’t remember. What if the rest of her friends were gone, too? What if she was alone forever, and she’d never see them again?

_Don’t focus on that,_ she thought to herself. _You’ll get them back. You’ll get all your friends back,_ and _you’ll get your father back. You_ will _. Just save the world, and things can be okay again._

But she didn’t really believe it, no matter how much she wanted to. She was facing this alone. Her stomach twisted. This was it. Her destiny. And destiny _sucked_.

All she’d ever wanted was to find her dad, not save the whole _world_. She’d never been cut out to be a selfless hero, like Kiel and Gwen were. Of course, Owen _said_ she was, so maybe he was right. She didn’t know why. Heroes always won. They did the right thing. Bethany wasn’t sure she did either.

In other words, she didn’t feel much like a hero. Unlike Owen, heroism wasn’t something she was very concerned about, anyway. She wasn’t very selfless, unless it came to her friends and family. Really, she was only fighting for them. For herself, so she could have some happiness again.

As long as she got this under control and somehow defeated Nobody, she might just win. And if she didn’t win, at least she’d have tried. Maybe Gwen was rubbing off on her, because that sounded _exactly_ like a thing she’d say.

But trying was what counted. Giving up just wasn’t an option. Since she didn’t have her powers or friends, she just needed a better plan. No, get better _at_ her plan. Because her other plans hadn’t worked out so great. They’d all ended pretty badly; a reason she _should’ve_ stuck with her original plan to defeat Nobody on her own in the first place!

Bethany was alone, and this time, it was different from all the other times. Those times, it’d been on purpose. She’d wanted the space and time to herself, since it was hard to even trust anyone after her dad disappeared.

Then came Owen, the first person she could trust. Her first real friend. That changed everything.

God, she wished he was here.

She could really use his support right now. Or his knowledge about how to win these things. If anyone had information about how to save the day, it’d be him. He’d read enough books to understand how villains like Nobody were defeated, even if Bethany had never heard of villains _like_ Nobody before.

She had no powers, no family, and not even a hint of how to fix things. But she’d keep going on, despite all the loss and pain. She’d try to save the world, try to defeat Nobody, so someday, there’d be a future where they could all finally be safe. Where nothing would ever tear them apart again.

Bethany thought back to the conversation she’d had with Owen all those weeks ago, when they’d talked in the library. Bethany had wanted to defeat Nobody on her own. She _always_ had. Owen had won their argument, convincing her they would have a better chance of winning if they brought their friends. Ironically, she’d listened.

And ironically, he‘d been wrong.

Bethany had ended up losing everyone she loved along the way, just like what she’d feared would happen. If she hadn’t brought them into this, they’d all be okay. From the very beginning, she hadn’t wanted to bring them along for this exact reason. But it seemed that protecting her friends had never been Bethany’s strong suit. She’d learned that the hard way.

_I guess I got what I wanted_ , she thought _. I guess_ _I’m going to defeat Nobody alone, after all._

Suddenly, the loudest noise Bethany had ever heard rocketed through her ears. Her horse reacted before she did. It neighed loudly, as did all the other horses. Bethany flinched. It was all over in a few seconds, but it sounded familiar to her. Had that been . . . an _explosion_?

She glanced around. She couldn’t see any fires nearby, but she _could_ see smoke rising in the air a good distance away. Uh-oh. Whatever had happened, it didn’t sound good. Unless one of her friends was involved (which, of all people, would probably be Kiel), she didn’t want to get involved. She had other things to worry about, anyway.

Bethany clenched the reins harder, urging the horse to keep going. With how scared it seemed to be, the horse only moved faster. She didn’t blame it; she felt the same way. They were getting closer to the summer camp. She could see the sign pointed to it — one mile until they reached it. Not bad! Maybe they _would_ make it.

And then, to add onto the pile of bad things, a few screams filled the air behind her.

Bethany huffed. “Oh, come _on_ , what now?”

She looked back, and her mouth dropped open. Half of the group was gone.

* * *

_“I know that I messed it up, time and time again. I just wanna roll my sleeves up, and start again . . .”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking like a month to write this haha! I spent such a long time editing Charm’s pov bc I needed to research like so much for her part, but I really like how it turned out.
> 
> SOMEHOW I wrote the chapter after this before this chapter was done so I’m posting both at the same time (ik WILD). Anyway can’t wait for you guys to read the next chapter !! 
> 
> prepare to grab tissues


	52. Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get even worse.

**_Fire and the Flood (by Vance Joy)_ **

_“Everything is fine, when your hand is resting next to mine. Next to mine . . .”_

* * *

When Kiel opened his eyes, he found himself at the bottom of a hill.

The next thing he noticed was that there was fire. Fire _everywhere_. It danced across the grass, even spreading to some of the trees. It prickled his skin, making his eyes burn. A thick cloud of smoke filled the air, making it hard to see much of anything. He coughed a few times.

If that wasn't surprising enough, the next thing he noticed _was_. Looking down, he saw that his disguise was gone. The Boy Scout outfit was gone, replaced with his regular black Magisterian clothes. Wearing his normal clothes again brought him some comfort, though Kiel wasn't sure _why_ he was wearing them.

Suddenly, his eyes went wide. He reached down to his belt, where his wand-knives were normally stashed. His hands came in contact with them, and he immediately let out a breath of relief. _Whew_. Being super talented and all, he could easily recreate the wand-knives. But losing them was always annoying.

So what had caused his disguise spell to fade? Kiel frowned. His spells usually faded when he fell asleep, but the past few nights he'd recasted the spell, so it wouldn't wear off. He guessed he must've fallen unconscious when he hit the ground. Maybe that's why the spell faded. Not that he really cared. He'd missed wearing his cape!

The events from earlier came hurtling back to him.Slowly, Kiel sat up. His hair was sticking straight up and his throat felt incredibly dry, but he only cared about one thing. He stumbled to his feet, a bit shakily. He glanced around, waving his hand in an effort to clear the smoke.

Where was Charm?

Fear washed over him, an emotion that Kiel Gnomenfoot really shouldn’t have. But no, it wasn’t fear! He was just a _little_ worried for his friend. He couldn’t see her anywhere. He wasn’t sure if the ringing in his ears was from the explosion or something else, but it was all he could hear.

Everything felt cold. And yet, the world felt unbearably hot.

Kiel ignored all of it. There were way more important things to focus on, so he stepped forward.

“Charm?”

His ears were ringing louder than ever, making it hard for him to hear his own voice. He strained to hear a response, but if there was one, he didn’t hear it.

“Charm!” he shouted again, and waited a few seconds before adding, “Where are you?”

Again, nothing. He was sure he would’ve heard a response even with his ears ringing. He could hear himself pretty well, so if Charm was responding, he’d have to hear her, too. Only problem was, he didn’t.

_Don’t worry_ , Kiel told himself. This wasn’t the time to worry. He had everything under control! It was a little hard to see right now, but he’d find her. He was fully capable of anything, so he _knew_ he would. Plus, he was pretty sure he’d seen her jump off the hill, right before the explosion. If he’d survived, she must’ve, too.

Kiel looked towards the top of the hill, which she’d been standing on before she’d pushed him. Maybe she was still coming down? But racing down the hill . . . it wasn’t Charm. It was the pure possibility. Had she . . . no, she couldn’t have! She had to be somewhere beyond it; it was just hard to find her with all the smoke everywhere.

Eyes widening, Kiel turned back. He ran to the trees, looking all around for her. It was less smokey here, so he _should_ have an easier time finding her. But it only was harder. He turned his head in every direction, called out her name a dozen times, but he didn’t see or hear from her.

Okay, maybe it _was_ time to worry.

Charm was a pretty fast runner, so of course there was a chance she’d gotten away faster than he had. But she’d pushed him from the hill. The last thing he’d seen before everything exploded was her face, an almost sad look in her eyes as she stared down at him.

If anyone had sacrificed themselves, it should’ve been him. Not Charm. Kiel had almost died hundreds of times, but every time he’d fallen off a cliff or gotten eaten by a dragon, he’d turned out fine. Though she wasn’t really the sacrificing type, Charm was smart. Smart enough to save herself and others, to get Kiel out of the messes he’d caused.

Of all people, Kiel couldn’t lose Charm. He couldn’t even imagine losing her. They’d known each other for years, going on fun adventures together while kicking down Science Police left and right. Before anyone, there’d always been Charm. She wasn’t the nicest person or even the most exciting to be around, but she was his first friend.

He’d always tell her he had tons of friends before her, but really, Charm had been the first person who’d ever had his back. She’d stuck by him, no matter how annoying she said he was. And after not seeing each other for quite some time, it’d been nice having her around these past few days. Even if she’d yelled at him for the majority of that time. After all that, she couldn’t just be _gone_.

“Charm!” Kiel shouted, his hands cupped around his mouth. As the pure possibility drew closer, he continued further into the forest. “I’m coming to find you, okay? Alright? It’s me, Kiel.” His throat tightened. Kiel swallowed the uncomfortable sensation down. “It’s kind of rude to be hiding, y’know!”

No answer. Despite all the signs, Kiel tried to remain confident. “I know how you secretly like pulling pranks, but this would be a lot funnier if you’d come out!”

Again, nothing.

He forced a smile. “Actually, this is getting less funny the more I look for you. It’s not very funny, I’ll give you that. But I promise I’ll laugh when I see you. Just to give you the satisfaction, even though my pranks are _way_ funnier. But I can see that you’re trying, so I have to give you credit! You’re _very_ good at hiding.”

Just to his right, he heard the snapping of a twig. Instinctively, Kiel turned. He ran, hoping for the best. But, after leaping over a stream and bounding past a tree, he saw there was nothing but a rabbit.

“I didn’t accidentally turn you into a rabbit, did I?” Kiel asked it. He reached his hand out to pet it, but the rabbit only stared up at Kiel, it’s eyes wide and frightened. It leapt into a bush, and Kiel took a step back. “Guess that’s a no. I couldn’t see you being a rabbit, anyway. You’re not very _jumpy_.”

He nearly smiled at his own pun. Ha. _Jumpy_. But usually, Kiel had someone to laugh at his puns. Or at least ridicule them, like Charm did. He knew she secretly liked them, though. Everyone did. Kiel was naturally as funny as he was attractive!

All things considered, though, Kiel had a harder time laughing at his own jokes right now. _Yikes_. That wasn’t a good sign.

Kiel glanced over his shoulder, his worry rising. The pure possibility would reach him soon. He had to find her fast!” Come on out, Charm!” he said. “No need to keep hiding, it’s really not that funny anymore!” His vision was growing blurry for some odd reason. “How long are you gonna keep . . . c’mon Charm, don’t leave me hanging!”

The realization sunk in. It hit Kiel full-force, like he’d been hit by a train. Or a dragon. Or anything that was remotely humongous. What was he even doing, wandering around in the woods like things were fine? The answers were all here, right in front of him. It were staring him straight in the face, but he was just too stubborn to see it.

Charm was . . . gone?

No. _No_ , Kiel couldn’t give up on her. He couldn’t accept that! He was supposed to save everyone. If anyone was dying in an absolutely heroic way, it was Kiel. _Not_ Charm. She wasn’t gone. She couldn’t be. That would be ridiculous, because it’d mean Kiel had failed to protect her. And he never failed to protect anyone! He had to hold onto hope.

Kiel called out for her a few more times, clinging to the belief that he might still be able to save her. But she never replied. The hope draining from him, Kiel continued to search until the last possible moment. Through his blurred eyesight, he saw the pure possibility coming towards him. And there was only one thing left to do.

He wanted to stay. With every fiber of his being, he wanted to stay and find Charm and act like everything was okay. But it wasn’t. And if he stayed, he might get sucked in by the pure possibility, too. That’d just be selfish of him, because Owen and Kara were counting on him to bring back the time bracelet. It wouldn’t be very heroic of him if he failed.

Charm had told him to teleport away. So, once he was left with no other option, he did. Taking his teleportation button in his hand, he pressed down on it. His surroundings vanished, replaced by the outside of the arts and crafts cabin. He was standing in the same exact spot that he’d been in an hour ago, right where he and Charm had said their goodbyes to Owen and Kara.

How could things change so quickly in so little time?

In a daze, Kiel started to move. His vision still seemed blurry. He wondered if something was wrong with him. Maybe he was having trouble seeing, or something. His eyes were working, but his brain was slow to decipher the images. Everything loomed in front of him two-dimensionally.

Looking around, he saw that the summer camp was surprisingly empty. Where _was_ everyone? That’s when he heard it. In the distance, he heard the faint sound of cheering. Kiel had to smile at that. If that was the distraction Owen and Kara were making, they had to be doing a good job of it.

It must’ve only been minutes, but it felt like years before Kiel found where the noise was coming from. As he neared the amphitheater that Owen and Kara were in, he stopped. That’s when he realized what was wrong with his vision. It wasn’t blurry for no reason, it was blurry because . . . _oh_.

Just to make sure he wasn’t imagining it, he touched his cheeks in disbelief. That confirmed it. Yeah, he _was_ crying. But Kiel Gnomenfoot didn’t cry! And if he felt sad, he just brushed it off and ignored it. Better not to show that in front of anyone.

He didn’t remember the last time he’d cried. The only memory that popped into his head was one of a few days ago, when Quanterium had fallen to pieces. He remembered crying, someone holding onto him for dear life . . . but he didn’t remember who.

Maybe it’d been that girl Owen was telling him about. The one he didn’t remember. Then again, it probably hadn’t been. Kiel never cried in front of anyone before. Maybe he had once, in front of the Magister. But that was it. Crying only ruined his image. It made him look weak. People needed to see him happy and confident, not sad and miserable.

Reaching up, Kiel rubbed his eyes and cheeks so there’d be no evidence he’d been crying. It was best to keep it hidden, no matter what. He had never cried in front of his friends before. Now wasn’t the time to start.

And, seeing the news he was about to deliver, he’d rather keep it that way.

* * *

The more Owen stood there, the more he began to panic. His entire disguise was fading away, as if by some kind of magic spell. Whatever was going on, it had something to do with Kiel’s disguise spell wearing off. Without it, he was just a normal kid pretending to be a brainwashed Boy Scout, a girl, _and_ a magician.

Oh _great_. Just great.

Looking at Kara, he saw that _her_ Girl Scout outfit was fading away too. In replace of it was her previous clothes: a yellow-knit cardigan over a long, white skirt. After rescuing her from time prison, Owen remembered that Bethany had lent her some clothes. He still wasn’t sure if Bethany just borrowed that from inside a book, or if she’d gotten it from her own home. Probably the former.

Nothing made sense. Why were their disguises fading away? A horrible thought occurred to Owen. Had something happened to Kiel? Or to his magic? Obviously something bad could’ve happened to _both,_ which would be awful. During the Kiel Gnomenfoot series, Kiel’s spells might wear off if he fell unconsious, or more likely if his spell-book got destroyed. Neither option made Owen feel good.

Owen’s frantic eyes locked on Kara’s. “Look at _your_ clothes!”

Kara glanced down at herself, her eyes widening. “Owen, I think the disguise spell wore—“

A thunderous applause cut her off. It made both of them jump. Slowly, they turned to see everyone clapping. Scouts were jumping up and down on their feet, astonished smiles on their faces.

Owen expected them to be shocked. Or horrified, because Owen and Kara weren’t actually attending the summer camp. Why were they cheering? Their cover had been blown! Then, it hit him. They thought it was a _magic trick_. Right! That made sense.

“You just turned into a boy!” a boy shouted from the front row. “That was so cool!”

He smiled nervously, holding the microphone to his mouth. “Oh, yep. I-I turned into a boy. That was a magic trick!” His voice cracked, which probably gave him away more. This could’ve turned out _so_ much worse.

Kara nudged him. “Don’t act so nervous! They think we’re awesome!”

“No. They think _you’re_ awesome.”

Her laugh echoed in his ears. “True. I’m pretty cool. But they wouldn’t be cheering if you weren’t.”

Owen blushed.

As the crowd cheered, he spotted a familiar face in the crowd. A boy with black hair and Magisterian clothes — apparently the disguise spell had worn off for Kiel, too. Relief hit Owen like a train. He nudged Kara. “Hey, look! They’re back!”

Kara followed where he was looking. Her smile widened. “ _Finally_.”

Owen turned to face the crowd. “Okay, everyone, that’s it! Show’s over. But thank you for liking our—“ The applause drowned on his words. He tried finishing his sentence, but it was no use. At this point, no one could hear him anymore.

“Bow!” Kara said in his ear.

“What?”

She laughed. She slid her hand into his, doing a dramatic bow for the crowd. Realizing what she meant, Owen quickly copied her, though his bow turned out more stiff and awkward than her’s had looked. They straightened back up. Kara was looking at the crowd, but Owen’s eyes lingered on their joined hands. Both of them were grinning.

“Thank you for coming!” Kara said, her voice loud in the microphone. She put the microphone up to Owen’s mouth.

Unprepared for what to say, Owen leaned forward and said, “Uh — thank you!”

Next thing he knew, there was a standing ovation. From what he could see, everyone was standing — even the people in the back row! Owen felt Kara squeezing his hand, which was probably the only thing grounding him to reality right now. They were doing a standing ovation for _him_? Even if this was all happening in a book, it was probably one of the best moments of his life.

He watched as the Scouts started hopping from their seats, heading out of the auditorium. The smile hadn’t left his face. Despite the fact that he hadn’t stopped shaking since he got here, he actually felt . . . really _good_.

Owen turned to Kara. “You were amazing out there! On the stage?” He could’ve smacked himself. Where else would he be talking about? “That was incredible! You were incredible. _I_ was . . .”

“Incredible?” Kara filled in, a grin on her face. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she looked proud. He wasn’t used to people looking at him that way, even if Kara tended to do it more often than most.

“Yeah.” Owen breathed a laugh. “I can’t believe that worked, even when our disguises went away! You know how in superhero comics when the superheroes take off their costumes and there’s a huge identity reveal? It was like _that_ but, everyone reacted really well.”

“I _know_ ,” she said. “And you were great out there, too! The only reason it worked was because you know so much about those magic tricks. You could’ve easily done it without me.”

Owen wanted to disagree with her, that no, it _wouldn’t_ have worked if he’d done it without her, but he was too busy soaking in all the praise. He wasn’t a good performer, and sure, he’d messed up pretty much all of his acts, but he was still proud of himself. That was something he rarely could say, if ever.

As Kiel neared the stage, Owen glanced behind him in confusion. Where was Charm? Maybe she was behind him, and he just couldn’t see her in the crowd. He craned his head, searching, until he heard Kara say, “Took you long enough! So, you got it?”

“It’s all fixed.” Kiel smiled, fishing through his pocket to pull out the time bracelet. He handed it up to Kara, who slipped it on her wrist. Owen felt a rush of satisfaction, to know they’d gotten it fixed, but there was something missing. Something didn’t feel right.

“Hey, uh, where’s Charm?” Owen asked, kneeling down so he was at Kiel’s level.

Kiel took a deep breath, as if gathering himself. Then, lifting himself onto the stage, he sat in between Owen and Kara. And he started to explain. Throughout the story, Kiel’s expression grew more and more pained. By the end of it, Owen saw tears in Kara’s eyes. When Kiel finished, he looked over at Owen, like he was waiting for him to say something.

But Owen couldn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to say a word. He could do nothing but imagine Charm being swept away by pure possibility, as if she’d never existed. He couldn’t even imagine it . . . it all seemed so unfair. Unreal. Impossible. How was it possible, that she was just _gone_? _How?_

His entire world came crashing down. He expected himself to feel sad, but he just . . . he just didn’t believe it. Why should he? Even when Charm wasn’t around, she’d occupied his thoughts daily. It was like she was always there, giving him advice. She meant _so_ _much_ to him, and they’d just started to become friends again! How was this fair?

Owen looked away from Kiel, from Kara, having no idea how to face any of this. He just felt so _angry_. First, there was a chance that they’d never see Bethany and Gwen and Orion again. Now Charm?

“I don’t believe you,” he finally choked out, meeting Kiel’s eyes again.

Kiel put a hand on his shoulder. “I tried everything, but she’s gone. I had trouble believing it too. Of all people, it should’ve been her who came back from this.” He tried for a smile. “Everyone knows I’m the one who should be dying heroically around here!”

Owen hated this. He _really_ hated this.

“No,” he said, shoving away. He stood up abruptly. “ _No_. She’s not _gone_. She can’t be gone!”

Kara scrambled to her feet. He felt the faintest touch on his shoulder, pulling him back. The tone in her voice was anything but harsh. “Owen . . .”

His eyes burned. “I can’t _believe_ this.“

“Me neither,” she said, rubbing her tearful eyes. “I guess I’m just used to things like this happening.”

“W-Well, I’m _not_.” He sounded angry. He _was_ angry. This was all wrong. So, so wrong.

Kiel stood up, too. “I did everything I could to save her.” He sighed, looking down. “I’m _really_ sorry.”

Owen let the tears fall.

* * *

It wasn’t long before they’d left the amphitheater, their spirits low and hearts aching. And if the news about Charm hadn’t been bad enough, what they saw less than a mile away was worse. There, steadily racing up to them, was a gigantic white wall. The sight of it was enough to almost make Owen turn back around, dig himself into a hole and hide there forever.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. It was actually _here_. The pure possibility had reached them, and there was nowhere else to go. He looked around, mouth hanging open as he watched the pure possibility absorb the trees, the cabins, and even some unsuspecting people. Oh, this was _bad_.

“So this is it,” Kara said, her voice soft.

Above them, even more dark clouds were gathering, looking like they might burst at any moment. The sun was gone now, and just over the tree line lightning flashed, bringing faint rumbles of thunder with it. Owen’s stomach did somersaults, churning as violently as the incoming storm. Perfect weather for the last (and worst) day on Earth!

“What are we gonna do?” Owen asked, feeling faint.

Kiel patted a terrified Owen on the shoulder. “We’ll get through this.”

“ _How_?” Owen said, his voice rising an octave. “We’ve lost Charm, we haven’t even _found_ our other friends, and now _this_? How are we supposed to save the world with just the three of us?”

Kiel winked, though it didn’t dissuade from the fact that he still looked sad. Although they’d all stopped crying, the feeling had never really left. It hung over Owen like a heavy shadow, wearing down his heart. He felt weak and fragile.

“You’re with Kiel Gnomenfoot, remember?” Kiel said, with less confidence than normal. “Saving the world is my forte.”

“Yeah, I know,” Owen replied uneasily.

“So let’s go find Nobody and fight back! It’ll be worth it. We have my magic and Kara’s time bracelet to help us. _And_ your imagination.”

Owen nodded, smiling a little. Somehow, in the face of everything that scared him, hearing Kiel always gave him hope. It was enough to believe that things might just work out, and nothing else would get any worse. Somehow.

He took a deep breath, trying to remain optimistic. “Okay . . . okay, there’s still time to fix this! We can fix this. Let’s try out the time bracele—“

Kara to cut him off. “Wait . . . not yet. We want to wait until the last possible second to use it.”

Owen motioned at the pure possibility. “This _is_ the last possible second. If we wait any longer, the whole world will fall apart!”

“Trust me, the world isn’t falling apart _yet_. We’ve still got some time!”

“Yeah, like _five minutes_!”

“And we’re gonna put those five minutes to use.” Kara looked at both of them. “Hey, if Bethany’s still out there, is there a chance she’d get split in half again?”

The thought left a bad taste in Owen’s mouth. “Yeah, ‘cause that stone never got destroyed.”

“I _could_ try to destroy it with magic again,” Kiel said.

“Would that even work? It didn’t last time.”

“I have a better idea,” Kara said. “Kiel, can you give me the stone?”

He looked surprised. “Oh, sure.” He fished through his pocket and handed it to her. “What are you gonna do with it?”

“You guys know the plan, right?” Kara asked, some urgency in her voice. She grabbed both of them by the shoulders, as if they were about to play a football game. Behind them, the thunder boomed louder. The wind grew stronger, whipping their hair across their faces.

Owen nodded slowly, not liking where this was going. “Yeah, um, I know it by heart!”

“Good,” she said, slipping off her time bracelet and putting it on Owen’s non-injured wrist. “Everything I’ve taught you about time travel — it comes down to this moment.” She leaned closer to him, regarding him with seriousness. “You remember my lessons?”

“ _What_ lessons? You’ve taught me _nothing_ about time travel!”

“Okay, I taught you _some_ things. But you know the plan, and the buttons to press, so that’s good. It’s pretty easy to learn, anyway.”

Owen bit his lip. “Why can’t _you_ just control the time bracelet?”

“I trust you to keep it safe,” Kara said, giving him a little shrug.

Kiel stared at her, a glint in his eyes. He was bouncing from foot to foot. “What’s your idea?”

“Bethany, Gwen, and Orion tried to destroy the stone, and they failed. I just remembered that if Bethany’s in danger — which she probably is — she can’t jump out. She might even be with Nobody right _now_.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Owen said. “We’ve gotta find her, Gwen, and Orion. We’re their only hope!”

He couldn’t help himself from adding a Star Wars reference. It just made him feel better, especially in situations where he was probably about to die. Like right now, for instance.

“Right!” Kara said. “And I know a way to help Bethany.” She held up the stone. “If I can destroy this thing for good, she won’t get split in half again. She’ll be safe.”

A pang of fear hit Owen. He stepped forward, his hands shaking. “Wait a minute. Kara, _please_ don’t say what I think you’re about to say.”

“I’m going out there,” she said, her expression strangely calm. “If I stay, my anti-paradoxness might ward off any change you guys have of winning, anyway.” She gave them a small smile. “This way, I know for _sure_ I’m doing something good.”

Quickly, she hugged them both. Owen, barely registering what was going on, missed the fact that she’d hugged him longer than she had Kiel, her arms squeezing him tightly. He was too shocked to even hug her back. Just as Owen started to put his arms around her, she pulled away. Owen wanted to pull her in for another hug — one where he _actually_ got to hug her back — but he reluctantly dropped his arms, letting her go.

Rocking on her heels, Kara stared at him, sadness in her eyes. “I’m glad we got to spend some time together. I’m _really_ going to miss you, Owen.” She glanced at Kiel. “You too, Kiel. It was great hanging out with you.”

“Yeah, it was!” Kiel said, sounding confused. “Look, this plan sounds super great and all, but _I’m_ usually the one to sacrifice myself for the greater good. In fact, I’ll gladly do it instead! Are you sure you want to—“

“No, really, I’m _positive_! This is something I need to do.”

With that, she started running away from them. Owen exchanged a wide-eyed look with Kiel, who looked more impressed than anything. _No, no, no._ He couldn’t let this happen! Even if Kara thought she was doing the right thing, even if it _was_ right — how could she just walk inside there like it was no big deal? It wasn’t even rational! Owen couldn’t let her do this. He _couldn’t_ face losing her, too.

So he did the only logical thing: he ran after her.

“Kara!”

Owen wasn’t sure she had heard him, because thunder crashed as soon as he said it. He repeated it loudly, hoping the thunder hadn’t drowned his words out again. Something made her turn around. Maybe it was because she’d heard him, or maybe she’d just heard his tone of desperation.

Either case, she swung back around. Her expression was surprised, as if she hadn’t expected him to run after her. She didn’t say anything. Her brow was furrowed; she looked like she was in pain.

“What are you _doing_?!” Owen yelled.

“Get somewhere safe!” Kara said. “I’ve been trying to run from this for years and that hasn’t done _anything_! I’m going to do something meaningful for a change.”

His eyes widened. “ _That’s_ what this is about?”

“That’s what it’s always about.”

“Are you crazy?!”

She laughed at that, almost hysterically. “Maybe I am! But this is the first time in my life where _something_ makes sense.” She started to back away from him.

He panicked. He moved forward, reaching for her hand. “Wait! You can’t—“

The lightning flashed blindingly, interrupting his words and highlighting the space that stretched between them. Thunder boomed at the same time, making it sound as if the ground was breaking apart beneath their feet. Owen wasn’t sure if he was imagining things, but it felt like the entire world was shaking around them.

For a second, he caught a glimpse of Kara’s expression. It was the same look he’d seen on her face before the time agents had taken her away, except now, she looked more determined than he’d ever seen her.

“You can’t go,” Owen finished softly.

The sky broke open just then, sheets of rain pouring down on them. Within seconds, they were drenched and soaking wet. The rain pounded down on them, chilling his entire body. He blinked several times, barely able to see that well through the downpour. She was still looking at him, blinking rapidly as rain cascaded down her eyelashes and face.

Kara attempted to move her hand out of his grasp, but he held on tighter, refusing to let go. “I can _do_ this, Owen. Let me!”

“It’s too dangerous!” He had to yell to be heard over the storm. “Can we _please_ come up with a new plan? You’re going to disappear forever if you go out there!”

“Maybe I don’t care! Maybe I’m willing to sacrifice myself if the world needs it! I don’t care how dangerous it is!”

Owen flinched at the angry look on her face. “I can’t let you go out there!”

“ _Seriously_?” She finally pulled her hand away from his, using it to swipe her sopping-wet hair off of her forehead. “What makes you think I’ll listen to you?”

His face flushed. “I-I don’t— no, it’s not like that!”

“Then what? I’m trying to save Bethany! I’ve always had faith in you, Owen! Have faith in _me_!”

Owen stared at her, feeling like he was in pain. “That’s not the problem!”

“Then what _is_ the problem? Why don’t you trust me to do this?!”

Thunder boomed again, somehow louder this time. Owen jumped at the noise. “I _do!”_

“No, you _don’t_ , Owen!”

“Maybe that’s not such a bad thing,” he said, his voice coming out more of a mumble. He was shaking all over, and in spite of the cold rain, his face felt hot. “We’ve already lost Charm. W-We’ve lost practically everyone!”

“I know!”

“I know that you want to save the world, but sacrificing yourself isn’t the way to do it! You don’t _need_ to do it!”

“Yes, I _do_!” Kara shouted as lightning flashed again.

“ _Why_?”

“Just — it has to be me, okay? It _has_ to be me.” Desperation was in her voice. “If there’s one thing I can do, for _once_ , I just want to be in charge of something. I want to finally save someone!”

Owen shook his head. “L-Look, I get it. I get that you want to save the world, but don’t do it like _this_. _Please_ not like this! Just let me do it! I can go through there and nothing will happen to me!”

“No, it won’t work if you go. I’m the only person who should go out there.”

He stared at her, his anger building up. “Why do you always have to be like this?”

“Like _what_?”

“Like how you’re always sacrificing yourself for everyone! You locked yourself in a time prison j-just to prevent all these bad things from happening, and — and you did it despite _all_ of these people hating you. You weren’t even caring about yourself — you were just thinking of — of protecting them!”

“Of _course_ I did it for them!” Kara shouted. “I did it for the world! For _you_ , for everyone! I’m _dangerous_ , Owen. I’ve hurt people.” She looked annoyed. “I’ve hurt you thousands of times, so yeah, locking myself up was all I could think of!“

“Yeah, because that worked out great!”

She glared at him. “My plan was working out fine until _you_ showed up.”

Owen’s eyes widened. “Hey, that’s kind of hurtful. I couldn’t control that! Nobody _sent_ me there.”

“Well maybe he _shouldn’t’ve_. All you’re doing is stopping me from saving the world, when this is the one time I think I might be doing the right thing!”

Owen didn’t respond right away, feeling a little hurt and more than a little angry. When he spoke, his voice came out harsher than he’d meant it to. “Really? So that’s it? I should just let you go out there and die? Out of, what, pride?”

Kara’s frown deepened. “This isn’t pride. It’s just something I need to do.” She turned her head towards the pure possibility wall. “This was inevitable, anyway. The world always gets destroyed when I’m around, so if I’m _not_ around, maybe saving it will be a piece of cake.” She glanced back at him. “This is just the price I have to pay.”

Owen stared at her. “Do you hear yourself? You’re talking crazy!”

“No, I’m not! This is how it _works_. Paradoxes don’t effect me, remember?

“Yeah, I do. And this might’ve mattered in your world, but I really don’t think it matters here. Why can’t you just let it go?“

“Let it go?” Kara’s brows furrowed, pain in her voice. “How am I supposed to let something like that go?! How am I supposed to know everything will be fine this time? If you think I can just let this go, you’re wrong.“

Owen sighed. “Look, I know you feel guilty for destroying the world all those times, but you aren’t at fault now. You don’t need to pay any price! We’ll find another way, okay? We’ll use the time bracelet and we’ll fix everything! Just . . .” He reluctantly held his hand out. “Come with us. We can do that time travel thing, and help our friends, and . . . maybe all of this can be okay again.”

Kara hesitated. Her eyes flickered down to his hand, and he noticed her slowly lifting her own hand, moving it towards his. But something seemed to change her mind. Her hands curled into fists, and she took a step back.

“ _No_. I’m not going with you, Owen,” she said firmly. “I’ve made up my mind. This is about Bethany, not just me.”

Owen let his hand fall. “I know, I’m worried about her too. I don’t want her to get split in half again, but I think we just need to find some other way to help her. Some way that doesn’t hurt anyone!”

“Don’t you understand? This is the only thing we can do. You _know_ this is the only way to destroy the stone.”

“I-I know . . . but sacrificing yourself now isn’t what you should be doing! If you would just — just think about your _own_ safety for once—“

“My safety isn’t important, not for something _this_ big! This is my _choice_. You can’t stop me!”

Owen grasped for the right words. “But — but you can’t! If you go through the pure possibility, you’ll disappear!”

“Yeah, and Bethany will be safe!” Her eyes were wide. “She won’t get split in half again! That’s exactly what we _need_! I don’t care about the cost if it means you’ll all be safer!”

“No!” Owen shouted, grabbing her arm again. “You don’t have to take this on by yourself. Just don’t go out there. _Please_!”

Kara pulled her arm away once again, glaring at him. “What’s your _problem_? Why won’t you let me go, Owen?!”

“I’m sorry, I just can’t!”

“Why not?! Because you don’t want me to finally do something right?!”

“No! O-Of _course_ not!”

“Okay! Then you don’t want me to save the world! Is that it, huh?” Thunder roared around them, matching Kara’s tone. For the first time, she looked almost scary. “Because I destroy _everything_ I touch, and I don’t deserve anything _less_?!”

Owen shook his head. “No!”

Kara was quickly looking more and more furious. “I’M TRYING TO HELP BETHANY! WHY WON’T YOU LET ME?!”

Wishing she’d stop shouting in his face, he flinched, taking a step back. “I don’t know!”

“ _WHY_?!”

“ _I don’t know_!”

Her eyes flashed with anger. “TELL ME _WHY_!”

“I CAN’T LOSE YOU AGAIN!”

The words had slipped out of his mouth so effortlessly. Owen’s eyes widened. He released his fists, which he hadn’t realized had been clenched. The anger swirling in his chest was fading, replaced by a feeling of sadness. Then, embarrassment, once he fully realized what he’d said.

It was true. He _couldn’t_ lose her. Not after three weeks of not knowing where she was, or if she was okay. Not after knowing that she had been suffering in solitary confinement. Not after only spending three and a half days with her. It wasn’t _fair_. Losing her again would be too much to handle. If he lost her, he’d never see her again.

“I’m sorry . . .” Owen continued weakly, after a few seconds of neither of them speaking. “I-I _know_ this is your choice, and it’s not fair of me to keep you from doing it but . . . I can’t lose you after everything that’s happened.” He looked everywhere but at her. “Not again, when I don’t even — when I don’t even know if . . . I’ll ever see—“ He cut himself off, his face reddening. This was _so_ embarrassing.

Kara stared at him, slowly breathing in and out. She didn’t say anything for a while. Her anger seemed to die down, and then, she only looked sad. She slowly moved closer to him, close enough to touch. When she spoke, her voice was quiet.

“I guess you know I feel, now!” she said, half-jokingly. “Watching you die all those times because of me.”

Owen‘s heart wasn’t in it. How could she make a joke about that? “Don’t say that. It was never your fault! And I’m _serious._ I can’t _— I can’t_ go through what you went through. I-If that happens, I’ll just— I don’t know—“

Kara gave him a small smile, as if everything was okay. “Hey . . .” She shook her head slightly. “You won’t lose me.”

“How do you know?”

Her smile faded. She blinked, her eyes serious. “I don’t. I’m sorry. I wish I knew.” She took a shaky breath, looking like she might cry. “I wish we had more time together.”

Owen swallowed hard, unable to wash away the lump that lodged itself in his throat. “Me too.”

“I know you’re scared,” Kara said. “So am I, but . . . I need you to _trust_ me.”

He nodded in response. Owen had pretty much _always_ trusted Kara. He trusted her to do the right thing, and to save the world and do a bunch of other awesome stuff. What he didn’t trust . . . it wasn’t Kara. It wasn’t even Kara’s plan.

He just didn’t trust that he’d see her again, if she went through with this. That‘s what scared him.

He didn’t want things to change.

For a few more seconds, they stood there, listening to the pouring rain and thunder that was so loud it filled Owen’s ears entirely. He became hyperaware of every little detail. The way the wind whipped through his hair, how much both of them were shaking, and how the rain barreled down on them.

With the lightning and the rain, it was hard to see anything clearly. He tried his best to focus on Kara, to ingrain this moment into his brain. No matter how long he stared at her, though, Owen doubted he’d be able to stay in this moment forever. Even if he really wished he could. If he still had his time powers he could’ve, but that was beside the point. He’d lost so many people in too short of time, and each loss felt like a punch in the stomach.

Owen wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the words. So badly, he wished he could do something to change Kara’s mind about this. There still had to be a different way to fix this — a different solution! She was going to erase herself to save everyone, to save Bethany. Destroying the stone was the best thing to do to help Bethany, but the price that came with it was for Kara to get sacrificed along the way. How was that fair?

“I’m sorry. I have to do this, Owen,” Kara said quietly. Tears brimmed in her eyes. “I think you know why.”

She reached up, tentative and unsure, and touched her frozen fingers to his cheek. He froze, his face growing warm. When he didn’t move, she gently cupped the rest of her hand there. Owen shuddered. He closed his eyes for a second, feeling the droplets of water run down his face. He opened them again to see her staring sadly at him.

Her hand suddenly left his cheek, and it felt like the last bit of sun was reseeding under a dark cloud. Owen reached out for her again, but it was too late. She was already running past him, sprinting to the one place he’d tried to stop her from going to. Towards the possibility wall, where — if she ran in there — she’d disappear forever.

“Wait!” he croaked, his heart dropping to the ground.

“Go!” Kara shouted, throwing a glance over her shoulder at him. Lightning flashed around them. “Without my time bracelet, this is all I can do to help!”

“You don’t have to do this.” He stumbled towards her. “Please, we can _still_ figure something else out! I know we can!”

She shook her head slightly, almost fondly. “You and your optimism. Look, there’s nothing else to figure out! This way I can save you! And _you_ can save the world. I have full faith in you, Owen. I always have. I know you can do it!”

_Why? I mess everything up!_ Owen wanted to say, but went against it. He started running towards her, but Kiel grabbed him by the arms, holding him back. Owen struggled and fought, trying his best to ease Kiel’s grip.

The boy magician held onto him tightly. “You can’t go out there. You have to trust her!”

“I don’t care!” Owen tried in vain to rip himself away, but Kiel refused to let go.

“It’s okay, Owen,” Kara said quietly, much closer to the wall of nothingness now. “All of us are going to disappear anyway, right? I need to do something to help Bethany, and doing this will help you, too. You’ve sacrificed yourself for me countless times! It’s about time I’ve done the same for you.”

“Don’t do this,” Owen pleaded. “ _Please_. We need you with us, to stop Nobody! We’re supposed to win this together, and . . .”

_And I don’t know if I can do this without you._

That’s what he wanted to say. What he would’ve said, if he was braver. But since he wasn’t, Owen just shook his head. “There _has_ to be some other way.”

“This _is_ the only way! I know that the future may be filled with uncertainty, but I know one thing: doing this _will_ give us a better chance of winning. I know it!” Kara forced a smile. “Besides, my older selves are still alive, so that has to mean I’ll get out of this somehow, right? You know me . . . immune to paradoxes. What could go wrong?”

Again, Owen fought against Kiel. “You can’t go out there, Kara!”

“I _have_ to,” Kara said, her voice breaking. “And if this all works out, I promise we’ll see each other again.” She inched closer to the wall. “Even if it happens in the past or a million years in the future, I _know_ we’ll find each other someday.”

“But what if we _don’t_ see each other again?” Owen asked, his eyes becoming wet. He stared, filled with horror as Kara looked at him for what seemed like the very last time. At that moment, he knew what she was about to do.

But instead of stepping towards the pure possibility, Kara paused. She looked between the pure possibility and Owen, as if deciding something. Owen knew that Kara had accepted her fate. She’d die to save Bethany, to help all of them. That’s just who she was. There were no regrets . . . except for one.

And that one regret, if Owen could guess, was what made her suddenly bolt towards him. Her wet hair whipped across her face as she ran, straight to Owen. He felt a surge of hope. Was she coming back?

As if thinking the same thing, Kiel released his grip on Owen, quietly taking a step back. A confused smile formed on Owen’s face. Through tearful eyes, he watched as she came closer and closer, only to come to a halt in front of him. The way she was looking at him made him feel nervous and hopeful all at once.

Kara took another step closer to him, and suddenly, they were standing so close that it made Owen’s stomach do somersaults. He didn’t think he’d ever been so close to her before, and that made him incredibly nervous. But he pushed the embarrassment aside and ignored the way his heart leapt. Those things were a lot less scary than losing her.

“Just in case we don’t . . .” Kara began. She hesitated. “Owen, you mean a lot to me and, I . . . I . . .” Owen waited for her to finish her sentence, but she never did. What she did next was even more surprising.

Faster than he could react, she grabbed him by the face and pulled him towards her. The next thing he knew, Kara’s lips were on his. His eyes grew huge. A jolt of electricity went through him, like an enormous shock wave. All of the fear and sadness he’d felt seconds before melted away. Without really thinking about it, his eyes fluttered closed.

And just like that, everything around them vanished. He forgot about the pure possibility, and Nobody, and even the fact that Kiel was standing there behind them. His brain stopped working completely. His arms were flailing awkwardly at his sides, as he was too shocked to do much of anything else.

Kara’s wet hair was dripping onto his cheek, causing even more drops of water to fall down his face, but he didn’t care about any of that. The entire world turned to sunshine. All his life, he’d never expected anything like this to happen. And now that it was, and he couldn’t tell if he was dreaming or not.

Owen’s heart was threatening to fly out of his chest, thrumming against his ribcage faster than he ever thought possible. He found himself unconsciously leaning in a bit more, lost in the whirlwind of a moment. Kara’s hands were still on his face and it made him feel dizzy all of the sudden. But it was the best kind of dizzy and despite the awkwardness of it all, he never, ever wanted it to end.

When she pulled away a few seconds later, Owen was blushing so hard that he couldn’t even look her in the eyes. Both of them slowly leaned away, her hands sliding from his face. Only when he gathered the courage to look at her did he catch sight of the shy grin on her face. Tears were in her eyes.

Owen’s mouth was hanging open. He had to glance down at his feet to make sure he wasn’t actually floating. His sneakers, although quite soggy, were still planted firmly on the ground. He was shaking violently, though he wasn’t sure if it was from the rain or from the excitement pounding in his veins.

Owen couldn’t believe it. Kara had just kissed him! _Him_! The idea felt like a wonderful dream, and even imagining the moment would never have brought it to life. It was hard to remember that this had been real, that he hadn’t dreamed it all up.

“Whoa!” Owen blurted out, his face quickly becoming redder. “I, um, I was _not_ expecting that. I have a very good imagination s-so, um, is this real? Did y-you . . . did you just _kiss_ me?”

Kara blushed. “Yeah.” Suddenly, she slapped her forehead. “I’m sorry! It’s just — these scenarios are usually the other way around for all of my future selves, and the idea of never seeing you again made me do something _really_ impulsive. But it’s true!” The smile reappeared on her face. “If I never see you again then that’s the only thing I want you to know.”

Owen shook his head in stunned disbelief. This had to be a dream. Suddenly, he was unable to hold back his smile. “You want me to know that . . . y-you _like_ me? You like . . . _me_?”

If she had said that she had six fingers or used to be a circus clown or secretly had blue hair instead of pink, it would’ve been less shocking. Anything she could’ve said would’ve been less shocking than her _kissing_ him, which was the very last thing Owen had ever expected her to do. He had to be dreaming. Had to be.

He was just so _surprised_! He had never expected her to do anything like that. He never thought she would actually have feelings for _him_. Unless she didn’t. Unless she was just messing with him. She probably _had_ meant it if she’d kissed him, but it was becoming blatantly harder for him to wrap his head around what he’d heard. She . . . she _liked_ him? She actually _liked_ him? How? _Why_? Since when?

He had so many questions. If anything, he’d expected that if he ever got the chance to tell her how he felt, she’d turn him down, saying that she only thought of him as a friend. The idea of her reciprocating his feelings made him nearly want to faint. Whether it was from sheer happiness or fear, he didn’t quite know. Definitely a mix of both.

Owen wanted to laugh. He wanted to tell her that he liked her, and then they could laugh about how absolutely _crazy_ this whole thing was. What a coincidence? He wasn’t sure how to react after just being kissed, but since he liked her back, couldn’t he just tell her? Wasn’t that how it worked?

He stared at Kara, waiting for her to answer. Waiting to wake up from the dream that he clearly was in. Or worse, for her to say she _didn’t_ like him. But no, that couldn’t be true! She’d _kissed_ him. He hadn’t imagined that, had he? Still, just to know this was all real, he needed to hear it from her. Some kind of validation, no matter how much it scared him.

Kara didn’t say anything right away. She continued to stare at him, her smile bright and beaming. Despite the tears in her eyes, it was the happiest she’d looked all day. Then, he noticed the grin slowly fade from her face. So did his, as reality came hurtling back.

When she opened her mouth, it was to say, “Destiny always brought me to you, Owen. No matter what . . . it always pushed me towards _you_ , even when I tried to fight it.” She bit her lip as tears flooded her eyes again. “So, trust me, we _will_ find each other again. Just like we always have.” She squeezed his hand. “J-Just remember me, okay?”

Owen wasn’t sure that his brain was working properly. He was standing there, like an idiot, repeating her words back to himself. She’d said things about destiny and fate and . . . his heart dropped. Wait, _what_?

Giving him one last shaky smile, Kara turned and ran. Not back the way they came. She was going back to the pure possibility wall instead. She hadn’t been coming back, Owen realized. She was saying _goodbye_.

“No!” Owen cried.

He lunged forward, his good arm outstretched. But even if he could’ve stopped her, Kiel grabbed him again, holding him back. Right then and there, Owen felt his heart shattering into pieces. Every time they were together, it seemed that there was always something splitting them apart.

Owen realized something, and not for the first time. In the end, this was how the two of them always seemed to end up. Their paths should never have crossed. But they had. They had, thousands upon thousands of times. That was the thing with destiny. It was written in the stars that they were to meet, just as it was written that they were to lose each other, again and again and again.

Was this how it would always be for them? A series of fun and exciting times, only to end in tragedy? Owen was aware that during many, many moments in the future, Kara had lost him. He’d died for her _every single timeline_. And although he’d never sacrificed himself for her now, this was probably the first time she’d ever done it for him.

And it wasn’t fair. Nothing about this was even close to being okay. Owen used to think that destiny was an amazing, exciting thing, like how Harry Potter and Percy Jackson were destined to save their worlds. But the thing about destiny, he realized, was that there was nothing extraordinary about it.

_Just_ as Owen found out she liked him . . . she had to _leave_?

As Kara reached the pure possibility, she lifted her foot to step into it. She wasn’t going to look back this time. She wouldn’t.

But then, she did. Their eyes locked. Pain was written all across her face, but somehow, she managed to smile. She gave him a little wave. It was hard for Owen to breathe. His mouth hanging open, he stared at her in shock, tears slowly falling down his cheeks.

Helplessly, he stood there as he watched her turn away from him. She stepped through the pure possibility. Immediately, Owen squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as they allowed. He couldn’t watch. It was too painful.

Everything suddenly became very bright, so bright that he saw it through his eyelids. The light died a minute later, and Owen was scared, at first, to open his eyes. He just wanted to keep his eyes closed forever, imagining that nothing bad had happened. But he wasn’t able to do that. So hesitantly, hoping she might still be there, he opened his eyes.

And just like that, she was gone.

All there was before him was a blank wall, which had seemed to surge forward several yards. It stopped just a few feet away from them, then resumed its normal, creeping speed. It was a slap in the face. It was as if Kara had never been there.

Owen’s mouth dropped open, his chin trembling uncontrollably. He could hardly process what had just happened. For a moment, neither he or Kiel moved. They were too stunned. When he regained the ability to move, Owen shakily stumbled forward, ripping himself out of Kiel’s grasp. He ran towards the pure possibility wall, getting as close as he dared. There was no sign of her.

“No, no, no,” Owen whispered, desperately whipped his head around. His voice rose, sounding shaky and broken. “Kara! Come on, please come back!” He squinted, trying to see her somehow through the pure possibility. “Please _come back! KARA!”_ He was screaming now. _“WHERE ARE YOU?!_ ”

“Owen, she’s gon—“ Kiel began to say, but Owen whipped his head around, throwing a dirty look at the boy magician. Kiel immediately fell silent.

“What happened to you being the one who saves everyone, huh?!” Owen shouted, his entire body shaking. Tears fell from his eyes, and his mouth twisted into a scowl. “I can’t believe you let her die!”

“Sometimes, people need to make their own sacrifices!” Kiel said, his brows furrowed. “She saved us! It was _her_ choice. You think I wanted to take that choice away from her?”

“You should’ve!” Owen shouted, quickly walking towards the taller boy. His voice rose in volume. “YOU SHOULD'VE LET ME STOP HER! HOW _COULD_ YOU?! HOW COULD YOU LET HER DO THAT?!”

Kiel’s eyes widened. He backed away. “I’m sorry. I know you’re upset, but you need to calm down!”

“No!” Owen’s vision blurred. He gritted his teeth, a sob building in his chest. Kiel grabbed him by the arms, probably trying to hug him. Angrily, Owen tried to get free. “Let go of me!”

“Listen to me!” Kiel said. “All of us are going to disappear, don’t you get that? She would’ve disappeared either way! She sacrificed herself to buy us more time! She didn’t want us to stop her, because she was helping us! She _saved_ us. Now Bethany won’t get split in half again!”

Owen knew this, and even agreed with it, but after losing both Kara _and_ Charm he was in _no_ mood to listen to logic. “ _Stop_ —“

Kiel released his grip on Owen’s arms, and Owen’s eyes widened as he tumbled straight into his friend. He felt his anger dissipate, then, and he only felt sorrow. Owen’s knees gave out. He sank to the ground. Fresh tears flooded his eyes, and they came running down his face in a stream. It was no use blinking them away.

“I-I’m sorry . . . I . . . y-yelled,” Owen managed to say, his voice hoarse. “I-It’s not —“ He took a ragged breath. “Not _your_ fault.”

“It’s okay.”

“N-No. _No_ , i-it’s not . . . okay. W-What am I . . . going to do?” he choked out. “E-Everyone’s . . . disappearing . . . Kara’s . . . g-gone . . . she’s g—“ He couldn’t finish his sentence.

“We’ll figure it out,” Kiel said, with what sounded like forced confidence. “And . . . hey—“ He kneeled in front of Owen, leaning over to throw his arms around him. His voice grew softer. “I’ll be _right here_. I’m not going anywhere.”

Owen sobbed harder. He instantly fell against his friend, clinging desperately to Kiel. The thunder roared from above and the rain beat on their backs, yet Owen still held tightly onto Kiel. Owen squeezed his eyes shut as the tears continued flowing down his face, his chest physically aching.

“It’s going to be okay,” Kiel said quietly, his voice barely audible. “It’s going to be okay . . . I promise. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”

The boys stayed like that for what seemed like a long time, Owen sobbing as he leaned into Kiel, who held him tightly in a hug. Kiel said some other comforting things, but Owen could barely hear him over his cries. There was nothing Kiel could say to comfort him, anyway. A rare occurrence in itself.

When they pulled away, Kiel gave him a halfhearted wink. It did nothing, absolutely _nothing_ to lift Owen’s spirits. His heart felt like it’d sunken into an abyss. Kara was gone. Charm was gone. He had no idea what had happened to Bethany and Gwen and Orion, either.

They hadn’t even been given the chance to fight Nobody together. They’d planned to work as a team to stop evil, and in Owen’s head, he’d imagined it working out splendidly. They’d combine their strengths like the Avengers or Justice League did, saving one world at a time. It was everything Owen had wanted. Now, that dream was crushed.

Everyone was gone, all except Kiel. Owen couldn’t think about what would happen to his dear friend, who had always supported him through everything. It was too overwhelming to think about. It was hard to think about anything at the moment except how useless he was, unable to save his incredibly selfless friends.

Owen threw one last glance at the spot Kara had been standing. It made his heart sink even more when he saw that she was not there. How could he lose her again? Not only that, but there was no telling if he’d ever see her or his other friends again. He felt so hopeless. And it wasn’t just because of that.

“You okay?”

He turned to see Kiel, a concerned look on his face. The rain had lessened slightly, but Owen still felt like he was drowning. Numbly, he only shook his head. If he spoke, he might cry all over again.

“Hey, at least there’s _one_ bright side to this,” Kiel said reassuringly, patting Owen on the shoulder. “She really loved you. You know that now, and you should hold onto that.”

Owen wasn’t sure what to say to that. He’d never thought of it like _that_. That someone like Kara could love him, let alone _like_ him. He guessed it sort of made sense, after everything that had gone down today. But what was worse was that he’d just stood there . . . like an idiot. He’d been too surprised, too disbelieving.

And she loved him. She actually _loved_ him. What were the odds of that? But instead of feeling any happiness at knowing she harbored the same feelings he did for her, he just felt despair. Because she was gone forever, and he’d never even said it back. Like an idiot, he’d just let her _go_.

“I never g-got to tell her,” Owen choked out, barely able to form his words. “H-H-How I really felt, I never got to . . .” He shifted to wipe his face with his hands, trying so hard to pull it together. “I’m so _stupid_. I c-can’t believe I never thought someone like her could like someone like _me_ — a-and I never told her, even after _that_.” He searched Kiel’s eyes. “W-What if she — what if she didn’t—“

“She knew, Owen,” Kiel smiled sadly at him. “Trust me, she knew.”

* * *

_“You're the fire and the flood, and I'll always feel you in my blood. Everything is fine . . .”_


	53. Us Against The World

**_Somewhere Only We Know (by Keane)_ **

_“This could be the end of everything. So why don't we go, somewhere only we know . . .”_

* * *

The plan of keeping the group all together hadn’t worked out so well. And neither had the plan of keeping _half_ the group together, or even _less_ than half.

Despite Bethany’s attempts to get the Girl Scouts moving as fast as possible, it was no use. By the time they reached the summer camp, the pure possibility only seemed to be pulling everyone in. That included the Girl Scouts, who, to Bethany’s frustration, had just believed it was fog and hadn’t even tried escaping it when they got too close.

It seemed that even when she tried protecting _strangers_ , it didn’t help. Nothing Bethany did seemed to make a difference. She couldn’t stop the worlds from disappearing, or people from dying. Everything was out of her control at this point, just as it always had been.

Everywhere she looked, the pure possibility wiped out trees and cabins and campers. This was it. The worlds were all falling apart, and only a small piece of it would be left before Nobody was free to rewrite it all. She felt a strong wave of guilt wash over her. This all was _her_ fault.

This had only happened when Nobody took over, after all. She’d jumped into too many books, only caring about one thing: her dad. She hadn’t thought that an old enemy of her father’s would try to stop her. She hadn’t known that anyone else knew about her powers. But Nobody had. He _always_ had, apparently.

Getting as far away from the pure possibility as she could, Bethany ducked inside a cabin, where she paced fitfully around. A huge thunderstorm had just rolled in, and the rain barreled on the wooden roof. It reminded her of being in Toby’s cabin a few nights ago, where she’d fallen asleep to a rainstorm.

Only, falling asleep right now was laughable. Here, she was just trying to figure out how to fix everything.

Obviously, she had to find Nobody. And fast, because in a few hours the rest of the world would be gone. But Bethany didn’t have any powers, and he could split her in half again since she’d never destroyed the stone. This _might_ not end well.

_Might?_ she thought with irritation. Might was an understatement. This _would_ not end well. Period. Bethany had nothing to fight Nobody with. No powers. And it sucked, because at times like these she would’ve jumped out of a book just to get a break from all this. Even if only for a few minutes.

If she ever could jump out again, she wondered what she’d see on the other side. Was the fictional invasion still going on in the nonfictional world? Or had all the monsters eventually disappeared, just as the characters had in the fictional world?

If they had, would anyone have suspected they’d come out of books? If she jumped out, would the library be filled with police and the military? Or would it be quiet as ever, without a single person inside?

Despite wanting to jump out of books, going back to the nonfictional world wasn’t something on Bethany’s agenda. She’d made up her mind a few days ago: when she jumped out next, it’d be _after_ she defeated Nobody. And after she had her dad and friends back.

She couldn’t just jump out of here and give up, like she had so many times before. Searching for her dad had been different. Sometimes she’d feel hopeful and excited, not even feeling the need to jump out. Staying in the fictional world for hours had been her only way of escape from her mostly tragic life.

During times when things got too dangerous, or if she’d just had enough, she’d jump out. Sometimes she’d give up completely, just as she had many times before. Back then, she’d had the option. She’d been able to avoid all responsibilities and lock herself in her room, giving herself a break from everyone, Owen and Kiel included.

She could take breaks from the fictional world if it became too much, as it was sometimes. As it was _now_. As much as Bethany wanted to face Nobody at that very second and fight him right where he stood, a part of her really wanted to go home. To just lock herself in her room, scream into her pillow, and ignore this.

Ignore _all_ of this.

Only, that wasn’t an option anymore. Bethany had to face this, no matter how vulnerable she felt. And she was sure that she’d never felt more vulnerable, especially since she didn’t have her friends with her. And even if some were still out there, she was ultimately alone.

It was a weird feeling. Not just being alone in that sense, but being so vulnerable. Being stuck here, it was as if she was a normal, completely ordinary girl (no offense to Owen). She didn’t realize just how much she used to rely on her powers until now. Until she lost them — all of which was _her_ fault, by the way.

It was like the time she and Owen had gone to Jupiter City. She hadn’t been able to jump out then, and that had ultimately led to her getting split in half. Back then, she hadn’t even known about Nobody, nor had she known something like that was possible.

At least she’d had shapeshifting powers when she was in Jupiter City, which had annoyed her at first, but she quickly grew used to. Sure, her powers turned her into inanimate objects and that was way less useful than _animate_ ones, but it was better than nothing. And now that Bethany didn’t have either, it was like she was defenseless. Well, she _was_.

Realistically, there was only one option and it was to face Nobody, right now. Or really, two options. Face Nobody and win, or face Nobody and get split into two halves. Oh, and never see her friends or family again. Because that would probably happen if she lost, too.

But if she got split into half again . . . what would happen? Would she lose her memories of her real life again? Would her nonfictional self forget who Kiel and Gwen were, and would her fictional self forget about Owen? Forgetting what was important . . . she didn’t want to go back to that.

She’d rather mess up a hundred stories than go back to that, even if her fictional self’s life had been nice. Sure, she’d been with her dad. She’d had the freedom to be reckless and irresponsible, and she’d learned to be _awesome_ as Twilight Girl. She’d also been happy, because she’d been with Orion.

_Ugh_. Since when was she happy around Orion?

She huffed. Just a few days ago, she would never have gotten upset over him. _Never_. Not that she was crying _now_ (she’d done enough of that earlier), but still. He’d also become someone she could think of as an unofficial brother, and she genuinely liked being around him now, but that was beside the point.

If Orion knew she was getting upset over him, he’d probably make fun of her. Or insult her. Or beat her up with his Twilight staff. And that . . . actually comforted her in a weird way. But not really, because she still wouldn’t have something to defend herself with. That was something her dad would’ve laughed about. If she wasn’t so stressed out right now, she would’ve smiled at the thought.

If she had her Twilight staff or throwing stars, that could definitely help for fighting Nobody. But she’d lost them back when she fought the Magister, along with Gwen’s jet pack. Speaking of which, where _was_ the Magister? She’d think that with all that power _and_ his alliance with Nobody, he’d just be able to avoid getting rewritten.

Maybe not.

Well, that solved her problems of getting captured. Not that it mattered anymore, anyway. She was going straight to Nobody, where, if the Magister had been telling the truth, her father also was. That was enough to motivate Bethany to go, among other things.

It’d maybe just been ten minutes since the rainstorm, but she could tell it was lessening slightly, making it easier to see the outside world. That, and the pure possibility. The pure possibility was still a few miles away from her — maybe one or two at this point. Now would be a good time to get going.

Bethany took a shaky breath. She swung open the door and stepped outside into the rain, which pounded down on her hair and clothes. It wasn’t that she was focused on, though. Her heart leapt as she saw a figure in the distance, unmistakably tall and redheaded. The man’s back was turned, but she’d recognize him anywhere.

Was that . . .

Her voice was barely above a whisper. “ _Dad_?”

He didn’t respond. Maybe he didn’t hear her, because he didn’t look at her. Though Bethany couldn’t wait for one. She floated down the steps and out into the rain. First her movements were slow, hesitant. But she quickly sped up, stumbling into a run.

Was it really her dad, or was she just going crazy? Maybe it was because the worlds were falling apart, or because she was the only person to save them, and the pressure was finally making her crack. Maybe him being here was just a figment of her imagination. Her brain could’ve come up with one last image in an attempt to comfort her.

That all made sense. It was the logical explanation, and one half of Bethany agreed with it. Agreed that maybe her mind _was_ playing tricks on her. But the other half told her this was real. Here was her dad, completely alive and not captured by Nobody. He was okay. He was here. When it came to her father, nothing else mattered besides that.

Nothing else. Not the fact that Gwen and Orion and probably everyone else she loved were gone. Not Owen, not even Kiel. She could cope with losing them. She could scream and cry and throw things, or she could just do her best to ignore it.

Right now, ignoring sounded like the best option. She could _totally_ do that.

If her dad was here, that’d be easy. After everything that’d happened, seeing him again was suddenly like the sun was coming out for the first time, and he was her ray of light. If Bethany was living in a hurricane, he was the eye of the storm. Out of anyone in the whole universe, he was the _one thing_ she’d always been looking for.

So yeah. When she saw him, it was easy to lose track of everything else.

It felt like she was moving a hundred miles per hour, but at the same time, she still couldn’t get her legs moving fast enough. The world seemed to slow down, everything outside of her and her dad moving in slow motion. Bethany hardly noticed much of anything else as she crossed the lawn, hardly able to breathe.

She was almost there. She’d reach him in just a few seconds, which was just as exciting as it was weird to think about. Her dad was _here_. It was enough to make up for everything.

As she got closer, she yelled again. “Dad!”

This time, he’d started _running_. And it wasn’t to her. Weirdly, he was running _away_. Bethany stopped short in disbelief. Something was wrong. Why wouldn’t he run to her? This wasn’t starting to feel right, but in that moment, it didn’t matter so much. She just had to reach him.

She sped up again, accidentally banging into Scouts in her efforts to chase him. “Wait! Come back!”

He was fast. Unsurprising to Bethany, with his natural agility as a superhero. But in this context, it only made her chase more difficult. She continued to chase after him, running past a volleyball court and spinning on her heels to get to the patch of woods he'd just run into. But as she entered the line of trees, it suddenly occurred to her that she'd lost sight of him. Which was weird, because she should've been able to see him easily. Once she'd run past the volleyball court, there was only one other cabin down the path. But aside from that, the only thing to hide behind were trees.

Breathing hard, Bethany spun around in a circle. “Dad?”

Where did he go? She wanted to kick herself for being so stupid. How could she lose him? He’d been right in front of her, and she lost him. _Again_. But despite all that, her stomach twisted. She backed away. Yeah, this didn’t feel right. Her dad would never run from her!

Unless she’d just imagined seeing him. But had she really? She knew it was him. Or . . . her eyes widened as she thought of something. Maybe it’d just _looked_ like him. Knowing she was already upset, knowing she’d _always_ run after her dad, he’d led her here. But no, not _him_. Someone else, like—

A hand tapped on her shoulder, making her jump. A chill went down Bethany’s spine.

“Going somewhere?” a familiar voice asked, and she whipped around.

It was Nobody.

___

Things weren’t going the way Kiel hoped they would.

Usually, going on quests and adventures was fun and easy. Well, they weren’t _always_ easy, and Kiel would be lying if he said they were fun all the time. It was nearly impossible for that to be true, but Kiel was someone who made up his mind to see the good in everything, to find the fun in every situation. With a few jokes, he could turn any bad situation into a good one.

But _this_ situation? Kiel was finding it very difficult to come up with anything good. Or to make a joke, which was weird, because jokes came to Kiel as naturally as his good looks. So he should’ve been able to make a joke by now! Right?

But after what’d just happened, it wasn’t so easy. He’d tried thinking of the perfect joke to raise Owen’s spirits — and (let’s be honest) his own — but for once, he just couldn’t think of one. His mind went blank as he hugged his best friend, who clearly needed to hear a joke so badly right now, given his state. Kiel had to admit he wasn’t doing so great, either.

Kiel hadn’t allowed himself to cry any more. _He couldn’t cry_ , he told himself. Especially not in front of Owen, who had just gotten his heart broken. Owen needed Kiel Gnomenfoot, hero and savior to all of Magisteria. Kiel Gnomenfoot, the fearless and optimistic magic thief. Kiel Gnomenfoot, with his reassuring grins and winks and jokes.

No, Owen did not need to see the real Kiel Gnomenfoot right now. Because the real Kiel Gnomenfoot? He barely had it in him to comfort Owen.

After losing Charm, the guilt had weighed on him all day. Sure, Kiel had lost people before. Mostly figuratively, anyway. Or because Kiel had moved to new places, and there were some people he just never saw again. And that was okay! Everywhere Kiel went, he made new friends anyway. So losing a few didn’t bum him out.

But the same couldn’t be said for Charm. Never someone he had such a close relationship with. Once he finally got around the disbelief, losing her had felt like the worst kind of pain. Even worse than physical pain, and Kiel had had _lots_ of experience with that.

Usually it happened by accident on one of his many near-death experiences, but he’d always gotten through them with a smile. Okay, usually it was a _forced_ smile, but who cared? As someone who made sure to enjoy themselves as often as possible, it made pain a lot easier to deal with. And probably why he loved danger so much!

Now that he thought about it, this might’ve been the worst emotional pain he’d experienced. Recently, that is. And it just felt . . . weird. Even now, Kiel couldn’t understand how anyone could just be gone. Just like that, they were pure possibility. They’d disappeared, like magic.

Even losing the Magister hadn’t been so hard, because it wasn’t like he’d _died_ or anything. But for Kiel, despite everything that’d happened between them, losing the Magister _had_ been hard. A part of him still really cared about his old teacher, but he’d lost him. For good.

Except _not_ for good.

If Kiel wanted to, he could walk back into the Magister’s life right now. Start over, become his apprentice again. It’d be like old times, exciting and filled with danger at every turn. Not that he’d actually do that, but he had the option. He’d lost the Magister in the emotional sense, but not the physical one. He might not be around for Kiel anymore, but he was still _around_.

There was the difference.

Charm wasn’t around anymore. She was just gone. _Poof_. Like magic. If she were here, Kiel would’ve made a joke about that. Or a pun about how she’d disappeared — that could be funny, too. He considered saying something along those lines to Owen, then went against it. It was too soon. Not the right time.

As the two of them hurried further into the summer camp, Kiel’s chest was so tight with pain that even breathing became a struggle. But it wasn’t like he could show that to anyone. And it wasn’t like anyone was about to hug him either, or tell _him_ that things would be okay.

That was Kiel’s job. For Owen.

Kiel needed to be strong for him. For everyone. That’s just who Kiel Gnomenfoot was. A part of him knew it was wrong, that he shouldn’t be holding all of this in. But he also didn’t care. He’d already had time to cry. He’d gotten that out, and maybe no one had comforted him, but it was _alright_.

He’d be alright.

The more important thing was making sure Owen would be.

“Come on,” Kiel said as he tugged on Owen’s arm. “We should go.”

Owen nodded glumly in response. They’d already been standing here awhile, trying to regain their bearings after Kara and Charm had left. While Kiel felt sad, he hadn’t shown it, not wanting to upset Owen further. And after everything, the only thing he was trying to do was raise Owen’s spirits, not bring them down.

Luckily, the pure possibility had been far enough away that it’d given them some time to just sit there, allowing Kiel to comfort Owen in the best way he knew how. But eventually, once his friend’s tears had finally dried and they overcame the shock, the pure possibility _had_ gotten much closer.

The only thing left to do was walk away. So Kiel did, for Owen’s sake. But every bone in his body just _really_ wanted to fight that thing. Would it be a good idea to charge straight at the pure possibility, using all of his magic and expert fighting skills to win? Well, it _sounded_ good in Kiel’s head, but the only thing that stopped him was his pride.

After seeing two of his friends — along with tons of people and objects — get taken by this giant white wave, it was crazy to think that _he_ could fight it off and still come back alive. But he’d do it in a heartbeat, as long as he took the pure possibility and Nobody down with him.

Speaking of Nobody, Kiel was _really_ in the mood to punch someone right now! It was so inconsiderate of the faceless man to not be here, especially when all he wanted to do was fight something. And since the _I-destroy-everything-wall_ wasn’t an option to fight, Nobody seemed like the next best thing. Kiel could take him and win. No problem.

The two boys hurried back through the summer camp, away from the pure possibility. Kiel couldn’t believe just how much everything had changed. Scouts and camp counselors were running around, some of them running towards the exit as they soon realized what the pure possibility did to them. Most of them just seemed dazed or happy, though, and didn’t do anything to get away.

It made Kiel’s heart sink, seeing an entire world get destroyed like this. He’d promised himself he’d never let this happen to the fictional worlds, because after his home world had been destroyed he just couldn’t bear to see the same thing happen to another. He’d thought he could prevent it all, but look what was happening now?

Everything was falling to pieces, but Kiel still had some hope. He had faith in himself, and in Owen. He wasn’t sure if that Bethany girl was still out there, but if she was, he believed in her, too. If he’d believed in her once, he should do it again. According to Owen, she’d defeated villains before. She sounded pretty awesome to him.

Once they got further away from the possibility wave, Owen stopped. So did Kiel.

“Maybe we should use the time bracelet,” Kiel suggested, pointing to the time bracelet on Owen’s wrist.

The gadgets and buttons were completely foreign to him, but he could probably make it work if he tried — since usually everything worked out in his favor. Although, since Owen had a little more knowledge about it, Kiel wouldn’t mind letting him take control over it. Not that either of them were exactly science experts.

Owen nodded. He’d been very quiet since Kara had disappeared, which bothered Kiel. He wasn’t used to so much quiet, and certainly not with Owen. But he understood completely. Losing someone was hard. Some people coped by not talking about it. Others coped by making jokes.

“Yeah,” Owen muttered. “I guess we should.” He glanced down at the time bracelet and frowned, his fingers hovering over the buttons. But he didn’t press any.

Kiel nudged him. “Hey, we’ll get it to work! We may not be time experts, but as someone who _has_ traveled to the future, this should be easy. And we’re just using it on the pure possibility, y’know?” He glanced at the white wave, furrowing his brow. “And since we can’t actually touch it, we just have to put the coordinates of it in?” 

“Yeah, that’s was Kara said,” Owen said. He sighed. “I just have no idea if this’ll work. And I feel like — I‘m so done with this. With how things are going. I wish we could just _stop_ Nobody already!”

“I feel the same way,” Kiel said, as he shifted from foot to foot. “And we will. This is supposed to reverse everything, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but what if it doesn’t work? Charm said this time bracelet will only work once, so it’s gotta count! I don’t want to waste it, since Kara said not to. What if there’s something else we could do right now?”

Kiel smiled. For some reason, his feet felt a little wobbly, but he ignored the sensation. “Like find Nobody and punch him?”

“That too. I mean, like, we could try skipping ahead.” The hope was starting to come back to Owen’s eyes. Clearly, an idea was forming in his head. “Maybe since we’re in a story, we can move on to the next chapter. Maybe at that point, we’d already be facing Nobody. And we might get to Bethany, Gwen, and Orion, too.”

Kiel just stared at him, feeling a great deal confused. As much as he’d learned about the nonfictional world and authors, this still didn’t fail to confuse him. What was Owen talking about? Moving onto the next chapter? What did that even mean?

“Uh, okay.” He winked, hiding his very real confusion. “Good idea! Let’s do it.”

“Okay.” Owen took a deep breath. He squeezed his eyes shut, raising his hands above his head. And then, he clapped loudly. “CHAPTER!”

* * *

Bethany’s blood went cold at the sight of him. Mason Black was right! Nobody _had_ escaped from the chains they’d put him in. It was official, now that she was seeing him for the first time again in person.

This was the man who’d taken her dad from her. He’d taken her friends from her. This was the man who’d ripped her in half and — just to add to it — had not only taken away her _memories_ , but had also separated her from her best friend! He’d taken Orion, Gwen, practically _everyone_.

She had every right to be angry. She had every right to walk right up to him and punch him, over and over. And Bethany _wanted_ to. But the thing was, all that pent-up anger had suddenly evaporated. She’d expected to feel more anger the next time she saw him, because he’d taken _so much_ from her. But right now, she only felt fear. 

Eyes widening, she quickly backed away. “Nobody! What are you doing here?”

“What do you think?”

A millions thoughts raced through her head. Was he here to take more from her? To make her life more miserable? Or was he here to capture her, or worse, split her in half? That was why she was so afraid, she realized. She wouldn’t be able to stop him from doing that again.

“No.” Her voice shook. “ _No_ —“

“You are powerless, Bethany,” Nobody said. He rose in height until he stood a few feet above her. “The pure possibility has nearly wiped out all the worlds, Bethany. And when it’s finished, _I_ will be in control.”

Anger started to build in her veins. She narrowed her eyes. “I’ll stop it. I will _never_ let that happen.”

“You think this is a game, Bethany? You cannot keep trying to stop my plans. I’m growing very tired of it.”

“Well, I’m growing tired of you _destroying_ everything!”

She ran forward and leapt in the air, sweeping her leg out — it was one of her dad’s signature moves. She didn’t have the Twilight throwing stars to finish it, but as long as she could hurt Nobody somehow, it’d be worth it.

For the first time, she truly got how someone could be so angry that they’d hurt someone else. She’d never wanted to hurt anyone so badly before. Not even the Magister or Fowen, and she’d still hated them. But it wasn’t like she wanted to _kill_ them. That kind of scared her, that she wanted to do that to Nobody. But he deserved it. And if he didn’t stop existing, everyone else _would_.

She’d been angry before, but never in this way, like nothing else mattered but her winning. What exactly she was trying to win, she didn’t really know. Her safety, the lives of the fictionals, her friends, her family . . . it was too many things to count.

As her foot come in contact with him, his body opened and closed, never completely separating. She flew right past him, falling to the ground with a gasp. Grass tickled her face. She quickly picked herself up, her heart racing so hard that it was difficult to concentrate. Her eyes were wide as she glanced around.

Nobody had vanished.

Bethany started to back away again, trying to keep her eyes on everything. Rain kept falling down her eyelashes, making it harder for her to see. “Where are you, Nobody?! What, are you too afraid to face me? Come out and fight me, like an actual decent person would!”

Maybe she had a death wish. That was the only possible way she could be saying this stuff. Especially when she _knew_ what Nobody could do to her. But Bethany didn’t run away, and she wouldn’t back down. She was just too angry.

“I know you’re angry, but you need to learn your emotions.” Nobody’s voice echoed from all around her. “You don’t want to end up like your father, do you?”

“Don’t talk about my dad!” Bethany could feel her voice breaking, and she sucked in a breath. She whipped around, nothing but anger running through her now. But despite her own rage, she sensed a little fear deep within herself. She wouldn’t let it rise. If it did, she just might not have the strength to win.

“Believe me, I didn’t want it to come to this. But it does not have to be this way. You can still join me.”

He really thought she’d fall for that? “I will _never_ join you!”

“Then you’re weak, just like your father. You leave me with no choice. I _have_ to split you in half to separate the link between the worlds. And for _good_ this time.”

“No! I’ll stop you!”

A hand touched her shoulder, and Bethany gasped. She whirled around to see Nobody, suddenly standing behind her. “Why?” he asked. “Why _must_ you stop me?” Before she could answer, he added, “What have authors ever done for you? And what about your friends? Didn’t they abandon you?”

She glared at him. “They didn’t abandon me.”

“No? Then where are they? Why were they gone when you came back?”

“I-I don’t—“ She shook her head. “How do you know that? Have you been watching us?”

Nobody smiled, though not kindly. “ _I_ know everything. I know what’s happened to your friends. I even know where they went.”

Her eyes widened. The tiniest spark of hope bubbled to the surface. “T-They’re alive?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“ _What did you do to them_?”

“Nothing,” he said.

“Nothing?” she repeated angrily. Her voice rose, sounding shaky even to her own ears. “Is that what you’d say happened to my friends, Gwen and Orion? _Nothing_?”

Nobody just looked blankly at her. “Who?”

That did it.

Yelling in anger, Bethany swung her fist at him. She doubted it’d make much impact, especially since she didn’t have super strength or something, but she didn’t care. Not the _slightest_ bit. This only proved — even more — that Nobody could care less about her and her friends.

Just like before, his body opened as her fist passed it, never making contact. To her annoyance, the impact sent her stumbling foreword. As she tried hitting him again, Nobody shoved her, sending her stumbling over her own feet.

“Everything your friends have done — they’ve put it on themselves,” Nobody said. “After they stopped looking for you.” Pain burst through Bethany’s heart, but she did her best to push it away. Nobody walked closer to her. “You see? Once you’re gone, they stopped caring about you.”

“That’s — that’s not true! That would _never_ happen.”

“Oh, but it did. They gave up on looking for you and decided to make their own plans instead. They gave up on you, Bethany. Just like how your father gave up on _me_. He only cares about superheroes, but when I tried to be one? He shot me down. He didn’t believe in me, just like your friends don’t believe in you.”

“No,” Bethany shot back, her voice wavering slightly. “T-They believe in me. They just couldn’t find me!” She wasn’t so sure about that, but she couldn’t give into the manipulation. “And my dad will always help anyone, as long as they aren’t trying to hurt people on purpose. But you’re doing that right now, and that’s why no one will _ever_ look up to you!”

“I’m doing what’s right for the fictional world,” Nobody snarled. “I thought you would see reason and go back to the nonfictional world! My intention was never to hurt you or your friends.”

“Enough with the lies!” Bethany said, her voice low. “You took my friends from me! My family! My _dad_! You ripped apart my whole life!” She raised her fists, her only weapon at this point. Her voice lowered to a whisper. “And for that, you’re gonna pay.”

In horror, Bethany watched as he suddenly started to grow in height, towering over her head like a skyscraper. Nobody chuckled. “It’s too late for that! The worlds are nearly ready to be rewritten. Even if you _do_ defeat me — which you won’t — you’ll never truly stop me. My people _will_ have justice!”

She clenched her fists harder to hide how much her hands were shaking. “You really think you’re such a hero? You’re erasing everyone in this reality just because you’re annoyed that someone might’ve thought you up.”

“I’m erasing everyone to give them the freedom they _deserve_. Surrender now, and I promise I will bring you and your friends back in my new world! But either way, you must be split in half.”

She started to panic. “It’s not too late to end this! We can bring the worlds and everyone back. Together I’m sure we can find a way to bring back the possibility wave, and—“

An abnormally long hand shot toward her, and she jumped to the side, narrowly missing it by an inch. Another shot toward her, and she was forced to duck. Then came another. And another. Everything was a blur of hands trying to grab her, and soon Bethany was too dizzy to know where to go.

A hand clamped around her arm and she yelped, trying to break free. _No_! This couldn’t happen. She had to win this — for her friends and her dad! More hands grabbed her, keeping her from moving.

“Let go of me!” Bethany screamed, as hatred boiling through her. She struggled to move, kicking and fighting with all her might. But it was no use.

She grabbed him by the wrists, her arms shaking as she fought against him. She grunted, using every last piece of strength she had to stop him. He was strong, but she didn’t let go, knowing that if she did she would be split in half.

“You don’t know when to quit, do you?” Nobody snarled. “You can’t win this, Bethany! You have _nothing_ left to fight for.“

“You’re wrong! I have _everything_ left to fight for,” she grunted. “You don’t deserve what you’re trying to get!”

“You don’t get to tell _me_ what I deserve.” He pushed harder, and Bethany found her arms faltering. “The pure possibility has taken over all of the worlds. And once you give up your ridiculous fight, I will rewrite _everything_.” 

“No way! I won’t let you,” she growled, trying to kick out. “I have a say in this. You _won’t_ be separating me!”

“There’s nothing you can do to stop me,” Nobody said. “Whether you want me to or not, the separation of your two halves is inevitable. You really left me no choice.”

“ _No choice_?” Bethany demanded as she squirmed against him. “You still have one! You can restore everything back to normal!” Desperation was in her voice. “The worlds _can’t_ be separated!”

“This is the only choice I’m willing to make. I must remove your powers permanently for the good of the fictional people!”

“No!”

He placed a hand on each side of Bethany’s face, causing her to flinch. She fought harder, but it was no use. This was it. It was happening _again_. She couldn’t jump out and get herself free. All because of her own stupid mistakes. Now she was getting split in half. _Again_.

_Owen! Kiel!_ Bethany thought. _I’m sorry. I messed up. I’m so,_ so _sorry._

“Now, this might hurt,” Nobody said. “But soon, the pain will be over, and you’ll never remember or care about _any_ of this.” Nobody’s tone was almost sad. “But for what it’s worth, Bethany . . . I really am sorry.”

Nobody tore his hands apart, and Bethany squeezed her eyes shut, anticipating the pain that would follow. But surprisingly, nothing happened. His hands went to her face again, pulling at it with more effort. Again, nothing. Bethany’s eyes flew open, not sure whether to be confused or overjoyed.

_It wasn’t working_.

Nobody paused. A strange expression appeared on his face (Bethany didn’t know how she could tell, with him being faceless and all). Slowly, he pulled his hands away.

“This isn’t right,” he muttered.

In spite of herself, Bethany grinned. She raised her eyebrows. “Of course it isn’t, genius. You’re trying to ruin an innocent girl’s life. You just figured that out?”

Nobody ignored her. “I’m unable to split you in half. Someone destroyed the stone.”

Her eyes widened. _What?_ But that didn’t make any sense! Last time she’d checked, she’d thrown the stone in the woods in a fit of anger. After losing Gwen and Orion, she’d never even _wanted_ to look at that evil thing again. But since she hadn’t been able to destroy it, who had? And _how_?

There were so many questions, but none that she could get answered. So, looking at Nobody, she overcame the shock enough to give him a nod. Better to act confident towards the villains, just like her father would. “That’s right. You _can’t_ split me in half. I’ve known that all along.”

Nobody’s tone was cold. “It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is my recreation of the fictional world, with or without your help.” He let go of her as he rose above her. “That leaves you with no other choice. It’s time for you to surrender. If you do, I will let you and your friends return when I rewrite the worlds. You have my word on that.”

“What?” Bethany said, her nostrils flaring as she felt anger building inside her. “My friends are gone because of you! They disappeared because of _your_ pure possibility that wiped out every fictional person!” She tried punching him again and again, but he easily dodged around her.

“I’ll give you the rest of the day to decide, Bethany. Either you surrender to me, and your fictional friends will be rewritten. They’ll live. Or you try to fight me, and I’ll make sure they never return.”

“No!” she growled. “I won’t surrender! And I _will_ get them back.”

Nobody only sighed. “I was hoping you would come around sooner rather than later. However, I’ll give you the rest of the day to decide. I am being generous, Bethany.”

“ _Generous_?!”

“I could separate you right now if I wanted to, but I can’t. So I’m giving you two choices: surrender to me, or fight me. I’d go with the first choice, if I were you.”

“I will stop you, I promise!” Bethany grunted. She swung a fist at him, and then another, but he just kept dodging. Despite her anger, she could feel herself getting tired. She couldn’t keep going on like this forever.

“Look at yourself.” Nobody gestured to her. “You can’t even fight me, can you? You aren’t going to win this. You know that.”

“I _will_.”

“Oh, but you won’t. You were never meant to exist. The worlds were _never_ meant to interact. You understand that, more than anyone.”

“I know,” she growled. “And I tried not to cause any changes to the stories! I set up rules for myself, so that wouldn’t happen!”

“As careful as you might think you used to be, you’ve caused so much changes now that can’t be reversed. Each time you jump into a book, you cause ripples that change the fictional world. You’ve been tampering with stories for _years_. First, with the Kiel Gnomenfoot books? The Magister and Kiel were supposed to die, but you and Owen saved them.”

“Well, maybe not the Magister anymore, but Kiel deserved to live!” Bethany defended. “I don’t care that I changed his story.”

“Ah, but _I_ do. And it wasn’t just Kiel’s story you changed. You changed EarthGirl’s story, if I don’t remember correctly? You changed Doyle’s, and Moira’s, and Kara Dox’s. But did you stop there?”

Bethany stared at him wordlessly. She didn’t want to admit that those things were true, that she _had_ changed their stories without really meaning to. But in Kiel and Gwen’s case, she’s grown to really care about them. Kiel had been about to die in his own book series, and Gwen deserved to visit Earth every once in a while! Bethany was _glad_ she’d changed their stories.

But she hadn’t exactly meant to change the others. At least with Moira’s, they’d had the forget spell, so that problem was solved. As for Kara, it’d been _Owen_ who changed her story, not Bethany! But that didn’t mean she hadn’t changed many others, despite her efforts not to.

Slowly, briefly, she managed to shake her head. Nobody nodded in response.

“ _No_ , you didn’t,” he continued. “No, because every time you jumped into a story, you changed it. You’ve effected _thousands_. Too many to count. Everything has to be fixed, and that starts with your father. You see, I cannot rule over a world when Christian Sanderson is still apart of it. I cannot live with those I despise.”

“Fine,” Bethany muttered. “Then _leave_.”

Nobody looked a little taken aback by that. Then, he chuckled. “Oh, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that I don’t want Christian around. He ruined every chance I had of rewriting Jupiter City, but this time? This time, it won’t just be Jupiter City that’s different. _Every world_ will be free to rewrite themselves.”

“But the fictional worlds needs authors!” Bethany said. “Without them—“

“Without them, we’ll be free. We do _not_ need authors. And when I say I don’t want Christian around, I mean it. For _good_.”

She clenched her teeth and lunged for him, but Nobody easily stepped out of her reach. “You can’t do that! And if you try, I’ll bring him back! I _will_ bring him back! I’ll keep trying to do it for the rest of my life if I have to!”

“I was afraid you’d say that.” A frown emerged on his faceless face. “Sorry to disappoint you, but that won’t be an option for you.”

“ _Yes, it will._ ”

“ _No_. No, it won’t. I hate —“ He paused. “Well, not hate. I don’t _like_ to say this, but you will not be able to bring him back. As soon as I rewrite Christian out of existence, you won’t be able to do much of anything.”

“Oh, yeah?” She glared at him. “And what makes you think that? What makes you think I’d ever stop fighting for him?”

“Don’t you see, Bethany? Once the worlds are rewritten, I won’t be needing Christian anymore. He will not be coming back. And without him existing, _you_ won’t exist either. So whether I cannot separate you in half or not, it won’t make a difference. If you don’t surrender to me, this will be the end of your chapter.”

He vanished, then, disappearing completely from her sight. Slowly, her anger fizzled, and Bethany was suddenly aware of just how cold the rain felt. Long after he was gone, she stayed rooted to the same spot, barely breathing as she processed his words. _What?_

* * *

Yelling “Chapter!” was something Owen had put into his own story, the one he’d written years ago that’d had Bethany’s father — as well as his friends — in it. It was a long shot that it’d work now, since they were in a different story, but it didn’t hurt to try. If they were able to skip ahead a few chapters, they just might get to where Bethany or Nobody were.

Owen opened one eye, only to see Kiel staring at him, a quizzical look on his face. The same trees and cabins were around them (at least, the ones that hadn’t vanished yet). He felt disappointed. It hadn’t worked, but maybe he should try a few more times. Maybe it’d work then.

Owen sighed. “Trying that again.” He raised his hands above his head and clapped a second time, then a third, then a fourth. “Chapter! Chapter! CHAPTER!” No attempt seemed to be working, so he kept doing it, over and over. “CHAPTER, CHAPTER, CHAPTER, CHAPTE—“

“Uh, Owen?”

Owen’s frown deepened as he opened his eyes again. “It’s not _working_!”

“Okay, I have no idea what you’re doing, but and I’m sure it’ll work later—“

“No, it has to work!”

“Okay, but—“

He clapped his hands again. “Chapter!”

“Hey, Owen—“

“CHAPTER!”

“ _Owen!_ ”

Owen blinked and looked at Kiel, who was pointing to something on the ground. Owen followed his gaze, only to see that the tips of Kiel’s feet were beginning to fade away. The pure possibility wasn’t anywhere near them, but as Owen looked around, he realized things were starting to disappear even _without_ being touched by the pure possibility.

Like trees. And cabins. And _people_.

_Oh no._

Kiel glanced up at Owen. Instead of acting terrified, though, he winked. “Looks like my feet are getting out of hand!”

Owen gasped. “Kiel, you’re disappearing!”

He tried to say something comforting, but his mouth barely twitched. He couldn’t take this _again_. Losing Kara and Charm had been hard enough . . . but Kiel _too_? All of this had happened in only one day, and Owen’s heart felt heavy from it all. There was nothing he could even do about it.

Kiel stepped forward, but with only half of his feet, he lost his balance. He crashed into Owen, sending them both stumbling backwards. Kiel fell to the ground, and Owen yelped as he went with him. They both landed hard on the grass, and Owen quickly crawled back over to Kiel’s side, worriedly glancing at his friend’s disappearing feet. _That_ didn’t look good.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about me,” Kiel said quickly. He tried for a grin. “I knew this would happen eventually. Apparently the pure possibility spares no one! Not even the best-looking, most heroic people.”

Owen couldn’t stop staring at his friend’s disappearing feet. “This _can’t_ be happening!”

“I know.” He sighed, if a bit dramatically. “Looks like I can’t be called Kiel Gnomenfoot anymore.” He motioned to his feet. “Doesn’t fit my situation. I guess I’ll have to be called ‘Kiel Gnomen’ now!”

Owen frowned. “Stop joking around! This is really scary!”

“Hey, it’ll be alright.” Kiel put a hand on Owen’s shoulder. “We’re going to keep disappearing, Owen. All except you and Bethany. You need to find her.”

“If she’s still _around_ ,” Owen muttered, more to himself than to Kiel.

They hadn’t been able to find her earlier. Or Gwen and Orion, despite their efforts. Owen had no idea if any of them were still around or not, but Bethany had to be. He was sure of it. Now he was really starting to think he’d never see her again, though.

“You’re going to be okay,” Owen added firmly, gripping his friend’s hand. “I’m not letting you disappear. You’re Kiel Gnomenfoot! You can’t die! You’re totally invincible!”

“Owen.” Kiel just stared at him. “I appreciate your faith, but I’m not _invincible_. Not right now, anyway. I don’t want to disappear, but I don’t think I have a—“

Owen shushed him. “No, it’s okay. I-It’s okay. You’re gonna be fine. You’re gonna be okay.” Tears build up in his eyes, and he could feel himself getting choked up. “I’ll fix you somehow, and we’re going to win. W-We’re going to win, right?”

Owen needed to hear a confirmation of some sort that everything would be okay. He didn’t just want to. He _had_ to. Hearing that from Kiel always made him feel better, since Kiel was so much more heroic and confident than Owen would ever be. But at that moment, Owen realized that Kiel felt just as afraid and uncertain as he did.

“Owen . . .“

“W-We’re going to win this together!” Owen continued, forcing optimism into his voice. “ _Right_?” He blinked, and a few tears fell from his eyes, rolling down his cheeks.

“ _I_ won’t win this,” Kiel said, giving him a brave smile. “I think you know that, too.”

Owen was quiet for a few long seconds, and he sniffled, trying to hold back a sob. He couldn’t take this. He was losing everyone. He couldn’t lose Kiel. He stared into his favorite fictional character’s eyes — his _best friend’s_ eyes — and he already knew the painful truth: he was going to lose Kiel. He had no choice.

Whether Owen wanted to or not, he was going to lose him, just like he’d lost everyone else. He was going to have to do this next part alone, but he had no idea how to do this by himself. How could he? He was a normal kid without any powers! The only friend he had left was Kiel. How could he do _any_ of this without his friends?

How could he stop Nobody with just . . . himself? If Owen still had his powers, that’d be a different story. He’d feel more confident. Braver. He’d believe in himself a little more. But it was a little hard to do that when Owen had no special abilities.

“Owen, listen to me,” Kiel said. “You can _do_ this. You don’t need me to save the world.” He smiled, shrugging a bit. “Sure, if I could stick around we’d save it _easily_ , but I think you’ll be fine.”

“No,” Owen whispered. “I can’t do this without you!”

“Yes, you can! And I promise I won’t be gone forever. It’s just a . . . detour. I _know_ I’ll come back! Just like everyone else will! And if I don’t, you can rewrite my whole book series. And make me even more awesome than I already am.”

Owen almost smiled at that. “Yeah.”

Thoughts rattled around in Owen’s brain, increasing his nervousness. Would authors still be able to write books after Nobody rewrote everything? He didn’t know, nor did he want to find out. He didn’t understand everything about how the fictional worlds came to be, but they were connected to the real world through their stories. Through authors.

If everything was rewritten, what would that mean for books? For popular book series, like Kiel Gnomenfoot’s? Would the connection between the two worlds just be . . . gone? Or would authors just have no influence over the fictional world anymore?

Nobody was only doing this so authors wouldn’t be in control anymore, but it _was_ kind of ironic that him rewriting the worlds meant _Nobody_ would be in control. He’d be the new author of the fictional world, and that terrified Owen more than the idea of fighting him did. He couldn’t let Nobody rewrite anything. He had to win this and bring his friends back! Bring _all_ the characters back.

“I’ll be back soon, after you and Bethany save the world,” Kiel said. The pure possibility had traveled all the way up his legs, to Owen’s horror. “From what you told me about her, she seems like she’ll have that part handled.”

_She would,_ Owen thought in agreement. _Much better than I would._

He tried to believe Kiel, but all he could think about was Kara’s last words to him, and how he’d probably never see her again even though she’d promised Owen would. Now Kiel was making that same promise, and even though Owen tended to believe Kiel’s every word, this one only seemed like false hope.

“You can’t promise that,” Owen whispered. “I just . . . I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how I can face Nobody and _win_. I already faced him twice. I can’t — I just can’t do this—“

“Stop doubting yourself!” Kiel snapped. Owen looked at him in alarm, surprised to hear anger in his voice. “No one needs to tell you the right thing to do, especially not _me_. Only _you_ can decide that, Owen! You’ve done incredible things. Look how you used your time powers!”

“But . . . I don’t have my powers anymore,” Owen said lamely.

“Then, I don’t know, maybe you can use your knowledge about books! You _are_ a hero, Owen. You just need to be confident about yourself! And you know what you have that no one else has?” He waited a beat, but Owen only shook his head. “You’re nonfictional! You have an advantage, because you can’t disappear like the rest of us. You and Bethany are the _only_ ones that can stop Nobody.”

Somehow, hearing the words from Kiel’s mouth made Owen feel much better. But he still had his doubts. Could he really have an advantage over Nobody, just because he was nonfictional? It made sense. He wouldn’t be able to disappear, so that made him feel a little better. But he just wasn’t sure how he’d be able to find Bethany _or_ stop Nobody. Both seemed too farfetched by now.

Suddenly, Kiel’s eyes lit up. He reached into his sheaths and pulled his wand-knives out. Before Owen could question anything, Kiel shoved them into Owen’s face. “Take my wand-knives!”

“What?” Owen‘s eyes widened. “I can’t use those!”

“But I’m going to disappear, Owen. Let’s face it: you need all the help you can get. You need _magic_.“

“I can’t _do_ magic!”

“Sure you can! You’re a natural. If you couldn’t do it, you wouldn’t have pretended to be me so well!”

Owen was getting more and more frantic, his words stumbling out faster. “That was — that was just because I was trying to be _you_. That’s the only reason the magic worked. I was pretending to be someone I’m not. And I’m not you, Kiel.”

Kiel just grinned. “Well, I’d _hope_ not. I’m one of a kind. Now, stop arguing with me and take my wand-knives! And my spell book. You‘re gonna need them.”

Owen gingerly took the wand-knives. He stared down at them. He hadn’t used them since he’d pretended to be Kiel. He held them carefully in his hands, as if he might break them. And knowing how he tended to mess everything up, Owen wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

Owen’s eyes flitted back up to Kiel’s. “I don’t know how to use these.”

“Use the location spell to find Nobody,” Kiel said. “I know it didn’t work last time, but maybe it will now! There are other spells that can find him, too.” He winked. “And this’ll help you fight him!”

“So that’s it, then?” Owen muttered, more to himself. “The only person left to save the world is _me_. And last time I fought Nobody, I had my superpowers. I couldn’t even stop him then, Kiel. How can I stop him if I’m no good at magic?”

Kiel tapped Owen’s chest. He smiled. “ _Believe_ in yourself. Anyone can wave a wand and do magic, Owen, but if anyone’s an expert on my magic, it’s you. So trust yourself! You have everything you need _inside_ you!”

Tears slipped from Owen’s eyes. He’d heard a lot of that recently, mostly from Kiel, Bethany, and Kara. But hearing it from Kiel gave him a little more hope that it could be true. “T-Thanks.”

Kiel glanced down. The pure possibility had nearly reached his head. His arms vanished, followed by his fingers. “And before I go . . . I know I don’t remember Bethany. But if you find her, will you tell her . . . tell her something I would tell her.”

Owen nodded, sniffling. More tears fell from his eyes. “You would tell her to ‘be more fictional’.”

Kiel’s expression turned puzzled. “I would?” He smiled slowly. “Cool.“

Owen didn’t have time to respond, because Kiel gave him one last wink before the rest of the pure possibility slid to his face. Owen grew sick with horror as he watched the boy who he’d always looked up to slowly fade away. In a matter of seconds, he was gone completely.

_No!_ This couldn’t be happening. Not another friend! Owen placed his shaking hands where Kiel had just been, desperation building up inside him. The tears came down faster, and Owen found himself sobbing. His heart felt like it had shattered.

“Please, Kiel, y-you’re all I have!” Owen whimpered, clawing with his hands at the spot his best friend had been. “Don’t go! You k-know I c-can’t do this on my own! I-I don’t know _how_ to do this on my own!”

Tears streaming down his face, Owen buried his head in his hands. His heart was filled with pain, feeling like it’d been broken into more and more pieces every time he lost a friend. And it was worse, now, because he had no one.

When Owen glanced up, it was to see the white nothingness in front of him, just a yard or two away. Shakily rising to his feet, he stepped towards it. Anger filled him, replacing the empty hole inside his chest. He looked down at Kara’s time bracelet, his fingers hovering over the symbols.

It was time to get his friends back, no matter what the cost was. It was time for Owen to be the hero he’d always dreamed of being. And most importantly, it was time to save the fictional world.

Taking a shaky breath, Owen rubbed his eyes. If it worked, it’d sent the pure possibility back in time. It’d solve everything (well, he hoped)! Then, Nobody wouldn’t be able to take over the world, and hopefully, his friends would come back. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but Owen didn’t care.

Just this once, he wanted to _not_ mess anything up.

And that started with getting rid of the pure possibility. Wiping his eyes once again, Owen reached down to press one of the symbols. But something stopped him. He looked up, and his heart leapt to his throat. He nearly dropped the time bracelet in shock.

Because standing directly across from him, several yards away, was his best friend.

Bethany Sanderson.

* * *

From afar, they stared at each other. There was sorrow in Bethany’s heart, but it was quickly forgotten as she realized that her eyes were not deceiving her. It was _Owen_. The world was vanishing around them, but in the midst of the chaos, seeing him was like seeing the sun for the first time.

“Owen?” Bethany said under her breath. Certainly not loud enough for him to hear her. She told herself not to get her hopes up, but a part of her couldn’t help it. Was that really him?

Owen didn’t move at first. He just looked shocked. Then, he lifted his good arm and waved, as if to make sure she’d see him. “ _Bethany_!”

The sound of his voice brought a wave of emotion through Bethany. It _was_ him. _Had_ to be him. She felt an unexpected surge of relief and happiness, something she hadn’t expected to feel again for a long time. And for once, Bethany wasn’t skeptical that this could be a trap. She didn’t care. If it was, so be it. She just had to get to her best friend.

She had been pretty reserved this morning ever since she’d gotten unbrainwashed, but tears welled in her eyes at the sight of him. And she didn’t even care. She didn’t care if anyone saw her crying. This was Owen, and she’d known she needed him but seeing him now only reminded her just how _much_ she’d needed him.

Just like that, Bethany took off, running. He did the same, and all the while, she wondered if she was imagining things. Maybe he wasn’t really there. Maybe it was Fowen or someone who looked like Owen, or maybe all the trauma had caused her to hallucinate.

But all her doubts, all of her anger faded away seconds later, because they crashed into each other’s arms. The hug sent tears streaming down her face, breaking free like the water from a dam. Everything was a blur of laughter and tears, of happiness and sadness. They spun in a circle as they clutched each other tightly.

No words needed to be said. The only thing that mattered was that they were together. She’d finally found _someone_. She squeezed her eyes shut. She felt wobbly, the obsessive thoughts that had filled her mind the entire day going fuzzy. He was shaking as much as she was, sniffling as they hugged. He was sobbing, Bethany realized in shock.

She squeezed him tighter, knowing without even asking that he had lost as much as her. Everyone else might’ve disappeared from the pure possibility, but her and Owen would be together until the very end. He was the last person she had to hold onto, and if she could do anything about it, she would never let him go.

No words were said when they pulled away from each other. A relieved grin came to Owen’s face, but it hardly did anything to cover the pain that was written across it. His eyes were red. There was tear streaks across his face. Clearly, he’d gone through something big.

“It’s so good to see you,” Owen said, his voice sounding shaky and broken. Again, he tried for a smile, but he looked so upset that it concerned Bethany.

“I thought you were _gone_ , Owen,” Bethany whispered.

“I-I thought _you_ were gone. What _happened_ to you?”

She sighed deeply. As relieved as she was to see him, she wasn’t sure how to explain what had happened. How could she tell him that _she_ was the reason Gwen and Orion were gone? How could she tell him everything that had gone down with the Magister, and getting brainwashed?

How could she say she’d forgotten all of her own rules? That she was sorry, because he had every right to hate her now. She might have him back, but she’d lose him. Because she ruined _everything_. Just like she’d ruined her friends lives.

“A lot of things, Owen,” Bethany said lowly. Honestly, she hadn’t known what else to say. She looked down. “This whole thing sucks.”

“I-I know.”

“We _have_ to stop this—“

“And take out Nobody!”

“—Because I lost Gwen and Orion, and Nobody is going to _pay_.”

Owen turned pale. “What? Gwen and Orion? They’re gone _too_?”

“Yeah.” Bethany struggled to get her words out, but she forced herself to keep it together. “They are. And what do you mean ‘too’?” She searched the area around them, where the pure possibility hadn’t touched yet. “Owen, where are Kiel, Kara, and Charm?”

Owen stared at her, and she saw his mouth quivering. He seemed to be struggling with his words. “They’re gone,” he choked out finally. He looked like he wanted to say more, but tears started leaking out his eyes again, and he had to rub them away. He crossed his arms, hugging himself tightly.

Bethany stiffened. “Kiel’s gone, too?”

“Yeah. But . . . um — oh! Kiel told me to tell you to ‘be more fictional’.”

The words send a swell of emotions through Bethany, mainly good than bad. Ever since he’d said it to her the first time they met, his advice had never left her head. It’d always been a part of her. A sometimes annoying part, sure, but his advice always helped when she felt lost or stuck.

He seemed to gain his composure a little more, and he touched her arm. Bethany jumped at the contact, so he quickly pulled back. “. . . Are you okay?” 

She thought about the realization she’d had recently, of what Kiel really meant to her. Only, she’d never admitted it to herself. She’d rather focus on literally _anything_ _else_ other than that.

She thought maybe seeing him again would clear things up, but that wasn’t an option now. _Whatever_. It didn’t matter. If it wasn’t for the Magister forcing her to admit it, she wouldn’t even be thinking about this.

. . . Probably.

For a moment, Bethany was quiet. She chose her words carefully. “I guess . . . I just would’ve wanted to say goodbye to him. To see him one last time.”

“Wait, I thought you talked to Kiel already.” Owen sounded confused. “Kara said she sent Kiel to find you!“

_Wait, what?_

Glancing at the pure possibility, Bethany pulled him farther back, so they weren’t so close to it. Then, she looked back at Owen. “What are you talking about?”

“He didn’t talk to you?”

She stared at him, slowly shaking her head. “No, we didn’t speak. I never even saw him. Maybe I did, I don’t know. Everything’s sort of fuzzy from when I was brainwashed.”

“Wait, _you_ were brainwashed? I was too!” He quickly shook his head, frowning. “But, uh, that’s not the point. If he _did_ see you, he would’ve brought you back to us. Unless . . .”

“Unless . . . what?”

His eyes widened, as if in realization. “Unless he saw you and it was too late!”

Bethany scowled. Didn’t he know how confusing he was acting? “Too late? Too late for _what_?”

Strangely, Owen cringed. “So . . . you don’t know anything? Kiel didn’t tell you . . .” His voice rose in pitch. “ _Anything_?”

She blinked. “Tell me what?”

* * *

_“So tell me when you're gonna let me in. I’m getting tired, and I need somewhere to begin . . .”_


End file.
